[Cody Dawg]

So, post here if you think you're going to go see this movie tonight.

I'm going to an early screening at 5:00 PM (free or I wouldn't bother).

I'm reading the reviews and many of them say that Spielberg pulls too much 9/11 terror into this remake - which he admits. I find that a bit predatory and over the top.

Jamie Bernard of the New York Daily News says this:

Cruise is focused and dependable, making you forget his media antics. But the movie is no fun. There's none of the spirited adrenaline you expect from a bang-up blockbuster. I've docked it a star or so because it is nasty and mean-spirited, and plays on shocking allusions to 9/11 imagery.

The realism here borrows from the events of 9/11. These aren't Martians, they're sleeper cells hiding among us, waiting to activate. The first thing they destroy is a church steeple. The allusions are shocking: After masses of people have been slurped up by the aliens, their lifeless clothing drifts back to earth, echoing the limp bodies in freefall from the World Trade Center. A flaming runaway train carries a cargo of presumably dead commuters.

The world of "War of the Worlds" is an ugly place, where Americans turn on each other. They - we - are animals.

Spielberg once gave us "E.T." and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," but here, if you try to make nice with an alien he will burn you, rip your flesh, drink your blood. Even "Schindler's List" had a sense of hope and reprieve, but "War of the Worlds" offers only a scorched-earth policy.

The entire review is here.

If it is true that Spielberg intends to manipulate our emotions for the box office dollar then I have lost some respect for him.

I'll be interested to hear what people have to say.

[RAILhead]

[Cody Dawg]

I love that gif.



He actually DOES believe in aliens.

[mdc]

i have a free ticket to use at the cinema, so i'm going to wait until next week to watch this movie. (can't use free tickets in the first week of a movie.)

[deomacius]

The world of "War of the Worlds" is an ugly place, where Americans turn on each other. They - we - are animals.

Spielberg once gave us "E.T." and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," but here, if you try to make nice with an alien he will burn you, rip your flesh, drink your blood. Even "Schindler's List" had a sense of hope and reprieve, but "War of the Worlds" offers only a scorched-earth policy.

I don't see the problem. Unfortunately, sometimes life and people can be this way. There isn't always a happy ending. Now I'm even MORE inclined to see this flick. Sounds pretty good. (But I'm easy to please anyway )

[AB^2=BCxAC]

I want to see it. I said to my wife: "Wanna go see Tom Crusie get harrassed by aliens for a couple of hours?"

Wife: "Meh."

I guess I'm not seeing it tonight. I'll keep trying, though. I reread the book this spring, so I'm sort of in the frame of mine to try to appreciate it. "Try" being the operative word.

[jasonsRX7]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

He actually DOES believe in aliens.

So? Of all the things to gank on Tom Cruise about lately, that one is pretty tame. I don't believe in aliens, as in, I don't sit around and say to myself, "oh man, I just KNOW there's aliens!" but it seems more likely than not.

[JoshuaZ]

If I have nothing else to do tonight I'll probably go see it.

Oh yeah, I have nothing to do EVERY night here in Wisconsin.

God I hate this state, and I've only been here 3 weeks.

[Randman]

Not interested.

[Cody Dawg]

A Visit With Scientology

(Great read)

I think Tommy Boy made this movie because he honestly believes that Thetans are coming back to earth - that is what Scientology is all about. Ron L. Hubbard was Heavens Gate crazy.

[Macpilot]

This movie rocked. Scared the hell out of me. Would not take a kid to see it. One of the few movies I have seen lately that actually was worth the $$$. Great effects....everything looked real, the sound was amazing. Typical Spielberg...a fine film. And the 5 previews were great too!

[Macpilot]

[QUOTE=Cody Dawg
If it is true that Spielberg intends to manipulate our emotions for the box office dollar then I have lost some respect for him.

[/QUOTE]

Uh...isn't that what movies are supposed to do? Terrified me for 2 hours so I got what I paid for.

[paul w]

I saw it, and loved it. Tom Cruise was irrelevant. What was relevant was the amount of shear human destruction. Beautiful. Spielberg DOES manipulate us - with his slow reaction shots of the horror and amzement on people's faces.

This film gets going immediately. The opening alien scenes are just phenomenably awesome!

The best part is the end, when Tom Cruise uses his scientology powerrz to beat the alienz.

[Macpilot]

So THAT'S how he stopped the aliens! Ha! Good one paul!

Saw it on the biggest screen on the west coast here in Newport Beach, California. Friggin' awesome screen to see this type of movie on.

I think I will see it again.

[Cody Dawg]

I saw it and just got back home.

VERY GOOD, even though I hate to admit it.

Honestly, it was about a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10.

It's truly a thriller, but NOT for kids.

[Face Ache]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

If it is true that Spielberg intends to manipulate our emotions for the box office dollar then I have lost some respect for him.

Yeah I still haven't forgiven Bruce Beresford for Driving Miss Daisy.

[demograph68]

Didn't the aliens die from germs or something?

[mdc]

@Cody Dawg, cool to hear. Nothing going on tonight, so we decided to save our free tickets for another time. we are going to see this movie tonight.

[iLikebeer]

Meh, this'll be one of those movies you really like until you take some time to think about it or see it a few more times.
The only thing moving the plot forward was figuring out ways to make more cool FX shots, which were really good for the most part. The CGI aliens looked about as real as the dog things at the end of ghostbusters when they moved, that's my only complaint there. What really drives this movie though, is the sound effects. Amazing. See it in the theatres just for the sound; whoever did the sound effects should be proud of their work.

**SPOILERS Below

As far as the actual movie, meh, I think it kind of sucked. The acting was mediocre and the characters were about as well written as you'd expect from a teen horror movie or Buffy. I thought the changes in how the Martians got there were pretty lame and was only done to give the characters something to talk about. The one thing this story needed was an updated ending. It was pretty cool at the time it was written, but they could have changed it to go along with better knowledge today and at least had a gov't make the germ or something. Millions of years of planning to die of a cold while mopping up the survivors?

Also, considering how everything is pretty much destroyed and no cars work, FEMA was on the ball to set up so quick. The 9/11 thing was way overdone. People disintegrate just so they can have the Tom Cruise covered in ash shot; weak. Humanity should have died in this version, as all the lucky survivors were apparently spending all of their time making posters of lost loved ones instead of trying to survive.

But yeah, the special FX are worth it.

[paul w]

MORE SPOILER SPEAK BELOW!!!!




I'm convinced Spielberg has an alternate cut where the aliens don't just all inexplicably drop dead (and thus take over). But that it was just too damn dark to be released. Mediocre acting aside, everything up till the end was brilliant (could've used less of the basement bit, with Tim Robbin- and the aliens flipping through old photos). But everything else about the aliens- the tripods, the herding, the spraying, the booming, the rain of clothing-all first rate.

[xi_hyperon]

I saw it on a whim tonight, and thought it made for a pretty good summer movie.

[Obi Wan's Ghost]

Lame ****ing movie. Bigger plot hole than Signs.

SPOILER WARNING

The aliens die of a ****ing cold. That's right, they have been here longer than us and should have knowledge of every virus. The aliens are also still technologically generations ahead of us. We come up with medicine for colds in fifty years but they can't after millions. They die of a cold, kinda like in the Signs when aliens allergic to water decide to invade a planet 70% covered in water.

[paul w]

double post

[Eug Wanker]

Don't want to see it. Tom Cruise irritates me too much (especially lately).

Maybe as a rental though...

[demograph68]

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

Don't want to see it. Tom Cruise irritates me too much (especially lately).

Maybe as a rental though...

Or as a download... dun dun dun!

[budster101]

Originally Posted by Obi Wan's Ghost

Lame ****ing movie. Bigger plot hole than Signs.

SPOILER WARNING

The aliens die of a ****ing cold. That's right, they have been here longer than us and should have knowledge of every virus. The aliens are also still technologically generations ahead of us. We come up with medicine for colds in fifty years but they can't after millions. They die of a cold, kinda like in the Signs when aliens allergic to water decide to invade a planet 70% covered in water.

CLUE: Get a freaking clue. It's a remake. Everyone can find out how it ends by looking up and renting the ORIGINAL.

It's not at all like the movie SIGNS. If anything Signs was like the original WOTW.

-

[Obi Wan's Ghost]

Originally Posted by budster101

CLUE: Get a freaking clue. -

Wow you can say get a freaking clue. Remakes can fix old ideas.

[budster101]

The point was, you didn't SPOIL anything....

[Obi Wan's Ghost]

Originally Posted by budster101

The point was, you didn't SPOIL anything....

Golly

[Randman]

Uhh, the virus ending is original. Blame HG Wells long before any of us were alive.

[iLikebeer]

Originally Posted by Randman

Uhh, the virus ending is original. Blame HG Wells long before any of us were alive.

Yeah, the virus ending is original; but in the original the aliens came in space craft and had never been to earth. The one major change they made to the book CAUSED the plot hole and sort of subverted the entire story. The aliens leaving warships here is like us randomly burying F15s and M1 tanks all over the place where no one lives, then unburying them in a few millennia and fighting some unknown threat. The whole idea is just ridiculous.

Budster, this might be an old story and a remake, but these days there are as many people that don't pick up books too often as do; and some people might just have never read it. I'd hate to spoil it for someone just because you know how it ends and don't think spoiler warnings are necesary for a spoiler.

[King Bob On The Cob]

Originally Posted by Obi Wan's Ghost

Lame ****ing movie. Bigger plot hole than Signs.

SPOILER WARNING

The aliens die of a ****ing cold. That's right, they have been here longer than us and should have knowledge of every virus. The aliens are also still technologically generations ahead of us. We come up with medicine for colds in fifty years but they can't after millions. They die of a cold, kinda like in the Signs when aliens allergic to water decide to invade a planet 70% covered in water.

And the flu (and similar illnesses) wreaked havok on the native american tribes when europeans brought them. I guess they should've made a cough syrup...

[Captain Obvious]

I was never planning on watching this but i am curious what they made the aliens look like this time around

[iLikebeer]

Originally Posted by King Bob On The Cob

And the flu (and similar illnesses) wreaked havok on the native american tribes when europeans brought them. I guess they should've made a cough syrup...

Yeah, if the Native American tribes had had the technology for shields, interplanetary space travel, weather control,...., and had spies among the European white man for thousands of years; then I'd agree with you. They should've made a cough syrup under those circumstances.

[Chuckit]

I just got back from this movie. It annoyed me all the way through. Every sentient being in this movie is an utter moron.

The dumbass humans often actually go toward the places the aliens are attacking. When they do run, it's usually just a couple of feet back, then they stop and turn around to see if the alien is still shooting at them. Dakota Fanning is the only one who manages to imbue her hairbrained twit with some depth.

Meanwhile, the military fully realizes that the aliens have Independence Day shields, but rather than trying to find a way around them, they just continue to shoot them with rocket launchers. "Did it work this time?" "Nope, same as the last 50 rockets!"

And then the aliens, who have been "coolly watching" us for "millions of years," are STILL caught completely by surprise on one of the most basic features of our planet's ecosystem. Which, by the way, is a shitty ending for an action movie. They have to have the army continue to blow up the already-dead aliens just to make it fit in with the rest of the movie.

Almost every good part in this movie was stolen from an actually good movie. You may as well go watch one of those on video.

Oh, and as for what the aliens look like (SPOILER ALERT, I guess): pretty much like in the original, except that probe with the three colors is now a more modern-futuristic glassy silver. It still looks basically the same otherwise. The actual aliens still have the famous hand, and the rest of their bodies looks like a cross between the tripods and the aliens from Independence Day.

[Captain Obvious]

So then this has remained true to the novel in pretty much every way but the era it happens in and a change of the main characters. I don't see what you people are getting pissed about. It is a modern adaptation about a book that lectures about British imperialism. Since I haven't seen it I can assume how it tries to apply the same thing to make it relevant today but all the anecdotes you whine about happened in the book in pretty much the same way so the director is just keeping continuity.

And I was hoping for a link with a picture from someone of the aliens since it sounds like they just took the appearance straight from the book as well.

It’s a movie based on the book. Don’t you sci-fi geeks get mad when they don’t stay true to the original literary versions of Lord of the Rings and crap? Why should this be different?

[budster101]

Personally, I hated the original, and won't bother with the remake.
I think Tom Cruise is a wacked out cult member and a moron, and have lost any respect for Spielburg.

If anyone in here saw it and was entertained, great, I'm happy you got your monies worth, but I'll not give him another dime. (Ok, I'm going to qualify that. Until Indiana Jones comes back.)

[Chuckit]

It actually has remained pretty true to the novel, particularly in how things look. Except that (as somebody else pointed out) in the book, the aliens were just arriving on Earth, whereas the movie goes to incredible lengths to point out how meticulously the aliens planned their completely botched invasion. They planted the tripods here more than a million years ahead of time. And the book doesn't contain a scene where, for example, the earth is falling apart under people's feet, so they take about two steps back and apparently expect to be safe. And pretty much everything else I complained about, unless I'm forgetting a lot of the book.

[greenamp]

Originally Posted by demograph68

Didn't the aliens die from germs or something?

OMG JOO GAVE AWAY TEH SECRET ENDING!11111!

[von Wrangell]

Originally Posted by demograph68

Didn't the aliens die from germs or something?

Not Head&Shoulders?

[JustAnOl'Broad]

Originally Posted by Captain Obvious

Reminds me of the old revolving light we had for our
fake Xmas tree one year.
Tree was silver ; like tinsel all over - light revolved
and tree became red, yellow, blue, or gold.

On Topic;
rather wait and go see something funny than War of Worlds.
Cruise is just too silly lately (acting maybe?)

[Cody Dawg]

Go see Cinderella Man because AMC will give you your money back if you don't like it. That movie totally tanked because of another overrated star with an anger control problem.

[scottiB]

B+

Worth the cost of an evening show. The sound design was exceptional. CG was great. A reinterpreted 50s movie. No issue with the ending other than....

SPOILER
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Cruise's ex-in-laws' street was hardly touched. If the Extra-Terrorestials can spare 5 or 6 tripods to attack a rural ferry, then I'd think that a major urban area would've been annihilated.

[monkeybrain]

The point of them dying from germs (and I'm talking from reading the book, I haven't seen this film) is that it is the Earth itself, or mother nature if you prefer, that defeats the Martians. All the power of the British Empire couldn't destroy the tripods (well we did get a couple of the blighters), but nature could.

The idea of the germs is dated now of course, since you'd expect the Martians to have some sort of 'Earth suit', but the idea is still good and was way ahead of its time. The '50s film makes an interesting move by linking the germs to the intervention of some higher power. I guess you could argue that the germ is still valid because on Mars they might not even have germs or viruses etc, so they might not be able to expect it.

Still it's good they kept the ending. Having the humans create the germ (or 'virus' in Independence Day) completely destroys the point of using the germ, since it's man that's defeating the Martians.

[mitchell_pgh]

I'm going to pass. Tom isn't at the top of my "Cool Actors" list. Plus, I can spell out the plot from a mile away.

I'm wondering if we are going to get to see any ORIGINAL movies this year? They all are either remakes, sequals, or based on books.

[budster101]

Battlefield Earth errr I mean War of the Worlds... yuck.

[scottiB]

Originally Posted by monkeybrain

The point of them dying from germs (and I'm talking from reading the book, I haven't seen this film) is that it is the Earth itself, or mother nature if you prefer, that defeats the Martians. All the power of the British Empire couldn't destroy the tripods (well we did get a couple of the blighters), but nature could.
...

I hadn't read it, so I picked-up the book on the way home from the theater (a nice Del-Ray paperback with The Time Machine and an introduction by Issac Asimov comparing Wells to Jules Verne).

Anyway, I agree with what you've written. The human race (as in the book and the film) aren't the protagonists. They're just as clueless in the beginning as in the end. The aliens' (Martians in the book) fatal flaw is attempting to defeat the wrong Earth inhabitants. They geared up for a fight with the wrong enemy. Great O Henry-esque ending.

[CollinG3G4]

Paid $6.50 to see it last night.
I was entertained up to the part where tom and his daughter end up in the celler with the crazy guy.

I give it a 5.5 out of 10.

[JoshuaZ]

I just wanted to see a movie where Tom Cruse was harassed by aliens for two hours. That was worth my $8.50.

And yes, I do completely agree that about the dumbness of having the aliens be stuck underground for millions of years.

Also, if there was an EMP, wouldn't it have only effected the electronics that were on? And IF the EMP didn't happen everywhere, like it was said not to, why didn't more people have cars? The Gov had everything working fine and dandy, but no one else had a car to use.

Also, the scene with the guy and the little video camera, totally wrong. WHY THE HELL WAS HIS CAMERA WORKING WHEN NOHING ELSE WAS. Oh yeah, plot hole don't matter, as long as it looks good.

Plus I would have been a lot more happy if his son was dead when he got home. Damned happy ending.

[budster101]

Top Gun would have been better if Goose was the one that lived.