Page 1 of War of the Worlds (Possible Spoilers)

Went to see this this morning without any expectations and left very disappointed after being bored for two hours. The FX were well done, as you`d expect from any film with a budget of $135 million, in particular when Cruise walks through the wreckage of a `plane crash but that was about the only positive I could find. Spielberg`s pacing was the same as in Saving Private Ryan; a busy opening 25 minutes which then lapses into a second act which drags before a poor ending.

My main problem was with Cruise`s character; a bad father and divorcee who only seems to care for himself, yet you are supposed to empathise with him in his quest to protect his children from an alien `invasion`. Dakota Fanning also quickly began to grate, her character is an irritating young girl who does little except scream a lot and look pathetic when the script calls for it.

There was completely unnecessary section of the film with Tim Robbins who seemed to play a crazy survivalist which ended when Ray kills him even though Robbins is far bigger than Cruise and is armed with a spade.

As soon as the film began, I noticed the bizarre (for a modern blockbuster) aspect ratio of 1.85 : 1 but browsing on IMDB it seems that Spielberg loves this ratio and uses it in all his films - I can`t help feeing that WOTW would have looked far better in 2.35 : 1.

Pretty poor - 2/5



My Top 20 Horror Movies ---- My DVD Collection

Senor Spielbergo shoots most of his films flat (Minority Report is the only recent film that breaks this tradition). I`ve not seen the film yet, but as much as I can believe that Dakota Fanning`s character would start to get on your tits, I can`t believe it`s her fault. She`s the best actress I`ve seen in God knows how long, in spite of her relative youth.

I`ve not seen the film yet (I`ll be waiting until next Orange Wednesday), but I`m lookign forward to it. I was surprised by the sudden turn-around of the film considering all the other prject the duo potentially could have worked on, but I reckon it`ll be ok. I know it`ll have the s***ty Spielberg A.I. ending, but I want to see what they`ve done with the tripods. Hopefully they haven`t f***ed it too badly.

re: Dakota Fanning - It was not her fault she was annoying, same goes for Tom Cruise; his character (Ray) is bad tempered and selfish yet is the `hero` of the piece, picking up `superpowers` as he goes along! Come to think of it, there wasn`t a single character I actually liked and would have cared if they had been zapped by a tripod!


My Top 20 Horror Movies ---- My DVD Collection

I saw it today as well. In the first 10 minutes after the opening narration (by Morgan Freeman) I forgot this was a film about aliens. Spielberg always pulls his audience deep inside his world and I was sucked in immediately. The characters have been seen before, there are cliches aplenty, but it works.

I`m a fan of the book and the author, so I was happy to see it was very faithful to it`s core, including the ending.

I loved the film, and I would warn against taking any young kids to see this (under 8`s are a definite NO!). There are images in this film that will stick with you for a long time. Spielberg has taken influence from past (holocaust) and present (9/11) and completely twisted them to make War of the Worlds a horrific story. This isn`t a bang-a-minute blockbuster, this is a horror film. As soon as the Tripods "begin" the film doesn`t let up. I was on the edge of my seat and I couldn`t believe what I was seeing in a PG-13 or 12A blockbuster. This has been quite a year for hard hitting films in the lower age brackets, the first Star Wars film to get the PG-13, Batman Begins was very dark and violent compared to the others. But WotW pushes those boundaries even further.

It`s not the best film or the year, or even the best blockbuster. But it`s a damn good film. And it`s the best film about aliens coming to exterminate us ;)

Quote:
I was sucked in immediatelyMaybe that`s the problem, I (and my brother) wasn`t. Quote:
this is a horror filmYes, it is and I though that it was lucky to get the 12A certificate. It didn`t have enough horror; the `scariest` bits were probably the scene in the basement with Tim Robbins and the alien `probe` and the Romero influenced scene with the car (the only working car in New York :/ ). Quote:
the best film about aliens coming to exterminate usIMO Phantasm is a better film but, like the saying goes, to each his own.



My Top 20 Horror Movies ---- My DVD Collection

Ahhh but is it better than Cartman and his anal probe?

floyd


DVD collection

If only it was that innovative - the `probe` looked like a rip off of the water probe from The Abyss!


My Top 20 Horror Movies ---- My DVD Collection

floyd


DVD collection

Uh, you guys, seriously! ;)

Just got back from seeing this and thought I`d post my opinion while it`s still fresh in my mind. This has got to be the bleakest summer blockbuster ever made! I was amazed by how faithful they were to the book, like Chewie I`m a big fan of Wells classic. Just out of interest wossname have you read the book?
Was Cruise`s character likable? No, he was a bad father. Was he a believable character? Absolutely, he was a working class guy coming home from a hard day and having to look after two kids who don`t even think of him as `Dad` anymore. Did he grow as a character throughout the film? Yes, he`s found the love for his children he thought he`d lost and by the end of the film you like him at least a little more than when the film started.
Quote:
Dakota Fanning also quickly began to grate, her character is an irritating young girl who does little except scream a lot and look pathetic when the script calls for it.
What the hell do you expect a young girl in those circumstances to do? Come up with a plan to defeat the aliens single-handed? It was nice to see Miss Fanning playing a character who acts her age rather than the super intelligent kids she normally plays.
This was definitely a film influenced by 9/11 and a very fatalistic one at that. Like Chewie said this is a horror film and it`s interesting that the most horrific scene (the one with the car) hasn`t even got a Martian in sight. Have to agree as well that this should not be a 12A, there are some very disturbing images in there that I`m sure will disturb younger children.
Quote:
which ended when Ray kills him even though Robbins is far bigger than Cruise and is armed with a spade.
Size is not always a deciding factor in a fight neither is the fact one is armed - Robbins character was an ambulance driver, Cruise`s did a more physically demanding job and while Robbins had a spade his profession was to save lives while Cruise was acting on primal instinct to protect his offspring.
Quote:
I noticed the bizarre (for a modern blockbuster) aspect ratio of 1.85 : 1
Not that unusual. Sin City, Hellboy, Van Helsing and Spider-Man, to name a few, all share that aspect ratio. Would have been nice to see it in 2.35:1 though.
Have to say this has been a great year for blockbusters and this is the best of the bunch so far and my film of the year to date.

************************************************************
33939245[at]gpj.00N?1116937776">33939245[at]gpj.00N?1116937776" class="forumImage" />
`.....be nice until it`s time to not be nice`