War of the Worlds--cool cameo (spoiler!!)

Me | 6/30/2005 | me

[ArcLight]

Saw War of the Worlds last night. Did anybody else notice the cool cameo appearance, right at the end, by...Gene Barry? He played Dr. Clayton Forrester, the hero of George Pal's version of the story. He was part of the group standing on the steps in the house in Boston--the white-haired guy on the left. He must be 80-something, but he looked pretty good.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

And who can forget Last of the Mochcans
also my personal favorite at that time,YANCY DERRINGER!

[PLMerite]

My bad. I get her and Margaret Sheridan (The Thing, 1951) mixed up. I had it right enough to google it, but by the time I got an FR posting window up, I'd lost it.

[jigsaw]

Would that be of AlGore's "What about Norwood-Dingle?" fame?

Actually, Algore is known as Dingleberry.

[speedy]

Whoa, great list, Ruy. There should be a Cowboy Channel if there isn't one already. I admit I don't know "Rango" or "Tate" but I do recall the others. Yeah, "Gunslinger" was a short-lived one, starring Tony Young and Preston Foster. And I can still see "Jim Bowie" coming on, with the knife going into the tree. And "The Restless Gun" was of course the old actor John Payne, playing Vint Bonner. A few more -- my favorite was always "The Lone Ranger." Others that remind me of long-ago Saturday mornings were "The Cisco Kid," "Hopalong Cassidy" and "Sky King" (okay, a cowboy pilot -- Songbird I and Songbird II.)

A few more nobody every talks about -- "The Dakotas," "Trackdown," "Laredo" and "Johnny Ringo." Oh yeah, and "The Deputy" with Henry Fonda and Alan Case. Agree on "Yancy Derringer." He was cool -- Jock Mahoney and his sidekick X Brands, who played Pahoo.

[mware]

Darn, I thought Gene Barry, (Bat Mastersoin) died years ago.

[mware]

Back when the west was very young

There lived a man named Masterson

He wore a cane and derby hat.

They called him Bat, Bat Masterson.

[zook]

Let me know what you think. One thing I might not have mentioned is that the film contains some of the most haunting imagery I've ever seen. I don't want to give anything away, but watch for the train.

[Jmouse007]

Yes it is a remake but it will be your loss if you don't see it in a theater. The family and I just got back from seeing it. It was an EXCELLENT film, 5 stars (in spite of the 1 instance of "Hollywood schlock", you will recognize it when you see it). Anyway it was very faithful to the overall theme of the book. Yes it is seen from Ray and his families limited perspective but the way I looked at it, if such a thing were to take place, in all honesty, that is the perspective that all of us "regular folks" would see the action from.

As for Cruise’s character, some people are complaining because he is not in "superhero mode". Give me a break, the alien ships are a hundred feet tall, sport an impenetrable shield and they spray death with cool calculating precision. Given this, it is unlikely that any average citizen could do anything but run, hide and try to protect the shreds of the family they have left.

This isn't sweet cute and cuddly ET, neither is it a benign, esoteric "Close Encounter of the 3rd Kind; the aliens are here for one purpose and one purpose only: "EXTERMINATE!" and there is no magic "Dr. Who" with a sonic screwdriver.

I think this is the best alien attacks the earth movie ever made. If you are looking for a suspenseful, pure roller coaster ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat then go see "War of the Worlds".

One more thing, the special effects were exceptional, seamless, and genuinely frightening.

[onedoug]

Thank you. 'Glad you enjoyed it.