"War of the Worlds" Remake -- good news, bad news

dowse_com | 1/13/05

[pabianice]

OK, movie fans. First, there was the Wells novel, written in 1898 and astonishingly ahead of its time. Then, there was the first movie in 1953 -- also ahead of its time and very watchable for its effects, although Gene Barry was arguably not the best guy for the lead role. Now, we have the Speilberg remake, due out this summer.

The good news is that the film appears to try and recreate as much of the novel as possible, updating it from 1898 to 2005. The trailer looks like fun. And of course, CGI now lets a producer create visual effects undreamed of 50 years ago.

The bad news is varied. First, we have Speilberg, one of the great visual movie makers around but crippled with a political correctness that has turned most of his recent movies into dinner theater for the DNC. Tom Cruise takes the lead again, but he, too, is hot and cold and often seems unclear about a character's motivation. The, there is the tortured history of this remake, apparently set to have begun filming in 2001 but since re-re-re-written and had cast and crew changes. Such a history is, in Hollywood, usually a predictor of a really bad final product. Usually.

As noted in another thread, the recent remake of "Flight of the Phoenix" is notable only because it crashed and burned at the box office, returning just under $ 20 million on a $ 70 million+ investment to date.

We'll have to see what happens with "War."

Production sketch from remake of "WOTW."

[Fruitbat]

I wonder when they're going to reintroduce the concept of a plot to movies again. It seems that nowadays most of the movies that come out are all predicated and rated on what their special affects are like.

I'm having a great time watching older movies on TMC or other channels. Ronald Reagan was a very good actor BTW. I watched a bunch of his movies after he died. I had no idea he did 15+ movies. I saw a bunch of them and thoroughly enjoyed them all. It's easy to see why he was such a likeable guy.

[eleni121]

"They're already here"
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I get it too...but who did you have in mind?

[null and void]

Ahhhhh! The torpedo ram Thunder Child...

Thanks for posting that!

[Nowhere Man]

I still use the 'real soon' line a lot in everyday conversation. Nobody ever gets the reference. I have often wondered if I was the only person to ever see this movie. Thanks to FR, I now know there is at least 5 of us. Laugh.

Make that 6. I also got a big kick out of Eddie Grant ("Electric Avenue") had a small role as an alien.

[steveo]

Terrorists already living among us.

[eleni121]

Tom cruise...first off...he's too pretty
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"Too pretty"...if you mean "too" in its negative sense. I have been teaching Film for years and not one of my female students has ever said that Cruise is attractive in any special way...any more than any other of your basic Anerican guys out there.

Comments: too short, big nose, dorky, etc.

These women - young and older - are more into the traditional all male types: Gable, Cooper (Gray), Wayne (as a younger star), Denzell, Pitt (in some roles), etc.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

Thanks for the URL, I book marked it.
It is large but not huge Blackmask has about ten times the amount of books as classic.

[eleni121]

Terrorists already living among us.
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I agree.

[pabianice]

So, there are TWO "WOTW" movies set for release this summer? I suspect Spielberg's movie will suck up all the O2, leaving the Pendragon version to go direct to DVD.

---

"...But the dream narrowly missed being a nightmare. Two near-misses have threatened the project. First, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 it wasn't clear that moviegoers wanted to see more death and destruction shining on the silver screen. Second, the juggernaut team of Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise have teamed up to make their own adaptation of WotW. Although the public was unaware of the Pendragon project, DreamWorks was fully aware, fast-tracking their massively funded version and (intentionally or not) putting a lot of pressure on Hines & Co. In the end, the competition appears to be a more or less friendly one. Pendragon's version will be an authentic, scene-by-scene recreation of the novel, set in Victorian England; DreamWorks will be a modern-day retelling..."

[Aquinasfan]

I've seen the '53 remake. There's no doubt in my mind that the ending will change. (Stop reading now if you don't want to know the ending).

In the movie, the characters take refuge in a church which is ultimately spared from destruction. The Martians finally conk out when they're exposed to earthly viruses (that aren't harmful to humans). The last line goes something like this: "It was part of God's providential plan that the tiniest of His creatures would save Man from destruction."

Can't have that in 21st century Hollywood.

[tfecw]

let me explain.

First i don't really care for your extremely small selection of women polled. I doubt you have a class dedicated to which American stars are the most attractive. So you might as well be saying, I don't know anyone that thinks Cruise is attractive. Which is fine, I can't dispute that.

Generally speaking (esp in America) Tom Cruise is one of the actors girls find attractive. Not all of them think that, but I'd say the majority do. Now I'd say the majority of people who spend money on films aren't even going to know who Gable and Cooper are. I said he's too pretty because he's portrayed in most of his movies as this suave actiony guy that always gets the girl. Not just any girl mind you, The most attractive girl in the film. Thats what i meant by he is Too pretty for the role.

[mewzilla]

I might go see the Pendragon version. I really doubt I will Dreamworks' since they're going to frog with the storyline.

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

There are so many sci-fi books I would like to see made into movies

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

ha ha I was just thinking that too

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

I really hated Footfall.

Would like to see the FOundation books made into a miniseries.

[sayfer bullets]

A good point on Quaid...

The unlikely hero is a very appealing idea. Americans embrace it, but one could argue we borrowed the concept from the "good book".

Blade Runner is a classic. IMO, the most intriguing and influencing character is Rutger Hauer's. Awesome cinema.

[winodog]

Because the Bible says Christ will return in the clouds. Hollywood and fedgov.org is preparing the sheeple for the disaperance of millions of people.

[null and void]

As long as it's a better adaptation than the so called "Issac Asimov's Nightfall".

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

God, that was so bad ...ugh

[killjoy]

The book Planet of the apes came out about 10 years after the short story. I was searching the web for the date of the book and was surprised that this author had written other books.

Yes, Pierre Boulle. He also wrote, "Bridge Over The River Kwai". While I love Planet of the Apes, Bridge Over the River Kwai is absolutely horrible. It has absolutely nothing in common with the real story of the Thailand/Burma Railway. It is universally despised by anyone who has had anything to do with the Railway. It is fiction at its worse.