War of the Worlds

[brookzy]

Ron is full of shit about War of the Worlds. After he saw it he said himself that he thought it was a good movie.
Check the tape.

[Judge Smails]

Back and to the left. Magic bullet, indeed.

http://laura-knight-jadczyk.com/images/magic_bullet.jpg

[Gvac]

So Ron is a lying, left-wing, anti-american, movie snob Svengali, huh?

I knew it!

[spankyfrank]

Thats it I'm breakin up with the show...SPEW YOUR HATE IF YOU WANT I DON'T CARE. SEE I TYPE IN CAPS SO YOU KNOW I MEAN IT!!!

[Tallman388]

So Ron is a lying, left-wing, anti-american, movie snob Svengali, huh?

I knew it!

Just the movie snob part, those other things are mean spirited poppycock.

[Mike Teacher]

Ron is full of shit about War of the Worlds. After he saw it he said himself that he thought it was a good movie.
Check the tape.

Tapes? Wow thats so 70s.

Anyway irrelevant.

His point was simply, its a really really bad movie. Really really bad movies are bad on several levels; plausilibility story arc casting character development put your film 101 list here...

Its a piece of shit for huge sci-fi fans like me who were expecting, finally, a good take on the HG Wells story, and/or Orson interp, and or some pastiche of both.

Cruise is good in some [Magnolia] and bad in others [this]
Tim Robbins horrifically miscast
Plausability [yeah I know it sci-fi...plausibility???] but Ron nailed some. Advanced aliens cant realize we have bacteria thats deadly? We took the precation when we went to the Moon. Heres another, they have the technology to travel interstellar distance but have to catch screaming adults on the run in those basket things and then suck them in???
They can travel light years but cant detect you crocuhing in your basement from 5 feet away. Right. Cmon Steve, you did Close Encounters...
Either kill people for real with blood and guts and overdo it a la 300, or get off the bus. What the Fuck was that thing? A 'turn you into Kitty Litter' ray? That was weak and a cop-out to blood and guts out and families in.
Make a movie for a demographic, not one to please everyone [see above]
The EMP pulse destroys anything electronic but people are recording with cameras; which would fry too.
The kid? The Horror.
They changed the opening voiceover, which will piss off purists who know the original was perfection, and Morgan Freeman has been used to cliche. [it was him??]
I Loathe feel good endings. He fucked with CE3K with this and ruined it with the 1980 re-release. It ending with Dreyfuss walking up and you know nothing more = superb. Dont fuck with superb.

Thats off top of head give me time

Some wonderful, spectacular scenes of CGI destruction... all of which were shown in teasers and trailers and ads and the DVD menu and I Fucking Hate That. Give us some fucking credit; some Dont Want To Know, some actually think Expectation is a Prison, and want a cinematic tabula rasa when the lights go down
The kid living through all that = another way too convenient/happy end

I remember just ebing so pissed throughout; sorry if you disagree we just disagree but man potential vs what was on the screen are light years a apart.

He made Close Encounters; an imperfect beast, but it revolutionized the genre. Maybe thats clouding my view, tough to not remember he made that [my opinion] imperfect masterpiece.

=

Sadly, the 1953 version is a piece of shit too. Great idea with the aliens, but ooofa...

=

There was a TV-Movie adaptation of the Orson Wells Mercury Theatre presentation/hoax/panic of Halloween 1938 and it was so long ago but I remember it not being horrific. Bruce Dern? Too long ago, too lazy to google.

A real, true adaptation of the Wells re-writing is, IMHO, what is needed; he ramped up the tension so slowly, so well, until fuck me there coming this way.

[Dougie Brootal]

some one just say cock???

[mikeyboy]

Ron is full of shit about War of the Worlds. After he saw it he said himself that he thought it was a good movie.
Check the tape.

We're going to need a date if we're going to accept your proof.

[Tallman388]

some one just say cock???

It's not gay if it's mean spirited

[Zorro]

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n67/Chas4604/war_of_the_world_ad.jpg

[Dougie Brootal]

i actually like war of the worlds. i thought cruise did a great job. the kid living through it and a couple other thing the teach pointed out were awful but i say all in all it was a fun movie. great film? no. but it was a good movie. imho.

[NewYorkDragons80]

Its a piece of shit for huge sci-fi fans like me who were expecting, finally, a good take on the HG Wells story, and/or Orson interp, and or some pastiche of both...

Advanced aliens cant realize we have bacteria thats deadly? We took the precation when we went to the Moon.
I don't think the above 2 statements quite match up

[Mike Teacher]

true that.

Teachers: Often Worng but Never in Doubt.

OK modernize it so we have something totally unexpected. Smoke Pants kills the aliens.

[ChimneyFish]

So Ron is a lying, left-wing, anti-american, movie snob Svengali, huh?

I knew it!

You forgot "God-hating".

[Mike Teacher]

Wait thinking for half a second, bacteria wasnt bad as an Alien Killer for HG Wells' time; germ theory had been around but much/most was unknown, as a modern science it was fairly new in late 19th / early 20th centuries.

Definately need something else now, but for back then, not bad. A novel idea.

geh

geh

geh

[TooLowBrow]

Wait thinking for half a second, bacteria wasnt bad as an Alien Killer for HG Wells' time; germ theory had been around but much/most was unknown, as a modern science it was fairly new in late 19th / early 20th centuries.
i didnt see the movie, but could it have been an allergy?
we dont really understand allergies, and some come out of nowhere and it's hard to detect who has them besides ones who show symptoms. (like the 'new' peanut allergies)
if it was a deadly allergy wouldnt it serve the same purpose as bacteria?
and soldiers (even alien soldiers) out on the battlefield wouldnt be so well monitored for allergies

[Gvac]

It was probably the worst movie I've seen in the past 5 years.

I can't believe anybody liked it.

[TheMojoPin]

Its a piece of shit for huge sci-fi fans like me who were expecting, finally, a good take on the HG Wells story, and/or Orson interp, and or some pastiche of both.

A real, true adaptation of the Wells re-writing is, IMHO, what is needed; he ramped up the tension so slowly, so well, until fuck me there coming this way.

Wait, wait, wait...you want a "true" adaptation, but decry that the aliens die of a human virus and use a ray that essentially burns people to ash? These are pretty key elements to Wells' own story.

I don't think Spielberg's adaptation is anything special, but I don't understand when people say it's "horrible" or "the worst film in/since...blah-blah-blah." At the worst I think it's like a "C" film...it has some big missteps (like the son magically showing up at the end alive), but it also has some really effective scenes (the storms, the bodies drifting down the river, the flaming train out of nowhere, the "walkers" pouncing on the people waiting for the ferry) and some good tension, especially for a disaster film.

[King Hippos Bandaid]

It was probably the worst movie I've seen in the past 5 years.

I can't believe anybody liked it.

QFT

I could have sworn I saw Subliminal Advertising for Scientology during this flcik

It stunk on Ice



I loved the book by HG Wells

I enjoyed it being narrated by Orson Welles

I even enjoyed the Corny 1950s Movie

but that Movie Stunk


Tom Cruise + Dakota Fanning = Torture

[nukinfuts]

QFT
Tom Cruise + Dakota Fanning = Torture

So it wasn't bad that I was wishing she would be sucked up by the alien and spit out onto a field as fertilizer?

[MadMatt]

It was a crappy movie full of plot holes, poor casting, and complete cop-outs - Spielberg didn't commit on any level except special effects.

As improbable as it was, I can even buy the "death by germ." However, it probably would have made it some type of weird interaction or unexpected mutation.

They could have even made it blood-born rather than air born - they were grinding up people and spreading them as fertilizer for gosh sake! It would be easy enough to have some type of interaction with their alien physiology.

Probably one of the biggest movie disappointments of the decade.

[TheMojoPin]

One thing that really bugs me about it are people using video cameras right after everything electrial was supposedly fragged.

[silas]

I agree with most of the numerous flaws already noted, but imo worth watching if you've never seen it and it is on TV while you are working/wasting time on computer etc...

On the plus side, a few cool scenes;
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------------------somewhat spoilers (if you can use that term for a cruise flic)

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The initial confrontation (the wail the 1st tripod makes before it starts shooting is terrific), the masses being mercilessly ripped into just after the ferry scene, and i thought the sense of dread conveyed by the burning train passing at the crossing was exceptional.

[TheMojoPin]

I agree with most of the numerous flaws already noted, but imo worth watching if you've never seen it and it is on TV while you are working/wasting time on computer etc....

I basically feel the same way. When I finally saw it on HBO I found it watchable, but nothing special.

[NewYorkDragons80]

It was a fair movie, but nothing extraordinary. Tim Robbins was awful casting, but the scene with the minivan and the gun was pretty strong for a popcorn flick

I'm with Mike the Teacher when he says that we are way past due for a movie on the Orson Welles broadcast.

[TheMojoPin]

I'm curious about something...what did you guys think of Minority Report?

[pittphantoms]

I wanted to hate this movie - but didnt. I thought it was interesting.

When they showed that tripod spewing grated humans all over the ground - that was quite disturbing to me...

[NewYorkDragons80]

I'm curious about something...what did you guys think of Minority Report?
Too much Scientology

[IamFogHat]

I'm curious about something...what did you guys think of Minority Report?

I liked it in the theater, but when I rewatched it on DVD I thought it was dogshit.

[King Hippos Bandaid]

never saw Minority Report

no more Tom Cruise for me

[nukinfuts]

never saw Minority Report

no more Tom Cruise for me

WTF was up with Vanilla Sky...is it that Tom Cruise sucks or just chooses to be in films that suck or better yet would those films have sucked had someone else played the part?

[TheMojoPin]

It seem a lot of WotW hate seems to be more Tom Cruise hate. Not that it was some great film...far from it...but MR was pretty damn decent.

[scottinnj]

I'm curious about something...what did you guys think of Minority Report?

Interesting concept, good effects and camera work, but overall, okay, not great.

[NewYorkDragons80]

It seem a lot of WotW hate seems to be more Tom Cruise hate. Not that it was some great film...far from it...but MR was pretty damn decent.
I was actually setting the bait to see how many people would jump on the Scientology bandwagon. I still like Tom Cruise and I think a lot of the hate comes from Scientology and his bizarre personality off-screen.

[TheMojoPin]

Maybe it's a Spielberg thing?

If people start saying Munich wasn't good, I give up.

[thepaulo]

There was a movie about the Wells broadcast with the late Paul Shenar(Scarface) as Wells.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073454/

[scottinnj]

It seem a lot of WotW hate seems to be more Tom Cruise hate. Not that it was some great film...far from it...but MR was pretty damn decent.

I wish there was more of Rufus Riley, the Cyber Parlor owner. The perfect creep for that kind of movie.

[scottinnj]

If people start saying Munich wasn't good, I give up.

No f-ing way! That was brutally good. Especially when they do the female assassin in revenge. Just brutal.

[thepaulo]

I always had a problem with the murder mystery wrap up to MR.

[underdog]

If people start saying Munich wasn't good, I give up.

Munich was phenomenal.

I always had a problem with the murder mystery wrap up to MR.

Yeah, and my major complaint with Vanilla Sky was the fucking perfect wrap up that they did. They left absolutely nothing up to your imagination.

[Epschtein]

terrible movie with some great moments, when the tripod appeared on the hill above the ferry and gave off its wail really freaked me out, well done. they really missed the boat on capturing the essence of the original material tho, i would love to see it done right.

and if you think WotW1 was bad, watch WotW2, i cant figure out how it was allowed to be released with the name attached to it, it is 10 times worse than WotW1. maybe even 11 times worse!

[happytypinggirl]

It was probably the worst movie I've seen in the past 5 years.

I can't believe anybody liked it.

I was actually setting the bait to see how many people would jump on the Scientology bandwagon. I still like Tom Cruise and I think a lot of the hate comes from Scientology and his bizarre personality off-screen.

i couldn't get past cruise. its not so much that i hate him (even though i do, i can enjoy him in the right roles)...its that he wasn't right for this one. he is FAR too pretty boy to pull off that blue collar dock worker/mechanic/whatever he actually did for a job in that movie vibe. and that spoiled everything else for me.

[hammersavage]

i'd love to band a precog...

[MikeB]

i couldn't get past cruise. its not so much that i hate him (even though i do, i can enjoy him in the right roles)...its that he wasn't right for this one. he is FAR too pretty boy to pull off that blue collar dock worker/mechanic/whatever he actually did for a job in that movie vibe. and that spoiled everything else for me.

Seeing him throw a baseball was a little silly. I think Speilberg was the wrong director for it. Kubrick is the only director that can do science fiction in my mind.

[sailor]

i enjoyed it. it's not nearly the debacle people are making it out to be.

and i loved minority report. WotW isn't in the same class as that one. other than the matrix sequels, minority report is the only movie i can say i've ever anxiously awaited. i just wish those were as enjoyable.

[silas]

I'm curious about something...what did you guys think of Minority Report?

i seem to be with the majority in having mixed opinions.

Certainly very watchable by anyone who likes SF.

Wonder if cruise is a Dick fan? (sorry, yes too easy)

[helterskeletor]

Ron is full of shit about War of the Worlds. After he saw it he said himself that he thought it was a good movie.
Check the tape.

He does this sometimes. It makes for good radio.

[Furtherman]

I thought it was an OK movie. The F/X was really good, no denying that.

However, the whole "bacteria as a killer" aspect works. The tripods were buried in the ground well before modern humans populated the areas. Most likely many thousands of years ago. Maybe they were planted because they saw the potential of human population growth... and thought "let this crop grow and we'll come back later to harvest." Meanwhile, over the thousands of years, the bacteria in us mutated, changed... possibly for the worse because of how much we have polluted ourselves. Something the aliens didn't calculate into their factor. They ate bad food.

Same thing happened to the explorers of centuries ago exploring new lands. How many died simply because they ate something poisonous?

Yes, they had the technology to pull this off, but that doesn't count for learning mistakes. We have the technology to make it to Mars. But there will be fatalities in those first colonies that will involve instances where we wouldn't think would happen. We just survived months getting here! Someone will let their guard down simply because of that feeling.

[EliSnow]

It sucks on ice.

[ryno1974]

War of the worlds was utter trash. I LOVE popcorn movies, and even I couldnt stomach this one.