The Third Tom Cruise Thread - "War of the Worlds" reviews (spoilers in boxes!)

[The Emperor Fabulous]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
After Collateral, I think he should pull a Chris Walken and just play bad guys for a while

I couldn't agree more. Collateral was badass.

[Bkeela]

Revenge of the Sith might be a good film for someone with very, very low standards. I thought it was ****e.

Spielberg can be pretty much relied upon when he isn't making 'serious' films, but I wish he had been true to the Victorian setting of the novel. It is like your average American film goer wouldn't have been able to relate to the film unless it was set in modern times.

I have mixed feelings about Tom Cruise. He was excellent in Magnolia, but is fairly nondescript as the action hero. I'm still having nightmares about The Last Samurai.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by The Emperor Fabulous
I couldn't agree more. Collateral was badass.

And while people praised Foxx, Cruise made that movie. He oozed evil.

[Bkeela]

Pity Collateral was burdened with a terribly cliched hollywood ending.

[Imran Siddiqui]

There aren't many movies where the bad guys win.

[monolith94]

War of the Worlds? Whatever. It only looks good, not great.

I just saw Howl's Moving Castle last night - now there is a GREAT film. I recommend it to ALL of you. Fantastic!

[BeBMan]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
There aren't many movies where the bad guys win.

I thought the humans win in WotW?

Poor Martians

[JohnT]

Originally posted by Bkeela
Revenge of the Sith might be a good film for someone with very, very low standards. I thought it was ****e.

Spielberg can be pretty much relied upon when he isn't making 'serious' films, but I wish he had been true to the Victorian setting of the novel. It is like your average American film goer wouldn't have been able to relate to the film unless it was set in modern times.

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR PEOPLE NOT AWARE OF THE PLOT TWIST IN THE ORIGINAL NOVEL/1955 MOVIE

Spoiler:

I think the novel/movie/adaptations work best only if updated, and not stay rooted to the original. Part of WotW's fun was the initial expectation that mankind can handle this, only to have our asses handed back to us time and again.

A movie set in Victorian times would start out with the expectation that the people would lose, only to be saved by germs. There really wouldn't be much tension in the middle third as the audience is just waiting for the Martians to start dying.

So I disagree. (he tells the unspoiled.)

[BeBMan]

OK, has anybody seen it yet? First I didn't plan to watch it, mainly because I thought Spielberg was taking a break from "serious" movies with it, and WotW is just another scifi "action" movie. The other reason was that they had a strange policy here regarding previews/reviews (before the start) about the movie, there were lots of limitations, so most critics here thought these are signs that the movie can only be bad.....but it seems to be different now.

However today I read a review which basically said it is an excellent movie with a much more serious background than I thought. The guy who wrote it thinks that Spielberg codes big traumatic experiences like sep11 or even the holocaust into the visuals of the movie without making too simple or obvious references......Anybody seen it, can recommend it?

[Barinthus]

Reviews are not neccessarily everything, I know, just the movie got a good one here.

Review: A fine, exciting 'War'

Spielberg's new film terrifying, brilliant

By Paul Clinton
For CNN.com

(CNN) -- H.G. Wells' alien invasion story "The War of the Worlds," first published in 1898, is a looking glass for the fears of the times.

When he wrote it, Wells -- like many observers -- was uneasy about industrialization. In 1938, Orson Welles re-enacted the story on the radio at a time when Hitler's war machine was gearing up in Europe. In 1953, when the Cold War was at its height, a successful movie starring Gene Barry was produced.

Now, Steven Spielberg has brilliantly resurrected "War" in the aftermath of September 11, with terrorism on many minds. It's no coincidence that the movie begins in present-day New York City.

This time, the alien invasion is seen through the eyes of one man, Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise), and his two children Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and Robbie (Justin Chatwin).

The film starts heavy-handedly. Divorced from his wife Mary Ann (Miranda Otto), Ray -- as the script makes clear again and again -- is an inept, indifferent father. When his children reluctantly appear for a rare visitation to his messy bachelor pad in working-class New Jersey, we're repeatedly shown that they don't particularly like him, and he has no idea of how to relate to them.

But things pick up considerably when a gigantic and strange lightning storm blackens the sky. In small, effective vignettes Spielberg captures the awe and ensuing panic of Ray's family and neighbors as the storm clears and huge alien tripods -- triggered by the lightning -- begin to rise up from beneath the city's streets.

The tripods immediately begin to vaporize buildings and people at random. Soon Ray -- in a gruesome nod to 9/11 -- is covered in ashes from the debris of human remains as he and his children flee the city.

Strong performances

Unlike other sci-fi movies involving the planet's destruction, "War of the Worlds" contains no major landmarks blown to smithereens, no urgent messages from the Oval Office and no scenes of frantic TV reporters doing dramatic live shots while surrounded by the terrified public.

Spielberg doesn't need the cliches. Instead, he adheres to the suspenseful story of an ordinary man caught up in an extraordinary event -- albeit with two kids attached. (Children weren't a part of the original version.)

Fanning once again gives an amazing performance, showing a maturity way beyond her years. Her character, along with Cruise's, is in nearly every scene and she's vital to Ray's eventual redemption as both a man and a father.

The character of the son, however, is a major flaw. He disappears halfway through the film, and -- quite frankly -- he's annoying. There's no need for a son in the film; it's really a father-daughter story, and that's where the film's heart resides.

Tim Robbins turns up as a deranged man named Ogilvy, a character based on "the Curate" from Wells's original story. Spielberg is confident enough to cut away from the main action when Ogilvy, Ray and Rachel are trapped in the basement of a farmhouse surrounded by alien machines. At this point, "War of the Worlds" is more than a sci-fi thriller -- it's an intense psychological drama.

Spielberg's exceptional talents -- as both a filmmaker and a storyteller -- are on full display throughout the film. As for Cruise, he can never really step out of his indelible image as Tom Cruise, International Megastar, but he nevertheless delivers a solid performance, flaring his nostrils on cue.

Screenwriters Josh Friedman and David Koepp -- undoubtedly guided closely by both Spielberg and Cruise -- have crafted a script that adheres to both the spirit and the basic structure of Wells' original story, adding some horrific set pieces.

If only Spielberg had had faith enough to follow his own path instead of going with the abrupt, Wells-ian ending. The "say what?" conclusion is a little too cute -- and not up to the standards of the rest of the film.

That said, "War of the Worlds" is one hell of a ride. The special effects are seamless and the story succeeds in being both touching and horrifying. "War of the Worlds" can be a nightmarish trip, but it's a terrific film, a blockbuster that lives up to its billing.

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movi...lds/index.html

[Lorizael]

I accidentally pieced together two clues in two separate reviews, and I'm pretty sure I know what the ending is now. Damn.

[Agathon]

Check this out (from the animated version coming in 2007)

http://www.waroftheworldsonline.com/movies/clip.htm

[Hueij]

Originally posted by Agathon
Check this out (from the animated version coming in 2007)

http://www.waroftheworldsonline.com/movies/clip.htm

Cute. But I hate Jeff Wayne

[Agathon]

Philistine!!!

His album back in the 70s got me into WOTW. Cool art too.

[Hueij]

Originally posted by Agathon
Philistine!!!

His album back in the 70s got me into WOTW. Cool art too.

Bombastic "bagger". The 70's were full of it...