Any movie that cast Jack Nicholson as the President is worth a rental. Very funny.
Posted on 06/29/2005 12:59:23 PM PDT by pabianice
Just got back from the new version of "War of the Worlds." In short, this is an epic remake of the nifty 1953 version done by George Pal (later of "The Time Machine" with Rod Taylor, 1960). The FX are spectacular, of course, but the film just doesn't quite pull it off.
The story is shot through the eyes of Ray, Tom Cruise's character, so it lets a lot of action occur off stage. This tactic can do a lot for a story, but in Cruise's case, it doesn't work. His costars, including young Dakaota Fanning, are excellent, but ... we've seen it all before. Cruise looking desperate and put-upon. Fanning running the different shades of panic and dispair. Tim Robbins as a crazy pedophile (ok, this may just be good type-casting). A cast of hundreds of real extras and thousands of CGI people being vaporized -- neat, but again, we've seen it before, especially in the 1953 version.
This latest Spielberg version is just too full of logic and continuity holes to hold together. The alien Tripods have been buried here on Earth for tens or hindreds of thousands of years until they are activated today. WTF? Were the aliens waiting until we could fight back to launch their invasion, instead of easily taking-over 50,000 years ago? The aliens themselves ride lightening/EMP bolts down from space, arriving underground with the baggage of several thousand Gs. Can you say Puree of Alien? As in the 1953 version, the Tripods have protective force fields that deflect anything thrown at them. But when the aliens catch colds and start to die, they also conveniently manage to turn-off their shields so the remaining National Guard troops can take them out with Stingers and small arms fire. The EMP strikes fry all auto and machine electronics but leave cordless phones and video cameras running.
Even though this is a war movie, we get Hollywood's Guns are Bad! rap. When Cruise goes on the lam with his kids he takes his .357 with him, although he hides it from the kids because, you know, guns are 'bad.' When his car is hijacked and his family nearly killed, another character takes his gun and promptly murders a third with it (yes, guns are 'BAD,' even when you are trying to save your kids from being killed).
The aliens' death rays are wonderful eye candy, turning people into (antiseptic) flaming ash while leaving their clothes intact. Another WTF? Very 'green' and all. There are a lot of annoying gripes. A local ferry boat captain in one battle scene is wearing the cap of a US naval officer -- and the eagle is looking left -- something the US Navy changed in 1941. Oops X 2. Couldn't Spielberg do better than that?
As pure popcorn munching, the movie is fun and the tension holds up at a certain visceral level, but the mind is never engaged -- a requirement for the best movies. The major sets are great: a downed 747, horribly empty of bodies because everyone was vaporized in flight by that neat antiseptic death ray which, like the evil Neutron Bomb, kills people while leaving structures intact (apparently the Aliens like our architecture). The scene of the first Tripod breaking through the street and incinerating people is also a wonderful realization of set design. The cast does ok (although Fanning's wonderful horror expression is starting to get overused in movies), but again, with so many CGI people being vaporized, it all starts to glaze over. With the camera on Ray 100% of the time, his costars don't get to do very much. When Ray grabs some hand grenades, you know what he's gonna do: bring-down a Tripod that is trying to turn him into Soylent Red with which to fertilize Alien Kudzu (I am not making this up). It's kinda neat to see mashed humans being sprayed across the landscape like the operation of Lawn Doctor's evil twin, but human blood to fertilize plants from the planet Koosbane? Cummon! When the action finally moves to Boston, Spielberg is too lazy to recreate a view of Boston and we get action in what appears to be downtown Los Angeles. Maybe he just got tired.
My Freeper Rating: Hype: 9/10. Movie: 7/10. Spielberg could have done far better than remake a 52-year-old film that was pretty neat in its day. But then, most movie goers never saw the 1953 version. Their loss.
And, unlike Cruise, he's not associated with a nutcase cult OR rumored to be homosexual. . .
So what activated them?
Oh, wait. I know.
It's all Bush's fault!
IMO, perfectly okay for youngsters. (It's only a movie)
Good grief. Then what the heck are mass murdering Martians?!?
do he die in a really gross way, could make the movie a must see for me
Does Tom get an alien beard in this movie?
I just saw it also...Pretty much concur..Why NJ of all places?. BTW..I'd say this just about guarantees that MI3 will never get made...
Quote: The alien Tripods have been buried here on Earth for tens or hindreds of thousands of years until they are activated today. WTF? Were the aliens waiting until we could fight back to launch their invasion, instead of easily taking-over 50,000 years ago?
Regarding planning for the future mars mission Nasa wants to send a unmanned supply ship to mars loaded down with all the essentials(food oxygen fuel shelter) 1-2 years before the crew leaves Earth.
Maybe the aliens in this movie could not take all their stuff at once so they send it ahead to each planet.???
Wasn't Grover's Mill, New Jersey the location for the Orson Welles radio version of WoTW?
Yes, Bale is the better actor. Don't know if you've seen the new Batman but his acting is intelligent, funny, nuanced. He looks like he's having a good time when he acts. Cruise always seems so desperate to be liked. Bale acts like he doesn't give a damn whether he's world famous - and that in my opinion is what makes him so appealing.
Any movie that cast Jack Nicholson as the President is worth a rental. Very funny.
Yup..but not Bayonne...
No, Bale is hetero all the way. The only strange thing is that his stepmother is Gloria Steinem. Or, was. His father just died.
Any woody allen movie.
FMCDH(BITS)
Who he later dumps for a younger one....
Or maybe Spielberg just thinks we're idiots.
One of the big mysteries with Bales fans, is what is Christian Bales real accent like.
Not to many people know this, but Bale uses a different tone and accent for his movies (he is actually Welsh).
He maintains the accent of the character in all promotions and interviews for so said movie. Thats why he will always sound exactly like the character when doing an interview but every few years sound somewhat different then from before.
Its been a rumor (or urban legend) that he uses his real way of talking and his natural accent in the movie "Metroland".
I'm not a "Balehead" but I've met more then a few of them.
The guy is an interesting person from what I have gathered.
The one change Spielberg made from the book to the movie, was one dumb change, by having the aliens already here.
How would earth bacteria kill them, if they had already been on earth for so long?
What, a super hyper delayed reaction?
The book made sense, since they came from space, and didn't know about the bacteria, and after it kicked in, it affected them, in the movie, they have already been here, are here, and now it kicks in when they start doing stuff.
I get the reason why he changed it, but it was a stupid reason.
Well, I gotta rent Metroland to hear Bale's real accent. He was also good in Laurel Canyon.
Christian doing interviews in the accent of his character is probably a way of protecting his private self.
Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reubens)would only do interviews if he could speak in Pee Wee's voice.
Ack! Ack! AAAACK!
(This will make sense after you see the movie.)
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