Film: War of the Worlds (2005)

[Buuts]

I had too many expectations b4 seeing this movie, which left me bitterly disapointed...
The amount of movies coming out of the US lately, that are just special FX enhanced remakes of classic movies is rediculous!
This movie was just a perfect example of an American over Budgeted, remake of a classic story, without capturing the suspence and atmosphere
of the orignals! I felt that the whole focus of the movie was in using the special FXs to run the whole movie. I don't care how good the FX are, They never seem to capture any real sort of atmosphere in a movie, you can always tell they are fake.
There are ways to make a movie incredible, without going overboard on the FX. I don't know what has happened to Spielberg lately? has he lost his touch in creating movies with an original and unique feel to them?
It seems as if the creative/original side of movies are now often overlooked with the Big Budget movies these days...

 

[FunkyAlfonzo]

It seems as if the creative/original side of movies are now often overlooked with the Big Budget movies these days...

these days??

 

[fairnymph]

I would give this a 2.5/4 or a 6/10. I generally round up so for the poll I gave it 3/4.

I thought it was entertaining and enjoyable, but nothing special or impressive. Tom Cruise's role was rather weak; he's a very good actor IMO so I attribute it more to writing and direction. Anyway, the movie would have had a lot more emotional impact if Ray's character had been better developed.

The guy played by Tim Robbins creeped me the fuck out.I just kept getting a child molester vibe from him. I'm glad Ray killed him. I wanted to kill him myself for not shutting the fuck up.

The little girl (Dakota Fanning) rocks! She is an awesome actress. I thought that she was one of the main highlights of the movie.

Visually, the opening shots with the microbes in the drop of water on the leaf, then changing to the stoplight, were really well done and stunningly beautiful.

I also liked how the movie came full circle in the end with the microbes in the drop of water again.

 

[fairnymph]

Oh, and I agree with randycaver -- I thought it was totally unrealistic and sappy and just BAD that the son survived. Um, no.

Oh yeah, and the untouched minivan. Riiiiiight.

 

[vibr8tor]

^^^
yup, I agree too. If I had to pick one thing that really pissed me off about the movie, that would be it.

 

[awatkins]

i thought the movie was good, i got that sense of powerlessness over the aliens especially when they were putting humans in the cages,
i agree with the above posters though, the dumbass son should have fucking died

 

[Ghettotastic_bong]

I can perfectly understand why everyone hates this movie. There's little in the way of charcter development, the ending is ludicrous, and the science fiction elements are straight up preposterous. The film also loses quite a bit of enegry in the final half hour.

However, with that said, one cannot negate what this film is. Honestly, i don't know if i've ever been so horrified by a movie since dancer in the dark. The entire concept of the movie is based around how society would react to being invaded with absolutely overwhelming force, and the chaos that follows.

For that, i give it three stars. A tragically flawed movie with one redeeming element done so well that it defines what the film is: A large scale creation as to how people would freak out if the world was starting to end.

 

[Finder]

SPOILER









My biggest problem was the son surviving in the end. Alien invasion aside, how absolutely ridiculous!

I also agree with everything Soundtrack brought up.

 

[MynameisnotDeja]

***SPOILERS***

This movie had me laughing like crazy...some observations:

-Tom Cruise and his kids take the solar powered minivan on over to his ex-wife's house, right? Then they go down to the basement when a damn PLANE crashes into the house. Well luckily they were okay, but the house and everything around it was tore up from the floor up. EXCEPT that minivan, which was sitting right where he parked it, not a dent in the fender. Man I guess Ford doesn't fuck around any more.

-Tim Robbins living underground with that hood over his head damn near the whole time. When he was introduced we busted out laughing, he looked like a crazy Obi-Wan. I swear they should've given him a light saber instead of a shotgun. "Not my blood!!!! NOT MY BLOOD!!!"

-At the end, the military doesn't notice birds on the alien machines, but Tom Cruise does. "LOOK AT THE BIRDS!!!! LOOK AT THE BIRDS!!!!" "Well damn Tom Cruise, we supposed to be some hard mufuckas at the top of our game, protecting y'all civilian asses from unstoppable evil that's the size of a skyscraper, but damn if we even noticed that those birds broke through the force shield and are sitting up on the evil alien death machines that are trying to kill us all RIGHT NOW. Thanks my brotha, Collin Powell ain't have shit on you!!!!"

-Worse wrap up to a movie EVER. They really thought thirty seconds tagged onto the end could do it? This was like ending the Usual Suspects about ten minutes early, and just cutting it off right in the middle of a scene and then having a voice over go: "Okay suckas so Verbal Kent was that guy alright, he stuck everybody good fashion, THE END."

Overall the laughably bad parts of this movie made me not feel cheated out of my ten dollars.

Why do people feel the need to overanalyze a movie like this?
I dont get why no one seems to be able to just relax and enjoy it.
Of course its not realistic.

 

[MynameisnotDeja]

SPOILER









My biggest problem was the son surviving in the end. Alien invasion aside, how absolutely ridiculous!

I also agree with everything Soundtrack brought up.

I would have liked to see some little story or something of HOW he survived..it would have added to the movie.

 

[LapDawg]

The son surviving = Spielbergian film moment.

usually I don't mind them, but this time around I was a little peeved by it so I understand why others reacted the same way. Then again, I probably should've expected the strong possibility of Spielberg pulling one of his patented happy sap tricks.

 

[mariacallas]

hehehhehhe i love this movie,..its right up there with CON AIR!! YES!

 

[Soundtrack]

Why do people feel the need to overanalyze a movie like this?
I dont get why no one seems to be able to just relax and enjoy it.
Of course its not realistic.

It's Spielberg though. You expect more from a director that caliber. Although, he has been slipping in recent years.

Actually, Lapdawg is right in calling it a Spielbergian moment. You just don't really expect them to be popping up all over the film.

Spielberg's body of work basically gives him an all-time pass to do whatever he wants, but I am growing a little tired of him. I do still need to see Minority Report, though.

 

[Finder]

^I enjoyed Minority Report, however every part after the "balcony scene" toward the end of the film pissed me off. It could have easily been left out and the film would have been better for it.

 

[punkybutt]

oh. my. god. what a horrible horrible movie. i'll rant about what i remember...

first, the only part of the movie worth seeing was where tom cruise's daughter was standing by that creek and a body floats by, at which point i began laughing. then, a hundred bodies floated by and the girl was mortified. i laughed uproariously. it was ridiculous.

two - if the aliens had the technology to plant the tripods way before civilization and whatnot, wouldn't their technology have advanced enough since then that they could just kill everyone with the push of a button?

three - tom cruise's son died. that's it. he ran into the horizon, which was promptly engulfed with flame. lots of it. and it expanded far enough that everyone had to run away.

four - the end - i had no idea what was going on. i did miss the very beginning of the movie, but i don't think that would've had much bearing on how much the ending sucked.

five - tom cruise is a scientologist.

and of course a sci fi film like this won't be terribly realistic, but i like my movies not to have gaping logic holes. i would be less pissed if i hadn't spent money.

another funny part was how tom cruise was covered with the ashy remains of innocent bystanders. hahahaha...

 

[silverwheel]

I rarely want film characters to die. But this was my exception. That damn teenage son needed to die. The actor playing him wasn't bad, but his character was atrociously written. I refuse to believe that people who are fleeing from a catastrophe of this magnitude would continually have thinly-veiled domestic arguments, complete with lines like "You've got to let me go!" What a way to drag a film down.

It did have some good moments - I loved how the scene when the car gets overtaken by the mob plays with your emotions; you want retaliation, but at the same time you know that only gives in to the mob mentality.

Despite its high points, I found it pretty average. And it was kind of sad that the film's most suspenseful scene (hiding from the alien eyes in Tim Robbins' basement) is essentially a reprise of the "velociraptors in the kitchen" scene from Jurassic Park.

 

[Banquo]

on repeated viewing, this is still a good movie. i really wish the little girl would stop screaming, though. watching it at home, i also miss hearing the theater laugh at tim robbins' character. besides that, it might have been the best blockbuster from last summer.

 

[drug_wench]

ive seen it a number of times now and it usually gets me paranoid and i hav 2 hide or run from the room
the kid characters piss me off but its got enuff freaky suspense stuff 2 keep me glued

 

[cydonorb]

Man did I loathe this pile of crap! It held my interest for the first half hour or so until it began repeating itself & little Dakota Fanning's high pitched wailing became so annoying that I longed to see her visage on the side of a milk carton. Cruise proves once again that he's best at playing psychos & creeps as he comes across more as an older cousin or PE coach than as a father…yeah I know his character is supposed to be flawed & demonstrates all the paternal instincts of Terry O'Quinn in THE STEPFATHER, but Cruise just has no chemistry whatsoever with the kids & seems to be reacting to a Green Screen even in the intimate moments. Tim Robbins hangs out & collects a paycheck while still in character from MYSTIC RIVER in a pointless, dull & monotonous 25 minute sequence that does NOTHING but pad out the already overlong 2 hour plus running time. Even the special effects are cheesy & unconvincing making the film seem like one of those lousy Canadian flicks that play on The SciFi Channel every night. Unless he has a good script, a great editor & a wise producer to guide him, Spielberg just cannot direct traffic. The dopey ending of this cosmic turd has got to be one of the lamest finales of all time.

 

[Perpetual Indulgence]

Yuck