BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!

Subject: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 01:58 PM

As sci-fi movies go, this is a very good one, and it's by far the best adaptation of the original H.G. Wells story yet onscreen. Wells set his story in the Victorian era, which really made for some great scenes, given the fact that people at that time had fairly modern artillery, ironclad warships, and such weapons...but the Martians had far superior weaponry. Accordingly, the Earthlings were occasionally able to destroy a Martian machine, but the Martians would quickly adapt and make sure it didn't happen again.

The new movie is set in the present, so the Martians must have a considerably more sophisticated form of technology, in order to cope with our modern weapons systems. That makes things a little less suspenseful, but it's still a great movie. Good acting, good script, a real sense of horror, and unlike the Wells' story, the aliens land all over the planet rather than just in England. That makes it far more realistic.

For once, I had a glow in my heart seeing the American forces doing what they should be doing...defending their own ground, their own homes and families! That's the real job of an army.

This is one hell of a good sci-fi film. Go and see it, unless you hate Tom Cruise for some reason... ;-) (he plays his part well)

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Le Scaramouche
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 02:25 PM

Haven't seen it yet, but by the articles, and behind-the-scenes, etc., it looks about as far removed from the spirit of the book as possible.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: The Shambles
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 02:48 PM

It suffered from following one of the main aspects of the book - to well.

The film's ending was as weak as the book's.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Le Scaramouche
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 02:58 PM

I disagree. The book's ending isn't weak, on the contrary. Man for all his technology, armies and wisdom, is unable to stop the Martians. The most miserable thing on the planet does. This was also at a time when the common cold could kill, even the mighty Martians aren't immune. Pretty clever I should think.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Donuel
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 03:00 PM

Could my 5 year old see this movie and not have horrid nightmares?

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Le Scaramouche
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 03:08 PM

I'm guessing they won't be as bad as if he sees the 53 one. Brrrr!

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: harpgirl
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 03:38 PM

He might have nightmares, Donuel. I didn't read the book but the movie scared me to death. But those kinds of movies on the big screen affect me emotionally. My son took me and my reactions embarrassed him. Hey, what do you expect when you take your mother to the movies?

I thought it was a great movie and I can't stand Tom Cruise, but this was a believeable role for him, in my opinion. But only great in the sense of great scarey sci-fi! The special effects were superb but it was predictable.

I saw Diary of a Mad Black Women and it had lots of emotional impact on me as well. Plus I love comedy! Now that my son works in a video store I get to see lots of new movies!

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Le Scaramouche
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 03:53 PM

Harpgirl, I really do recommend the book. As well as being the first Aliens vs the Earth scenario, it is far, far more than science fiction. In fact I'd rate it as one of the top books written.
Recommended listening is the Jeff Wayne musical (don't be alarmed!) version. Richard Burton is the narrator, David Essex as the artilleryman, the parson (well, curate in the book) and his wife are Phil Lynott and Julie Covington. Justin Hayward performs a few of the songs, like the brilliant "Forever Autumn". Comes with the definitive WOTW artwork.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: The Shambles
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 03:57 PM

I disagree. The book's ending isn't weak, on the contrary.

In the book it is probably better explained and developed but as this ending was so well known - using it again in the movie was probably the mistake.

Our Tom could have put on a Mission Impossible mask disguise or flown his Top Gun plane into them or attacked them with his samurai sword.......

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Le Scaramouche
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 04:02 PM

Thus making it more and more your average Aliens vs the Earth story. WOTW only works when done a certain way.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: number 6
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 04:08 PM

kewl !


sIx

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: The Shambles
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 04:53 PM

At least Tom could have sorted them out by yodeling at them - that seem to work in Mars Attacks.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 04:58 PM

The ending (in the book) was absolutely brilliant (and original at the time), and it made an extremely good philosophical point about the power of Nature, as opposed to the puny things man comes up with in his efforts to control Nature and his fellow man. It was a highly intelligent and poignant ending. To have the same ending in the movie was courageous, because the standard approach to every Hollywood movie (except this one) is to blow things up REAL GOOD in the final scene, courtesy of some incredibly unlikely heroics by the hero(es) of the film.

Pfui! I have contempt for Hollywood's standard idea of "entertainment". This movie had the guts to treat the story seriously instead of doing the usual knee-jerk, seen-it-a-million-times thing one more time.

This movie was also quite faithful to the spirit of the original story, which is probably the finest single piece of science fiction ever written. It was superficially different, in that it was set in modern times, and with a family man rather than a single man on his own. So what? The family aspect made the story more interesting in some ways. It put the main character (Cruise) through even more wrenching emotional situations than were faced by the man in Wells' story, because he has to watch out for his son and daughter too.

Most of the things that happened in the original story happened in this movie, but just moved into a modern setting, that's all. One thing that did not was the extraordinary scene when the armoured ship "Thunder Child" took on 3 Martian machines at the seacoast of England and in a few shocking seconds destroyed 2 of them at the cost of its own total destruction. That was a simply stunning scene, and it's too bad something like it could not have been worked into this movie...with a modern missile cruiser or something like that (but missiles don't work against these Martian machines under normal circumstances).

Other than that, the desperate efforts of the US military to fight the superior Martian technology were quite comparable to the largely futile efforts of Victorian age England's army to fight the Martians in the book. It usually turned out to be nothing more than a suicide mission.

I would definitely NOT take a 5 year old child to see this movie. It depends on the child, mind you, but I don't think it's a good idea to do that.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Le Scaramouche
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 05:01 PM

Actualy, would the Martians need anything more than their heat ray? If they didn't use it, I don't know what I'll do to Spielberg.
It's an unbelievably terrifying weapon and nothing you can do will save you from being struck down by it. ANYWHERE you go, it'll find you. A key element of the story I think.
Don't want bombed out buildings, want something beyond my wildest imaginings, something unnatural, inescapable.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 05:16 PM

You're quite correct, Scaramouche, the heat ray would be entirely enough. It has an unlimited range, will destroy anything solid that it hits (including solid steel), and you can fire it on "open sights", because it follows a straight line. Ergo...you can't miss once you're sighted in.

The weapon shown in the movie works essentially the same way, although it may not look exactly like what you saw in the old Classics comic book (which was pretty cool).

The only way to hide from the Martian fire would be to be underground or hidden behind the crest of a hill...or just to be hidden well enough that they don't know you're there. The latter technique was used briefly by the Royal Artillery Corps in Wells' book. They hid their guns in groves of trees and other natural cover, and waited for the Martian machines to approach, then got in a quick volley or two. By this means they destroyed a Martian machine near Maidenhead, as I recall, hitting it full in the hood. They were then quickly wiped out by several other machines. After that incident the Martians began firing cylinders of a poisonous black gas into every clump of trees or other cover, ahead of them as they went. That nullified the British artillery, killing the crews or driving them off in a panicked rout. The only thing that could be done after that was to leave triggered explosive booby traps for the Martians to stumble over...a passive and not very effective defence, but better than nothing.

The reason the "Thunder Child" managed to destroy a Martian machine with its guns was mostly because they were puzzled by the approaching ship, having never seen one in action before. That gave the ironclad one chance, and they made the best of it. A second Martian machine went down when the exploding and sinking ship collided with it under full steam ahead and dragged it under the waves...

Again, those scenes were in the book, not this new movie.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 05:22 PM

By the way, the Martian machines look great...very sinister...quite reminiscent of the tripods in the original story or the Classics comic book, but again, a bit different.

As for the Martians, they look a bit different too, but I won't spoil it by telling you how. (No, they do NOT look like Jerry Lewis. That would have been deeply disturbing.)

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 05:33 PM

Well I felt that if they'd spent as much on a decent scriptwriter as they had on the effects then it would have been a halfway decent film.

I'm sticking to the radio version.. the pictures were much better.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 05:37 PM

I'm going by some other recent sci-fi films I've seen...most of which have been SOOOOOOOO unutterably bad that, believe me, this one was a real treat. Damn good for Hollywood.

I mean, when I think of crap like "Armageddon" and "Independence Day"...and "Signs"...my GAWD! Thank heaven for small mercies. (I did rather like "Deep Impact", though.)

I swore after "Signs" that I would never again...

1. Go to a Mel Gibson movie.
2. Go to anything that M.Night Shyamalan had anything whatsoever to do with.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 05:39 PM

And I haven't. ;-)

I glory in not having seen "The Passion of the Christ".

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Le Scaramouche
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 05:57 PM

I think I'll wait for the one they set in 1898.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Shanghaiceltic
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 05:57 PM

Hopefully the movie will be released over here soon. Read the book many years ago and I thought it was excellent. Might even dig out my copy of the War of the Worlds album.

BTW someone mentioned 'Mars Attacks' going back to the early 60'2 there was a picture card series, 3 pics and a stick of bubble gum in the packet called Mars Attacks. Absolutely bloodthisty they were too. I was convinced as a 7 year old at the time that if I stepped out of the house I would be rayed to death. Anyone remember them?

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 06:02 PM

I remember those vaguely. They were pretty cool.

I would also love to see "War of the Worlds" done in the world of 1898, exactly as in the book...but that's not likely to happen now for some time, since this movie has come out.

If it did, people would again complain about the ending, I'm sure, and for the same reasons. It's still the best ending.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: RangerSteve
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 08:15 PM

Shanghaiceltic - Yes, I remember them. I still have a clear memory of some of the gorier ones, especially at the end when the Marines are bashing out the Martians brains.

A recent posting at www.straightdope.com explains why Wells' ending probably wouldn't work in real life.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: number 6
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 08:26 PM

kewl !!

sIx

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 08:51 PM

It might work. You never know what you may encounter on entering a new biosphere. When the white men came to North America they passed diseases on the the Indians that wiped out whole tribes. They also picked up syphilis from Natives in the Caribbean (who were not affected by it, but were carriers) and it devastated the Spanish nobility and spread rapidly across Europe.

So why not have a scenario where Earth germs prove fatal to Martian visitors?

The thing is, it allowed H.G. Wells to make a powerful point about man's pride being humbled in the face of Nature...and a spiritual point as well, concerning Divine Providence. In his time, there were very few atheists. In Crazy Horse's culture, there were none. It is the untrammelled pride of the complex human mind that suggests there is no God, because the mind wants to be God itself. The human mind is Oedipus attempting to slay his divine father and supplant him. That is the essential problem in a nutshell. Wells' tale is a cautionary one, a warning to the overly proud human mind that has the nerve to appoint itself as judge, jury, and executioner over an existence which it then has the nerve to deem...meaningless.

There are two results to such a credo...pride...and despair...because what use is life at all if life in the end should prove meaningless?

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 09:05 PM

And I still say it's way better than a bunch of very unlikely heriocs, resulting in things getting "blowed up real good!". How many more times must we sit through reruns of that pre-digested scenario?

Anybody noticed that dramatic TV and movie stories resemble sex? The public wants to finish every episode with a grand smashing wall-shaking orgasm. ;-) Well, I guess that's hardly surprising. But sometimes life is just not like that. Some stories end with a quiet or contemplative moment that makes you think.

"Think" is probably a bad word in Hollywood, right?

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 09:16 PM

It's certainly a bad word on the radio these days...

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Le Scaramouche
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 12:51 PM

Hurrah, Little Hawk, couldn't have said it better myself.
Frankly if people object to the ending as being unlikely, why is it any more so than the entire story of an alien invasion?
The point behind it all is a bit like 'Recessional'.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Wesley S
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 01:23 PM

Another big vote for NOT taking a 5 year old to this movie. Too many parts where a young child is in danger - your child would associate with them.

Overall I loved the movie. One part that struck me as unrealistic however was where Tom Cruise and his family lost their car at the ferry. All of those Americans and only TWO guns were pulled ? That could never happen.

Also - if this was supposed to reflect 9/11 I would have liked to have seen more situations where large crowds pulled together to help each other in times of conflict. There was too much of "ever man for himself".

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: robomatic
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 01:32 PM

Robo's Review: War Of The Worlds
Tom Cruises through alien invasion, Mulder & Sculley
need not apply

The new movie brings a new vision, Empire Of the Sun
meets Close Encounters. If the passing dialog of
extras is to be believed, a million years before ET
phoned anybody, the evil 'they' came and buried great
machines of warfare. They left them to suffer the
vicissitudes of earthquake, continental drift, and oil
drilling just so they could wait for mankind to
achieve nuclear weaponry, battlefield command and
control, and pinpoint precision bombing. Then the
cleverboots struck.

Then they struck. Brilliant planning.

Spielberg chooses a worm's eye view of the
proceedings, an immature dock loader with a, you're
gonna be surprised, ex-wife and alienated kids, one of
them, Dakota Fanning, spookily bright.

The effects are awesome. But to get to the good stuff
we have to endure Tom Cruise's character's life, which
is charmless. The little bits of humor which are so
rare in Spielberg flicks, except for the Indiana Jones
trilogy, are rare here, too. The movie goes down okay
but compared to what it could have been with a better
writer and a bit more imagination, it's a bit of a
disappointment.

Good Part: Effects
Bad Part: Interchangeable character roles: Tom Cruise
could be Mel Gibson could be Keanu Reeves could be
Demi Moore..Dakota Fanning, could be the creepy kid:
"I see dead people"
Apparently Gene Barry, hero of the 50's movie, was
given a bit part, which I found out too late. They
should start putting in little cartoon bubble overlays
when the easily missable easter eggs go by, maybe
they could sell a pair of magic LED glasses with
streaming text commentary.

Anyhoo, it didn't suck, but it didn't rock. And
Spielberg should make up his damn mind: Aliens…..good?
Aliens……bad?

Maybe it was all a horrible misunderstanding (We
thought you liked being hunted for sport)
I just watched "Sean of the Dead" with the neighbors,
and think it's sort of cute but nothing worth renting.
It's an urban English slacker update of the zombie
flick with an unknown cast, for the most part,
althought the supporting female character is the
secretary from "The Office" (original English) series.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 01:36 PM

Well, in the face of an attack as total and sudden and unstoppable as that...and as fast as that...I think you would mostly see just blind panic.

The section with the news crew was pretty cool.

You're right about the guns. It would have been more likely that about 50 people would have been packing a gun in that crowd. I can just see it..."Make my day!" "No, you make MY day!" "No, you make MY day!" "No, all of YOU make MY day!"

LOL! Imagine if the ferry had been in Texas...

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Wesley S
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 01:40 PM

I also wondered how the aliens knew where the big cities were going to be when they "planted" their ships many years earlier ? Did I miss something ?

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 01:42 PM

Aliens, like people, can be either "good" or "bad", depending on your perception (and theirs). In War of the Worlds, the story requires that they be "bad". Are we bad when we slaughter cattle and chickens, when we catch fish, when we dig up clams and boil them? Ask the animals. They would see us as being heartless killers, wouldn't they?

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Wesley S
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 01:49 PM

They weren't bad - they were just misunderstood.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: robomatic
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 01:49 PM

Well, if the aliens took over as depicted in WOTW, then later felt guilty and spent a lot of time and currency complaining about it to their psychiatrists, I would think a godseye point of view would see it all as rather pointless, no?

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 01:49 PM

I don't see any reason to believe that all the machines were necessarily buried underneath major cities. Many may just as well have been somewhere out in the boondocks. What difference would it make? They could travel pretty fast.

It was an odd idea to have the machines buried, since in the original story there were spacecraft that arrived as projectiles, and gradually opened themselves. That made for a spooky and suspenseful opening scene of the Martians in the book. I guess Spielberg decided against that, because we are too familiar with spacecraft now, and the military would have reacted immediately to such landings. He had to come up with a new surprise angle of some kind for the modern setting.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Le Scaramouche
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 01:55 PM

But if they appeared to be a meteorite shower? Nobody knows just what they are, mass specualtion, just like in the book and hundreds of people drive out to see them. The top unscrews, something peers out and SWOOSh goes the heat ray....

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 01:56 PM

Yeah, that would work all right...

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Le Scaramouche
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 02:07 PM

Then why fix it if it isn't broken???????????

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Wesley S
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 02:22 PM

Because it's Hollywood.

"C'mon Jake - it's Chinatown"

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Grab
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 02:26 PM

Could my 5 year old see this movie and not have horrid nightmares?

Think on it, yeah? A 5 year old, going to see any version at all of "War of the Worlds"?! Or any movie at all featuring scenes of large-scale death and destruction, particularly when dished out by alien monsters? Come on, man...

From IMBD, the US rating is: "Rated PG-13 for frightening sequences of sci-fi violence and disturbing images."

Complete ratings from IMDB: "Australia:M / UK:12A / USA:PG-13 / Ireland:12A / Canada:14A (British Columbia) / Finland:K-15 / Hong Kong:IIA / Singapore:PG / Germany:12 / Canada:14A (Ontario) / Czech Republic:12 / Netherlands:12 / Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) / Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) / Iceland:14 / Argentina:13 / Philippines:PG-13 / Peru:14 / Canada:13+ (Quebec) / Norway:15 / Chile:TE (+7) / Portugal:M/12 / Brazil:12 / Sweden:11 / Mexico:B"

Graham.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: mooman
Date: 29 Jul 05 - 05:14 AM

I'm a committed sci-fi buff and I thought this was an excellent movie. My wife, who normally hates sci-fi was gripped by it too.

The story is reasonably if not entirely faithful to the book. The effects are excellent and the acting isn't bad (I thought the young girl was excellent), even Tom Cruise. One or two typical Spielberg sentimental gaffs, e.g. why were the wife's family all unscathed in a sea of general destruction around them? I perticularly enjoyed the scene in the basement with the electonic/mechanical tentacle searching around for the humans.

Overall I'd give it 9 on 10. I personally wouldn't take a 5 year old to it as I think nightmares could definitely result.

I see the usual knockers of anything are knocking this, so no surprise there...

Peace

moo

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 29 Jul 05 - 12:23 PM

Some people are very difficult to please...

To them I say: If you're so smart, then go make your own movie!

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: GUEST,DB
Date: 29 Jul 05 - 12:36 PM

Has anyone come across the SF anthology, 'War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches' (ed. Kevin J. Anderson, Bantam 1996)? The central conceit of this anthology takes the form of descriptions of the Martian invasion from the points of view of various famous people who were around in the 'year' of the invasion (1898) - eg. Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Albert Eistein, Pablo Picasso etc., etc. Sounds a little bit naff and more than a bit contrived but is, in fact, really rather good.
My two favourite stories are 'Foreign Devils', by Walter Jon Williams, in which the Martians land in China and we see the invasion through the eyes of the Dowager Empress, and 'Night of the Cooters', by Howard Waldrop', in which the invaders are confronted by the Texas Rangers.
This anthology is highly recommended - if you can find it and if you like your fiction really weird!

DB

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Le Scaramouche
Date: 29 Jul 05 - 03:19 PM

When it comes to one of my favourite books, I suppose I am hard to please. Standards you know.
Would love to make my own film, if someone could spare a bob or two, or 10 mil.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: robomatic
Date: 29 Jul 05 - 05:03 PM

Interesting that the gladsome boosters of this watchable but flawed flick feel they have to detract from those who were not similarly overawed.

so it's not a crime to be critical unless the criticism aligns with one's own 'pinion, then?

I am not likely to have 100's of millions to make my own film but I will be happy to recommend other films that are more watchable and thought provoking:

For action and adventure, Mr. Spielberg's Indiana Jones flicks, even that awful one in the middle 'Temple of Doom' were superior to this.

For SF: The (B&W) Classics:
Forbidden Planet "Monsters From The Id!"
Day The Earth Stood Still

The recent classics:
Alien
Aliens

Recent but not overpopularized:
Gattaca (no aliens, but forgive me, it was though provoking and has Uma Thurman)

By the way:
Independence Day sucked like a hoover. It's the ultimate example of fodder for the fickle foolish fan. The same people behind that one were behind Godzilla, which managed to put people to sleep as the hyperthyroid lizard trounced through Manhattan, and Day After Tomorrrow, which froze New York. I think they've got something against the Big Apple.
And as far as 'sucks like a hoover' see the ORIGINAL: Plan Nine From Outer Space, one of the sublimely awfullest works of time yet passed. Yet it contained one great truth:
"Because You Of Earth Are Idiots!"

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Wesley S
Date: 29 Jul 05 - 05:09 PM

Thread creep alert ! I've never understood why so many people thing that Uma Thurman is so wonderful. I just don't get it. But then again there are a lot of things I just don't understand.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: mooman
Date: 30 Jul 05 - 12:22 PM

You've completely missed it robomatic! By the way I agree with your opinions of the other films you mention except the Indiana Jones series which Ithought were mediocre.

Everybody to his own...!

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: robomatic
Date: 30 Jul 05 - 02:31 PM

cowboy if I missed it I'm unaware of the fact, naturally, since your comment asserts without enlightening I can only conclude that you miss a lot yourownself.
As for not liking the Indiana Jones series, I agree with you that they were not for everyone. I quite liked the opening scene of the first one, and that helped set me up for the mood of the rest. WOTW '05 got off to a slow start, unlike every other rendition of the book.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: number 6
Date: 30 Jul 05 - 04:44 PM

Kewl

sIx

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 30 Jul 05 - 04:52 PM

"if not entirely faithful to the book"

I don't recall seeing more than 15 mins that was faithful to the book!

But yes, the groping tentacle was pretty good.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Cluin
Date: 31 Jul 05 - 03:55 PM

The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one, he said
The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one...
But still, they cooooooooooooooome!

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: The Shambles
Date: 31 Jul 05 - 07:57 PM

Must be the vibrations.......

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: The Shambles
Date: 31 Jul 05 - 07:59 PM

Was that all the red stuff? Or all of that goo that gushed out of the fallen machine?

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: ChocolateLover
Date: 01 Aug 05 - 07:48 AM

Why did no one warn me that this was a comedy? Spent the vast majority of the movie giggling especially at the red goo at the end - you know when you've been tango-d! And I always thought that those dentist's lamps were dangerous, but I hadn't realised that they were alien . . .

ChocolateLover

(And they should have put the proper music in it)

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: GUEST,tHE mARTIANS
Date: 01 Aug 05 - 08:28 AM

oUR INTENTION WAS THAT YOU SHOULD DIE LAUGHING, EARTH SCUM. UNFORTUNATELY, YOUR STUPID BACTERIA RUINED THE WHOLE PLAN. aT LEAST, THOUGH, WE MANAGED TO DESTROY A BILLION OF YOU. bETTER THAN NOTHING.

sERIOUSLY, IF YOU FOUND THE MOVIE FUNNY, THEN YOU REALLY OUGHT TO BE EUTHANIZED AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, BECAUSE YOU ARE TOO RIDICULOUS TO LIVE.

dAMNED CAPS LOCK!

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 01 Aug 05 - 09:44 AM

HG Wells must be turning in his grave.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Le Scaramouche
Date: 01 Aug 05 - 10:16 AM

What did I hear about the Red Weed in the film, making it into the bloodsucker???

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: The Shambles
Date: 01 Aug 05 - 02:20 PM

HG Wells must be turning in his grave.

Sombody was telling me in all seriousness that the author was Orson Welles...........

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Amos
Date: 01 Aug 05 - 02:39 PM

Little Hawk,

I rarely hear you say anything I need to differ with. But try as she might, and she tried mightily, Dakota Fanning could not offset the vacuous unbelievability of Cruise and the gaping holes in the plot. All science fiction requires the suspension of judgement, but for Spielberg to have left so many lacunae in the ordinary continuity of his plot and images is annoying to me, because I have come to expect much better of him.

The power of Wells' ending, which as you say is a major testimonial to the power of Nature in the original book, is badly underplayed, in addition to the character flaws of Cruise's portrayal and the bizarre sense of broken continuity and unreality. This despite some wonderful special effects.

Dakota Fanning was a treat, though, and an opportunity to see an extraordinary actress in the early days of her career. She outclasses Shirley Temple by leagues; she's up there with Katherine Hepburn IMHO, and I only hope she stays as clean and sharp as he is now when she grows to young womanhood.

I wouldn't bother taking a child to this movie. Let them read the book -- they'll do a better job with the pictures and the continuity.

That's my $.02 worth.


A

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: GUEST,red
Date: 02 Aug 05 - 08:38 AM

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: GUEST,Redhorse at work
Date: 02 Aug 05 - 08:47 AM

Don't know what happened there

Saw it ten days ago. 21st century special effects tacked onto a 50's B-movie (even down to the wooden acting). Okay America is currently terrified of Terrorism rather than Communism, but otherwise seems to be the same clunky old hokum.

HG Wells wrote an intelligent book. This was not an intelligent film.

nick

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 02 Aug 05 - 06:26 PM

Well, Amos, I agree with you that the H.G. Wells ending was underplayed. No question about that. They could have made it register with much more impact than they did. I did feel a twinge of disappointment about that very thing when watching the movie.

Still, consider how godawful BAAAADDDD most Hollywood movies of this type ARE!!!! Think about it.

This one was pretty good. I count that as a major triumph. I LOVE this story so much...so I was relieved that they did a not bad job with it.

So...I am seeing the glass as half full on this one. You're seeing it as half empty (or more than half empty?).

I like my approach better. It's more fun. ;-)

Face it, man...NOBODY will ever make a movie that meets your stringent requirements for perfection.   (grin)

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: robomatic
Date: 03 Aug 05 - 11:04 AM

LH:
Given Spielberg's abilities and his tendency to squander them, this is an average to below average Spielberg flick.

Sometimes the glass needs to be washed.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: The Shambles
Date: 03 Aug 05 - 11:09 AM

I think this was less a movie version of the book but a re-make of the 50s movie - (starring Gene Barry and also set in the USA). The effects were good but I am not sure that it really succeeded in adding much to the book or the earlier movie.

This director usually manages some original touches but seemed to fail this time. The tentacle scene was well done (if overlong) but did remind me of a similar scene from The Abyss.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 03 Aug 05 - 11:17 AM

Yes, it was like the scene in The Abyss...

Well, what I would dearly like to see is this: A completely faithful rendition of the original War of the Worlds story just as H.G. Wells did it, complete with the 1898 setting. That would be marvelous. It would also be very expensive to do, I would expect.

And I doubt that anyone will do it. Too bad.

One thing that was more realistic about Spielberg's film than the original story was this: the Martians invaded all over the World, not just in England. It is highly unlikely that an alien invasion would choose to confine itself to the British Isles, after all. ;-)

(but maybe it shows just how egocentric the British were about themselves back then...)

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 03 Aug 05 - 12:36 PM

And it needed Richard Burton's voice and Jeff Wayne's music.
S:0)

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Le Scaramouche
Date: 03 Aug 05 - 03:27 PM

Yes, that is the best adaptation yet.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 03 Aug 05 - 03:28 PM

Matter of fact, I have that LP. Got a copy of it a couple of months ago from a friend who collects records.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Le Scaramouche
Date: 03 Aug 05 - 03:55 PM

Yeah, mum's still got hers. Can't play it though but at least we have the CD. It's also been my introduction to the one and only Phil Lynott.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 03 Aug 05 - 06:28 PM

The wobbly camera work and fast images made Manitas feel sick.... Even seeing it a second time, I'm still sticking with my original feelings...

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: number 6
Date: 03 Aug 05 - 08:32 PM

kewl !

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: robomatic
Date: 04 Aug 05 - 02:04 AM

This was 'sigh-fi' as in "(sigh) it could have been a lot better!"

in my $50 remake I'm gonna have the Martians regret torching New Jersey, they're gonna run into Tony Soprano!

Woke up this morning, and got your heat-ray gun
Pod leader always told you you were the chosen one
"You're a clone of a million, but they've got to burn and shine
Too bad about it, born under a two-moon with bacteria hives

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 04 Aug 05 - 08:26 AM

I think the overly fast (changing) camera images are a problem in virtually ALL movies these days! It's maddening. What the hell do they think they're doing, anyway? I think it has resulted as an offshoot of TV advertising and music videos. Whatever it is, it's quite disturbing to the orderly functioning of the human brain.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: The Shambles
Date: 04 Aug 05 - 08:30 AM

It was good on the radio...........

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 04 Aug 05 - 04:30 PM

It was better in the book...

MUCH better.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Le Scaramouche
Date: 04 Aug 05 - 04:42 PM

Unbeatable in fact.

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: robomatic
Date: 04 Aug 05 - 11:07 PM

I've got a soft spot for Gene Barry waiting for the end in that church...

Subject: RE: BS: War of the Worlds - Darned good movie!
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 05 Aug 05 - 01:51 AM

So have I but the ducks are still nesting on it...

LTS