War of the Worlds Feedback....Spoilers

[Magneticzero]

Just got back from WOTW....I was blown away....very intense.

I wanted to get people's opinion who have seen it. The part where the first Tripod was revealed and unleashed hell on everyone was mind boggling.

 

[Oty and pordey2]

yeah, very good and intense scene...

 

[pordey2]

oops, have been working in the permathread section, forgot to log out...

Don't really know if i liked the movie as a whole, but that scene is one of those I remember best

 

[TURINS BANE]

@#%$..:bang :bang I didn't see the Spoilers worning.

 

[Lookin4Precious]

Good scene... some really intense moments... but good movie? no.

 

[dstephan]

Loved the movie. Not Spielberg's best but much more engaging than anything he's done since Schindler.

I mentioned before, but keeping the aliens out of the marketing was brilliant. My jaw was open through much of that first scene and a lot of the other tripod scenes.

And they stuck close to the source material too. I was thinking through the whole movie, they can't end it like that - it's such a cliche now. But ultimately this isn't Independence Day, and it's the characters that were important.

I'm not a Cruise fan, but I thought he did a decent job and Dakota Fanning was incredible.

Weren't the grandparents at the end actors from the 50s version?

 

[TheWitchKing]

Movie was A + all the way..... Kept me and my bro on the edge of the seat most of the time. Graphics were amazing and loved how without the microorganisms, humans were doomed. Schindlers List, Forrest Gump, Minority Report and more, now this one has gone up on top of my list. I really enjoyed the loud soud the ships made when it spotted humans.

 

[B Electronic]

Seen it, LOVED it!! There's obviously a very strong point in not letting people see much of the movie or any of the aliens in this case. What I loved even more was that this wasnt a "look at us be a hero" American movie. It was all shot from a single person's point of view who isnt even a hero (unless you count the grenade thing). I liked this movie even more then I did Batman Begins. But then, this movie is of course excellent material for a huge screen and booming stereo!

 

[Lembas Eater]

I loved this movie!

Yes that was Gene Barry and Ann Robinson as the Grandparents, nice touch and not overdone. I also liked that Spielberg did not try to replace or update the famous pulsing/shrieking sound of the Heat Ray from George Pal's film, but instead came up with their own "sound of death" - not the sound of the ray itself but a sort of "startup" sound. I got to get an WAV file of that!

I also liked the Red Weed, which in the original story was something that the aliens inadvertantly brought with them. The twist on that here is, of course, that the weed is "fertilized" by human blood. Pretty chilling.

The idea of the Machines coming up from the ground instead of down from the sky was also a nice twist on yer typical invasion movie protocol (yes, there is one - jk). However, the idea that these were planted a million years ago doesn't wash. If they could have buried them a million years a go, then they could have just taken over the planet then, with no resistance. Also, the machines do not look like they've been sitting for a million years. I'm letting this slide though, since in the film this information comes only from Tim Robbins' character and therefore its At Least second-hand news.

Then you got the Aliens themselves. When I first saw them, I thought they were fairly typical. THEN you see that they have three legs (and walk like it), Very cool. I'm still kinda bummed that they only had two eyes instead of three, though.
Speaking of three legs, the Tripods were just great. In fact I hope someone makes Statues or Code 3 - Style replicas of them. Very cool.

I am not the world's biggest Tom Cruise fan but I have no urge to squirt him with a microphone, either. But I do think he delivers in this movie. So many times in movies the characters do not react to shocking/traumatic events with any degree of real feeling. Thats not the case here. Also some critics have complained that the tension between Ray and his son is too much of a movie cliche. The audience I saw it with really bought the baseball thing and I know of a father-son relationship that is exactly like this (not mine but someone close to me).

You're going to keep hearing people saying that this movie was definately influenced by the events of September 11, 2001. SO WHAT? The George Pal film had the influence of the Cold War and the original novel could be considered to reference the decline of the British Empire. This story has suited the politics of its creator and those who've adapted it from the beginning.
It is true that this is a more mature film from Spielberg. I don't think the he would have made THIS film if he hadn't made Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan.

 

[Lookin4Precious]

posted this already... figured i'd post it here too...

I'm so jealous of all of you that saw WOTW and liked it.... I really wanted to like it but there are just far too much stuff that prevents me from liking it...

For Instance... (Spoilers)

If the aliens planted the Tripods beneath the ground millions of years ago when there was nobody here... WHY did they do it? What, are they pyschic? Why go through all that trouble when this planet was nothing more than a garden and moultan mass....?

Also, if the Tripods had been benath the ground for millions of years, and there were clearly millions of THEM, how the hell are we supposed to believe that NOBODY, not ONCE in history did we uncover them? I get that they were deep, but we've dug plenty deep in many places... i just don't buy that we wouldn't have found at least ONE of them...

Then, why wait? They had this technology, they had there plans in order, they had the technology... why did they wait so long?

IF this had been real, Tom Cruise would have been dead the first time the Tripod rose from the ground. It zapped everything and everyone but him. Then when he's driving, the buildings are all blowing up around him.... and still, he manages to escape?

A lot of these things are similar to plot holes found in other movies, and had the movie been good enough to stand above them, I could have over looked them. But the ending prevented that. I mean, that was sooo bad. The germ thing was handled so quickly it was rediculous. IT was like they ran out of time and just had to put an ending together.

And the family reuninon. THe whole movie, Ray is keeping it togher because he is focusing on Boston. He has a destination, a goal. And that is what keeps him going. He can tell his kids that in Boston, everyhting will be ok. That Boston is this magical refuge from all this craziness. And I liked that. I liked that that was his thought process... it gave him hope and it allowed the kids to think that that was the case. BUT then they get there and it IS EXACTLY THAT? WTF? That was soooo stupid! They should have got there to see that Boston was exactly what it would have been... a pile of rubble. THey should have run through Miranda Otto's parents apartment building (what was left of it) to find the tripods in the back, and as they get there, they start bleeding Miranda dry. None of this happily ever after @#%$.....

There were some good things about it ... but the bad far outweighed the good for me

 

[Nemo Nint]

L4- The ending was great!

The reason it was great, was because it felt like this to me: Happy endings with corny music in 1950s in sci fi movies... all making you think "hey that was probably great for back then but now, we'd expect a little bit more polish in acting"

And that's what I think we got. The fact that Boston wasn't demolished is just fine assuming you don't know the story from previous movie(s) or book(s) (like myself), and can assume that these tripods aren't completely covering the planet.

Secondly, the tripods could be on a whole bunch of different planets, and not bajillions of them all over the planets, but say tens of thousands all over the planet, enough to form a really decent assault, though it may not be successful for any number of reasons (military, microbes, tripods tripping over their legs and crashing).

Third, I figure the reason they chose that moment was just ... Bureaucratic Alien timing. Could have happened anytime, but they had to pass it around in Alien Governments, and then get the invasion troops ready (though the troops may not have taken much time). It's up to speculation, but it's more fun to just figure that SOMETHING made them decide to attack at this time.

I hope I countered your points pretty well, but feel free to pick me appart, if you didn't like the movie. I did.

 

[dstephan]

As for the timing - it was all the MWDs that we don't have....

 

[JSAuctionService]

Just saw it - Liked it a lot. Quite a bit of tension throughout.

Dakota Fanning did an amazing job, and everybody else did very good as well.

Dunno if I'd see it again in theaters, but it was a good movie.

It was a choice over this or Batman Begins, which I still haven't seen yet.
I wonder if I chose the better of the two movies?

JS

 

[Lookin4Precious]

Well to me, Batman was far and away the better movie, however, I'm going to go see WOTW again because I am sick of reading how much everyone loved it. I really wanted to like this movie, and I still do. Guess I'll see the second time around.

 

[FrodoEyes]

Saw WOTW today with my bloke - I really loved it, with most suspense films I find the suspense boring, but I really was gripped with this one. Al thought it went on a bit long but I didn't, I was terrified! The most scary was the noise the tripods make. I hated it so much because it was like war sirens and so terrifying! And the idea of keeping humans in those baskets to use as drink and fertilizer was sick but I liked it!
I did not like the ending. How the hell did Robbie escape? He should have been dead, that way the film would have even more of an emotional feel to it, as if they've lost something, not return to Boston to a perfect house and find that everyone's OK after all. Bleargh. The ending ruined it for me.

Then after I began to think of things like "Why didnt they just take the planet all those millions of years ago" etc etc, and Al said that if they had been planning it for millions of years, did it not occur to them to check the air was safe for them?

Great popcorn and suspense film, I'll have to read the book to try to fill in these plot holes, I'm sure an author of H.G. Well's ability wouldn't be so stupid as to not explain it!

 

[Nessasita]

to be completely honest... I did not like it too much... one movie that will not be in my DVD collection. It was a little bit too much so some scenes made me laugh... instead of being on the edge of my seat.

 

[Lookin4Precious]

YAY! Thank you Ness!!! I was starting to feel like i had seen a different movie! So many people loved it.... just didn't like it

 

[Winged Shadows]

What a disappointment is all I can say!

Agree with the few negatives about the movie that have already been brought up.

It was very unrealistic, the ending was just . Robbie ought to have been killed in the explosion. How could they even try to convince us he miraculously survived? Oh and before that, the whole " I need to see this.. " crap! That isn't how people react in a situation like that. It ain't like Tornado-chasing! :rolleyes

Amidst the ruins of the Boeing 747... why didn't their car get destroyed? Okay perhaps they were lucky... how was it they were able to drive through the debris like that??? On the topic of obstacles... how did he manage to swerve through a stream of stopped cars on the highway?? I don't know about the States... but our Motorways are usually absolutely jam-packed... and if for some odd reason every car just stopped.. there is no way in hell you could get past other vehicles because inevitably you would come across a couple of cars that are side-by-side. What would happen then? Turbo-boost over them Knightrider Style?

For sophisticated Aliens that have the technology/ability to 'ride' lightning, their senses are quite crappy aren't they, if they resort to having to go looking for people in basements?!
The Aliens drank the life out of people... so why were they Zapping them initially? Destroying perfectly good food. It was kinda jarring when halfway through the movie....you expect folks to get turned to dust.. when suddenly a tentacle drops down and starts picking people up! errr.. was it lunchtime?

As great a young actress she is Dakota was not the right person for this role! She's sooo damn serious and mature - it's not normal. And then when they're being chased by a Tripod... the unstoppable random bansheeee-like screamss...err. as weird as this sounds, I could not believe she was genuinely frightened? It was just like she was turning it on and off, just not convincing. Weird huh? The 'arm thing' to help her relax was just pointless.... do people/kids really have such quirks??? I've never come across any in real life that do.

What are the odds anyone would be reunited with their daughter in the belly of an Alien Tripod? Near impossible i'd have thought. So why did it happen? :\ On the contrary to anyone who thought this wasn't the typical "hollywood hero" movie - what would you call the grenade sequence? The fact they all simply strolled out of the crippled Tripod without a scratch on them was just frustrating.

I have never seen the original, and this was being billed as the "Mother of all Alien-Invader" movies. Sadly, not for me it ain't. Independence Day still tops.

Edit: Special mention for Tom Cruise singing... uke ...WHY?????

:rollin

 

[FrodoEyes]

LOL!

I didn't mind the 'I have to see this' thing, as I think alot of people would want to see what a war was like between humans and aliens, and who was winning. I know I would be curious. I'd still run away, but I'd be curious!

Agree that Independance day is the best!! I really should buy it on dvd...

 

[Lookin4Precious]

YAY! Go Winged Shadow!

I agree with everything you said. SO MUCH of it did not add up and just totally ruined it for me. I forgot to mention it in other posts, but the freeway thing is EXACTLY what i was thinking (although, that scene is one of my favorites simply for the camera work.. it is outstanding!)

The only thing you mentioned that I could see the reason behind is why they initially started killing off everyone. It would make sense to thin out the massive population and then start harvesting people. But again, why were they doing that?

But yup, just didn't add up for me either. I love hearing other people say that because it makes me feel a little more sane.