Minority Report vs. War of the Worlds

[Josh500 1,615]

Both are pretty much on the same level, I'd say, except that WotW is generally more underrated.

 

I'd say MR for score, WotW for movie (I really like the basement scene!).

 

Discuss!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Minority Report wins.

 

WotW was a disappointment. Just some random family running and hiding in basements. I wanted more alien invasion city destruction, dammit! Seems the only alien attack films I'll ever like are the 1953 WotW, ID4 and maybe Mars Attacks!

[Josh500 1,615]

35 minutes ago, Sally Spectra said:

WotW was a disappointment. 

 

That's what I first thought too. When the film ended, it was so sudden, I was like, Wait, that's it??!! 

 

But this is one of those movies that gets better every time you watch it. Now I appreciate it much more. The initial invasion, the flight from the city, the crash of the airliner, the basement scene, the ferry scene etc.

 

Plus, the score also gets better with each listen. Something viscerally wild and horrific about it.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I've watched it a few times. It's never improved.

[Josh500 1,615]

Ironically, MR is, for me at least, a movie that I like less and less the more I watch it.

 

Oh the score is great, but the movie. Urghhh. I don't like the set design.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I preferred the PS2 game anyway.

[mrbellamy 6,272]

3 minutes ago, Josh500 said:

But this is one of those movies that gets better every time you watch it. Now I appreciate it much more. The initial invasion, the flight from the city, the crash of the airliner, the basement scene, the ferry scene etc.

 

All in the first hour. The film really peaks with the "farewell" to Robbie and then sorta slumps over after that.

[publicist 4,643]

MR, hands down. 'WOTW' has a great first half but then completely botches it.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

Love Minority Report as a film, despite some weird and jarring tonal choices.  Great action set-pieces, fun noir plot.  I appreciate War of the Worlds but it's a bit too dour to continually return to, plus the script sucks.  As for the scores, WOTW is a much better fit for its film.  MR occasionally sticks out as being overly wacky and bright for the relatively dark universe of the film (Anderton's Great Escape, Eye-Dentiscan) and has long sections of the generic brooding underscore that he'd already done to death in Harry Potter and the prequels.  

[Josh500 1,615]

I guess how one perceives a movie is not only dependent on the movies themselves, but on how your personal lives were situated when you first watched them.

 

I remember having a really good time at the theater watching WotW with my gf... It was an experience that has stayed with me. Maybe that's why I have a soft spot for this movie, even though I was kinda disappointed by the ending. Rewatching this movie is a little like experiencing that wonderful evening 12 years ago again....

 

In comparison, I never saw MR in the theater. I watched it for the first time on my laptop, alone in my room. (Still great movie, though.)

10 minutes ago, Not Mr. Big said:

 Anderton's Great Escape, Eye-Dentiscan

 

These two pieces are minor masterpieces. 

 

So many great setpieces in MR, like these, as well as Minority Report, Everybody Runs and A New Beginning. 

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

2 minutes ago, Josh500 said:

These two pieces are minor masterpieces. 

I do love "Anderton's Great Escape" on album, and when watching the scene on its own but it just doesn't mesh with the rest of the film.  Never really cared for Eye-Dentican, March of the Villains minus the Tuba.  

[Josh500 1,615]

48 minutes ago, Not Mr. Big said:

I do love "Anderton's Great Escape" on album, and when watching the scene on its own but it just doesn't mesh with the rest of the film.

 

Yes. I'm inclined to agree with that. It doesn't quite mesh with the rest of the film. 

 

Still quite impressive stand alone setpiece, though.

48 minutes ago, Not Mr. Big said:

Never really cared for Eye-Dentican, March of the Villains minus the Tuba.  

 

So you don't like March of the Villains, either?

 

One reason I like Eye-Dentiscan is exactly because it sounds like MOTV. 

 

Just because something sounds like something else that I like is no reason to dislike it, especially if it comes from the same artist / composer! It's likely just a variation, an homage, a friendly nod to his earlier work to remind us (and also himself) where he comes from.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,505]

4 hours ago, Josh500 said:

 

That's what I first thought too. When the film ended, it was so sudden, I was like, Wait, that's it??!! 

 

But this is one of those movies that gets better every time you watch it. Now I appreciate it much more. The initial invasion, the flight from the city, the crash of the airliner, the basement scene, the ferry scene etc.

 

Plus, the score also gets better with each listen. Something viscerally wild and horrific about it.

 

Best exchange:

"No, this...this came from someplace else"

"What? You mean, like, Europe?"

No, Robbie! Not, like, Europe!!!"

 

[crumbs 14,304]

The Intersection Scene is one of the most flawless combinations of visuals, editing and music in the entire Spielberg/Williams oeuvre. Utterly horrifying. I was in a state of shock after seeing that sequence for the first time.

 

But Minority Report, score and film, are superior. War of the Worlds probably reaches greater individual heights but it's not cohesive as a whole.

 

Would be nice if Spielberg returned to this phase of pessimistic nihilism occasionally, rather than saccharine patriotism.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Quote

Would be nice if Spielberg returned to this phase of pessimistic nihilism occasionally, rather than saccharine patriotism.

 Like thi

 

It is all the rage at the moment!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Minority for both.  It's one of Williams' very best scores of this century and one of my personal favorites of his entire career.  I have a lot of affection for both film and score.

 

This is not to say that WotW isn't worthwhile.  It's a very interesting score and the film is actually very good until it falls apart in the 3rd act.

[crumbs 14,304]

It's very anti climactic after doing such a good job building up momentum. Such a shame.

 

Thanks David Koepp, you hack!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

1 hour ago, crumbs said:

It's very anti climactic after doing such a good job building up momentum. Such a shame.

 

Thanks David Koepp, you hack!

 

Unlucky bastard!

[Josh500 1,615]

2 hours ago, crumbs said:

The Intersection Scene is one of the most flawless combinations of visuals, editing and music in the entire Spielberg/Williams oeuvre. Utterly horrifying. I was in a state of shock after seeing that sequence for the first time.

 

 

It's great, yes. But the best? Hardly.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

War of the Worlds:

What wonderfull times we had 10 years ago. An edgy Mr. Spielberg wanted to disturb the audience with a Hollywood blockbuster that got rid of the "Hollywood" part in it and converted patriotism flicks like Independance Day into a shockingly realistic drama. A drama-blockbuster-documentary. Like in Schindler's List Steven was stylistically very consequent and here he uses a simple plot and a credible family issue to take the audience's breathe away for almost two hours. The focus lies on the depiction of one simple situation: What would a normal, not very lucky family do if overmighty Aliens wanted to kill us relentlessly to use our planet as their new home? No time for great emotional scenes, thousands of people dying casually, strong acting linked to real life situations. The consistency is very unusual for a Spielberg movie. Many people think they're super clever and consider Spielberg a typical Hollywood director, but they don't get his sense of details and character drawing which is superb in 95% of his movies.

WotW is the most underrated Spielberg flick of all time, I would say.

 

The score is truly an amazing requiem-like, mostly dissonant, fresh and thematically unstructured experience, which fits the tone of the film perfectly. This is no epic blockbuster music, this is just uneasy, without any exception, which is great.

 

Minority Report:

An outstanding sci-fi film, cool design, one of my favourite movies. I actually voted for this, but I do not have the urge to defend it as much as the other one, cause it's generally very popular. It's also part of the  stylistically very mature "Dark Phase" of Spielberg (2001-2005()). Hopefully RPO will be similar to MR's atmosphere. I don't want a copy of MR, but RPO should be similarly adult and occasionally brutal, no BFG.

 

I voted for this. The best example of orchestral music, mixed with modern elements is Williams' score to MR. Very creative (female voice as eerie motif of Anne Lively), partly experimental. Hopefully the master gets back to something like that again. I was hoping for another sci-fi score for RPO, but Williams seems to prefer another drama.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

40 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

 I voted for this. The best example of orchestral music, mixed with modern elements is Williams' score to MR. Very creative (female voice as eerie motif of Anne Lively), partly experimental. Hopefully the master gets back to something like that again. I was hoping for another sci-fi score for RPO, but Williams seems to prefer another drama.

 

I've singled this part out it feels like many times in the board, but I especially love the synth choir in the hotel room when he finds the pictures.  Both gorgeous and unsettling.

 

At 2:08 below

 

[crumbs 14,304]

17 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

I've singled this part out it feels like many times in the board, but I especially love the synth choir in the hotel room when he finds the pictures.  Both gorgeous and unsettling.

 

At 2:08 below

 

Yes! I watched the film recently and turned the volume up for that exact moment -- a perfect musical moment for that scene. Uneasy, disturbing, dark and yet somehow poignant and longing. Belongs in that other thread about small musical moments that make you go wow.

 

All the more perfect because, chronologically, the audience is on the edge not knowing how Anderton can go from not knowing Leo Crow to murdering him in the next 5 minutes. This moment underscores the big revelation for the audience, and it's superbly restrained.

 

1 hour ago, Brundlefly said:

I was hoping for another sci-fi score for RPO, but Williams seems to prefer another drama.

I can understand JW's decision. His last three scores include two Star Wars and another adventure/fantasy. From what Lockhart said, he's preparing to score Episode IX next year. He probably wanted a break from that style of writing, and rightfully so.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

20 minutes ago, crumbs said:

Belongs in that other thread about small musical moments that make you go wow.

 

I'm 90% sure I have done that exact thing at some point in the past year

 

EDIT:  @crumbs I didn't single out that specific moment but I did find this from that thread  

 

On 4/3/2017 at 8:40 AM, Disco Stu said:

Minority Report is such an underrated score.  Top 5 Williams score of this century for me.  I too love his subtle use of synthesized voices throughout much of the score!

http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/25532-favorite-short-musical-moments-in-williams-scores/&do=findComment&comment=1337409

 

[Josh500 1,615]

15 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

 

I've singled this part out it feels like many times in the board, but I especially love the synth choir in the hotel room when he finds the pictures.  Both gorgeous and unsettling.

 

At 2:08 below

 

 

Yeah, great moment.

 

But if you listen to the whole score and watch the movie, there are many such moments. Sean's Theme is very rarely mentioned here, for example. It's always A New Beginning.

[artguy360 1,843]

I wish I could say I liked MR's score more but I just don't. It has interesting, beautiful moments but I pretty much never listen to the OST start to finish. WOTW on the other hand I enjoy because of the action music, the strange textures, and really just the alien sound to the whole score. It sounds like JW somewhat out of his comfort zone and that makes for more interesting listening than MR.

[Josh500 1,615]

54 minutes ago, artguy360 said:

I wish I could say I liked MR's score more but I just don't. It has interesting, beautiful moments but I pretty much never listen to the OST start to finish. WOTW on the other hand I enjoy because of the action music, the strange textures, and really just the alien sound to the whole score. It sounds like JW somewhat out of his comfort zone and that makes for more interesting listening than MR.

 

I don't agree with you re Minority Report, but I wholeheartedly agree with you re War of the Worlds!

 

Which are your favourite cues/moments from the WotW score?

 

I especially like the two Escapes: from the city and from the basket! The latter is fantastic, especially the last few minutes (from 7:40 onward). It always makes me think of a great, ridiculously horrifying B-movie from the 50s and 60s.

[filmmusic 1,823]

Minority report definitely for film.

I was also among the ones that was very dissapointed with WOTW, except for some specific scenes.

 

As for scores, it was difficult to choose, because both are on the same level for me, and are not among my favourites.

Both have some moments I like very much.

I chose WOTW in the end.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

4 hours ago, artguy360 said:

I wish I could say I liked MR's score more but I just don't. It has interesting, beautiful moments but I pretty much never listen to the OST start to finish. WOTW on the other hand I enjoy because of the action music, the strange textures, and really just the alien sound to the whole score. It sounds like JW somewhat out of his comfort zone and that makes for more interesting listening than MR.

I wouldn't say he wenr out of his comfort zone, because the darker, cold zone WAS somehow his comfort zone at the time. I truly love all of these scores! A.I., Minority Report, War of the Worlds, Munich - they're all among my top 15 Williams scores and top 10 Spielberg films.

 

4 hours ago, Josh500 said:

Which are your favourite cues/moments from the WotW score?

The Confrontation with Ogilvy

Epilogue

The Intersection Scene

Probing the Basement

Refugee Status

[Arpy 4,145]

Escape from the City is so propulsive and intense! I often play it on the freeway much to the chagrin of everyone else in the car! 

[Josh500 1,615]

1 hour ago, Arpy said:

Escape from the City is so propulsive and intense! I often play it on the freeway much to the chagrin of everyone else in the car! 

 

You too? 

[Arpy 4,145]

That and Everybody Runs! from Minority Report

[Display Name 60]

War of the Worlds is so intense!

 

Minority Report is so suspenseful!

 

The scores both belong to the ice-cold trilogy (A.I. the third of them). For me they all belong together and they are all a genius' work!

[Josh500 1,615]

36 minutes ago, Display Name said:

War of the Worlds is so intense!

 

Minority Report is so suspenseful!

 

The scores both belong to the ice-cold trilogy (A.I. the third of them). For me they all belong together and they are all a genius' work!

 

Agreed! 

 

But ice-cold trilogy? They are the three science fiction movies Spielberg directed so far in the 21st century! So they're the Spielberg sci-fi trilogy! 

__________

 

Wow!

 

Currently it's 16:7 score, 16:7 movie! 

 

WTH. 

[Tom 4,640]

On ‎8‎/‎6‎/‎2017 at 7:34 AM, Brundlefly said:

War of the Worlds:

What wonderfull times we had 10 years ago. An edgy Mr. Spielberg wanted to disturb the audience with a Hollywood blockbuster that got rid of the "Hollywood" part in it and converted patriotism flicks like Independance Day into a shockingly realistic drama. A drama-blockbuster-documentary. Like in Schindler's List Steven was stylistically very consequent and here he uses a simple plot and a credible family issue to take the audience's breathe away for almost two hours. The focus lies on the depiction of one simple situation: What would a normal, not very lucky family do if overmighty Aliens wanted to kill us relentlessly to use our planet as their new home? No time for great emotional scenes, thousands of people dying casually, strong acting linked to real life situations. The consistency is very unusual for a Spielberg movie. Many people think they're super clever and consider Spielberg a typical Hollywood director, but they don't get his sense of details and character drawing which is superb in 95% of his movies.

 

 

But it is not like any of this in terms of its main leads and thus the real focus/effect of the movie.  It was no different than something as stupid as The Day after Tomorrow where all of NCY dies except 30 people which include the son.  Had Cruise's family died or he not had a reunion with his extended family at the end, I might be willing to agree with your assessment.  Instead, Spielberg took the most unrealistic route possible with mass destruction but a 100% survival rate of the protagonists and a nice reunion to boot.

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

On 06/08/2017 at 7:27 AM, Josh500 said:

So you don't like March of the Villains, either?

 

One reason I like Eye-Dentiscan is exactly because it sounds like MOTV.

 

A lot of us aren't crazy about Williams in his faux-Prokofiev, A Love for Three Oranges style.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

1 hour ago, Tom said:

But it is not like any of this in terms of its main leads and thus the real focus/effect of the movie.  It was no different than something as stupid as The Day after Tomorrow where all of NCY dies except 30 people which include the son.  Had Cruise's family died or he not had a reunion with his extended family at the end, I might be willing to agree with your assessment.  Instead, Spielberg took the most unrealistic route possible with mass destruction but a 100% survival rate of the protagonists and a nice reunion to boot.

That's the problem: Everyone criticizes that Tom Cruise's family survives, but whereas there were loads of people who died, there were loads of people who survived. Why should the camera follow anyone who dies sooner or later? Because of the unusual consequence Spielberg depicted the aliens with (Everyone dies immediately, male, female, children, adults.) I was still surprised that Tom Cruise's son was still alive.

[Josh500 1,615]

As if people would he praising the movie if everybody had died! Then they'd be complaining that the movie was too dark, pessimistic, and un-Spielberg! 

 

Some people just like to complain, that's all.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

3 minutes ago, Josh500 said:

As if people would he praising the movie if everybody had died! Then they'd be complaining that the movie was too dark, pessimistic, and un-Spielberg!

THIS!!!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

31 minutes ago, Sharky said:

 

A lot of us aren't crazy about Williams in his faux-Prokofiev, A Love for Three Oranges style.

 

One of my favorite Williams modes!

[Jay 37,312]

Looks like about 3/4s of JWFan prefers Minority Report over War of the Worlds, film and score.

 

I agree.

[Tom 4,640]

56 minutes ago, Josh500 said:

As if people would he praising the movie if everybody had died! Then they'd be complaining that the movie was too dark, pessimistic, and un-Spielberg! 

 

Some people just like to complain, that's all.

My point is that you cannot call a movie where the main characters survive in the way they do "shockingly realistic." 

[filmmusic 1,823]

1 hour ago, Josh500 said:

As if people would he praising the movie if everybody had died! Then they'd be complaining that the movie was too dark, pessimistic, and un-Spielberg! 

 

Some people just like to complain, that's all.

I'd like it if everyone died!

It's more dramatic and more realistic since there's no such thing as happy endings in real life!

[Brundlefly 2,385]

3 hours ago, filmmusic said:

I'd like it if everyone died!

It's more dramatic and more realistic since there's no such thing as happy endings in real life!

Wrong. It's not more realistic just because everyone dies. Not if you let die the characters forcedly trying to get more drama in it. The concept of happy or bad ending is also very primitive and in WotW it is not entirely happy. It's for the moment a relief. The main problem is resolved.

[MrScratch 294]

Minority Report for both. Not a big fan of either one but A New Beginning is quite nice, very Mahlerian.

[artguy360 1,843]

On 8/6/2017 at 10:30 PM, Josh500 said:

 

I don't agree with you re Minority Report, but I wholeheartedly agree with you re War of the Worlds!

 

Which are your favourite cues/moments from the WotW score?

 

I especially like the two Escapes: from the city and from the basket! The latter is fantastic, especially the last few minutes (from 7:40 onward). It always makes me think of a great, ridiculously horrifying B-movie from the 50s and 60s.

I love the opening of Reaching the Country with the synth choir. It's beautiful, sad, and a touch alien up until about the 55 second mark. After that the cue kind of sounds like a 1st draft of Anakin's Betrayal from ROTS or at least it has always sounded that way to me. 

 

From the Intersection Scene, I love when the strings start churning and from that moment on the music never lets up.

 

From The Confrontation with Ogilvy, these paranoid strings building and building until the 1:20 mark or so. The music is so creepy, tense, and twisted.

 

There are some other moments I love too including the 2 tracks you mention. It's a score I've always appreciated in a way that I haven't with MR for whatever reason.

[Josh500 1,615]

I wish that Prologue and Epilogue weren't marred by Morgan Freeman! Seriously.

[crumbs 14,304]

There are clean versions of both tracks out there!

 

Presumably even the 5.1 Bluray is clean of dialogue if you remove the centre channel.

[Josh500 1,615]

It just occurred to me.... Minority Report features a piece of music so hauntingly beautiful and lovely I used to watch that scene over and over again just to hear that music. And here's the kicker! It was NOT written by John Williams!

 

It was written by Pyotr Tchaikovsky!

 

I wonder whether it was JW's decision to use Tchaikovsky! 

 

 

[MrScratch 294]

5 hours ago, Josh500 said:

I wish that Prologue and Epilogue weren't marred by Morgan Freeman! Seriously.

 

I hate all narration and sound effects on soundtracks... War of the Worlds, Earthquake, Angela's Ashes, The Reivers Suite, Heidi... it all just gets in the way of the music and adds nothing. It's not a radio drama or an audio book. Let the music tell the story on it's own outside of the film.

 

The one exception is 1941, that totally works. 

[Josh500 1,615]

1 minute ago, MrScratch said:

 

I hate all narration and sound effects on soundtracks... War of the Worlds, Earthquake, Angela's Ashes, The Reivers Suite, Heidi... it all just gets in the way of the music and adds nothing. It's not a radio drama or an audio book. Let the music tell the story on it's own outside of the film.

 

 

Yes. If I want the narration, I'll watch the freaking movie!