Is "War of the Worlds" a masterpiece?

[Josh500 1,615]

Well the basket scene isn't the climax of the film anyway.

I think it is.

The Boston scene, I would say, is the anticlimax.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

I did not mind the climax of the film... really, the resolution is the only "big offender" to me.

[Josh500 1,615]

The ending is a little too abrupt, like I said. Other than that, it's fine.

It's a Spielberg movie, after all... it's gotta have a Spielberg ending!

[indy4 155]

The stuff after the basket scene isn't as interesting as anything else in the film, but I don't think it's a weak ending.

[Josh500 1,615]

When I first saw the details about the movie, I was surprised--even astonished--that it was only 112 minutes long. That seems a bit short for this type of movie...

[Wojo 2,453]

Well the basket scene isn't the climax of the film anyway.

Not in the truest sense of the picture, no, but for Tom Cruise's character, the basket scene is the first emotional climax of the film. It's the moment of realization when he determines that the tripods can be killed by rather conventional means: feed them live grenades.

Since there's only one tripod there, there's only one to kill, so he rescues his daughter and trudges back to town. There we get the "real" climax of the movie, when he shows the U.S. Army another way to kill them, even though by this point, the tripods are now sick.

[Josh500 1,615]

This movie is just one action sequence after another, if you think about it, but that's fine. It's really a bit like Jurassic Park... except of course instead of dinos we have tripods (and a probe).

Intersection - Escape from the City - Ferry- Basement - Basket - Boston

[Red 75]

The movie is mostly a great production that suffers from a very weak ending. Why Spielberg had to shoehorn that baloney in seemingly at the last minute I'll never know.

[Josh500 1,615]

The movie is mostly a great production that suffers from a very weak ending. Why Spielberg had to shoehorn that baloney in seemingly at the last minute I'll never know.

Yes, that's true... if it had been James Cameron, he would have taken 6 years to create the movie.

But then, Spielberg makes many many more movies than Cameron.

[Red 75]

Cameron wouldn't have made the ending unnecessarily happier by having the son inexplicably survive. Or at least I don't think he would.

[Henry B 50]

Two stars for the film; five for the score.

Koepp's characterization is so weak it makes the film hard to watch. It's hard to explain, but everything feels contrived. It's as if Koepp was raised in a glass jar and learned everything he knows of human interaction from watching movies. One of my favorite moments is when Tom Cruise gets slammed for trying to leave his kids with their mother as if he's backing out of taking them on a camping trip or something. That's fine that Spielberg wanted to relate the alien invasion to Cruise's growth as a father, but to symbolize the familial relationship so literally seems a little wrongheaded to me.

I just want Dakota Fanning to shut the hell up. Her character's constant panicking makes me annoyed, not sympathetic. You could say that in reality most kids would scream their heads off if aliens invaded... I could say that that doesn't make them likable. The opening of the film goes awkwardly out of its way to depict Fanning as a total sage beyond her years, so it just makes her behavior later on all the more incongruous. Besides, she can be plenty quiet for the sake of the plot (i.e. basement scene), but when the script calls for Tom Cruise to fight some aliens, "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!"

Justin Chatwin ("Robby") is pretty intelligent except when the script calls for him to kill himself. Volunteering to fight unstoppable monster machines by running headlong at them is just one of the stupidest things I've ever seen. It's fine that, as an aimless, confused teen, Chatwin thinks he can join the army by just hitching a ride with the nearest convoy despite having no weapons or supplies to offer, but the film depicts this as heroism, not the utter naivete that it is. Wait, did I say Chatwin is "pretty intelligent"? I guess he really isn't at all.

There are some very nice moments, like the carjacking scene. I like some of the imagery. Some of it feels all too conventional, though. The aliens are a huge disappointment. There's really nothing innovative about their design, and their silly antics in the basement hardly scared me. I don't think it needs to be said that the ending is too happy and tidy. I also take issue with the final battle scene in Boston; it's just some unnecessary action that trivializes the emotional experience of the characters at that point.

Now the score... damn, is it good! I wonder how inspired by the film Williams was because I feel like he took a different route with the score. It's not cozy and life affirming. It's a piece of serious drama. The action music is top notch, but my favorite music is that of the denouement. "The Separation of the Family" (the far superior film version of "The Reunion") is so beautifully written, as is "Epilogue." I feel like this music reminds us just how fragile our existence really is and that there's no deus ex machina waiting to pull us out of any bind. Williams ends the score on a thought-provoking note. Of course, the film screws it up by tracking action music into the end credits to remind us that it's just another spectacle movie.

[Williamsfan301 11]

Two stars for the film; five for the score.

Koepp's characterization is so weak it makes the film hard to watch. It's hard to explain, but everything feels contrived. It's as if Koepp was raised in a glass jar and learned everything he knows of human interaction from watching movies. One of my favorite moments is when Tom Cruise gets slammed for trying to leave his kids with their mother as if he's backing out of taking them on a camping trip or something. That's fine that Spielberg wanted to relate the alien invasion to Cruise's growth as a father, but to symbolize the familial relationship so literally seems a little wrongheaded to me.

I just want Dakota Fanning to shut the hell up. Her character's constant panicking makes me annoyed, not sympathetic. You could say that in reality most kids would scream their heads off if aliens invaded... I could say that that doesn't make them likable. The opening of the film goes awkwardly out of its way to depict Fanning as a total sage beyond her years, so it just makes her behavior later on all the more incongruous. Besides, she can be plenty quiet for the sake of the plot (i.e. basement scene), but when the script calls for Tom Cruise to fight some aliens, "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!"

Justin Chatwin ("Robby") is pretty intelligent except when the script calls for him to kill himself. Volunteering to fight unstoppable monster machines by running headlong at them is just one of the stupidest things I've ever seen. It's fine that, as an aimless, confused teen, Chatwin thinks he can join the army by just hitching a ride with the nearest convoy despite having no weapons or supplies to offer, but the film depicts this as heroism, not the utter naivete that it is. Wait, did I say Chatwin is "pretty intelligent"? I guess he really isn't at all.

There are some very nice moments, like the carjacking scene. I like some of the imagery. Some of it feels all too conventional, though. The aliens are a huge disappointment. There's really nothing innovative about their design, and their silly antics in the basement hardly scared me. I don't think it needs to be said that the ending is too happy and tidy. I also take issue with the final battle scene in Boston; it's just some unnecessary action that trivializes the emotional experience of the characters at that point.

Now the score... damn, is it good! I wonder how inspired by the film Williams was because I feel like he took a different route with the score. It's not cozy and life affirming. It's a piece of serious drama. The action music is top notch, but my favorite music is that of the denouement. "The Separation of the Family" (the far superior film version of "The Reunion") is so beautifully written, as is "Epilogue." I feel like this music reminds us just how fragile our existence really is and that there's no deus ex machina waiting to pull us out of any bind. Williams ends the score on a thought-provoking note. Of course, the film screws it up by tracking action music into the end credits to remind us that it's just another spectacle movie.

Ok, Henry. Are you sitting down? You sure? You're positive you're sitting down?

ok....ready for this?

brace yourself, because here it comes!

I agree with your assessment of the script. I'd still give the movie 3 stars, but you're right about the script and the score.

[Wojo 2,453]

Ok, Henry. ok....ready for this? I agree with your assessment of the script. I'd still give the movie 3 stars, but you're right about the script and the score.

One...two...three...awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!

I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.

[Williamsfan301 11]

I have a better nose than Nixon.

[Henry B 50]

[John Crichton 4]

That's a great defense of the score, Henry. It is very effective in the movie, just difficult to listen to.

[Hlao-roo 389]

Except for "The Intersection Scene," the score doesn't strike me as being particularly effective in the film. (In fact, at least one scene comes to mind in which it detracts -- bodies floating in the river.) This is in distinct contrast to Williams's score for a previous thriller, Black Sunday, which benefits markedly from Williams's contributions all the way through, from the tense opening scenes in Beirut to the nail-biting climax -- the music for which Williams drew upon when he wrote "Escape from the City."

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Does John Williams even remember Black Sunday?

[Hlao-roo 389]

Does John Williams even remember Black Sunday?

Well, it certainly came from the same part of his brain.

He at least appears to have conscious memory of The Sugarland Express, much to our vexation.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

I would hope that he would remember The Sugarland Express, it was his first of many fruitful collaborations with Steven Spielberg, after all. Though I can obviously not speak from personal experience, I would imagine that it would be akin to remembering your wedding day.

[Hlao-roo 389]

I would hope that he would remember The Sugarland Express, it was his first of many fruitful collaborations with Steven Spielberg, after all. Though I can obviously not speak from personal experience, I would imagine that it would be akin to remembering your wedding day.

And The Color Purple would be akin to finding out that your spouse has been sleeping around?

[Incanus 5,734]

I would hope that he would remember The Sugarland Express, it was his first of many fruitful collaborations with Steven Spielberg, after all. Though I can obviously not speak from personal experience, I would imagine that it would be akin to remembering your wedding day.

And The Color Purple would be akin to finding out that your spouse has been sleeping around?

Back to the subject please gentlemen. JWs memory is fine. Selective as it may be.

And Alan please elaborate on your comment about the Sugarland Express. Why is that a vexation to us and does it have anything to do with WotW or just his current style of writing?

[Nick Parker 3,040]

And The Color Purple would be akin to finding out that your spouse has been sleeping around?

Touche!

Back to the subject please gentlemen.

Sure, thank you for being polite. On that note, I do not really recall any instances in which John Williams' score detracted from the film, though it seems that I am one of the few that was...affected, for want of a better term, by the "floating corpses" scene, so take my point of view as you will.

And Alan please elaborate on your comment about the Sugarland Express. Why is that a vexation to us and does it have anything to do with WotW or just his current style of writing?

Though I cannot speak for Alan, I think he was referring to the fact that John Williams does not want the score to be released. And Alan did not make any comparisons between The Sugarland Express and War of the Worlds, as far as I can tell.

[Hlao-roo 389]

And Alan please elaborate on your comment about the Sugarland Express. Why is that a vexation to us and does it have anything to do with WotW or just his current style of writing?

Nick's interpretation is on target.

As for the "floating corpses" scene, for all I know, I might have been affected, too, but for Williams's musical interjections. There's something about the music -- those lachrymosely sinuating strings -- that renders the very opposite of the intended effect. Still, it's not as egregious an offense as the way the orchestra abruptly pulls away in the middle of the infamous "I hate sand" scene in Attack of the Clones. The scene was bad enough already without Williams rubbing, well, sand in the wound, if you will.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

(Upon finding the definition of "lachrymose"): I suppose we view (or perhaps "hear" would be more apt) things differently, but I do not really think of it as a "tear-inducing" piece at all, but just as an eerie Bernard Herrmann-esque cue that does its job well. And I do not really remember that scene in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, but I suppose I should be grateful.

[Datameister 2,096]

Still, it's not as egregious an offense as the way the orchestra abruptly pulls away in the middle of the infamous "I hate sand" scene in Attack of the Clones. The scene was bad enough already without Williams rubbing, well, sand in the wound, if you will.

Nicely put. However, I actually enjoy that musical moment. I can totally imagine being annoyed by that, I suppose, but it works for me. Considering Williams had no control over the scene itself, I can't imagine how else I would have wanted him to score it.

[QMM 4]

The movie works great up until Chatwin asks to hitch a ride with the army, then it slows down and I'm forced to think about what's happening, whereas before I wouldn't have time to think

I'm generally a fan of Koepp's work, sans Indy 4, but I'm biased

[TownerFan 4,991]

as is "Epilogue." I feel like this music reminds us just how fragile our existence really is and that there's no deus ex machina waiting to pull us out of any bind.

That's exactly how Williams described the "Epilogue" piece before he played it in Chicago in 2005.

Good analysis of the score and movie, Henry. I mostly agree with you. However, I think Spielberg was able to fill many of the plot holes and script problems with some very powerful cinematic imagery. There are several memorable moments during the film.

[David Coscina 4]

I think it's the first score of Williams that I could say that he approaches dissonance and atonalism as confidently as Goldsmith did. CEot3K not withstanding, I always found Williams a little shaky with those trappings of modernism but with War of the Worlds, I found myself delighted to hear a strong musical presence in cues like The Intersection Scene or The Ferry Scene. I love that low ww and brass figure that foreshadows the doom that is to come (Williams later used this figure in Indy 4 last year with some variations).

I also found the movie grew on me. I saw it back to back with Batman Begins and was disappointed in it originally. But seeing it again, it's less a study in sci-fi explosions and alien conquest and more the portrait of the dissolution of modern families. I think Cruise's son had to re-appear in the final moments to give him another chance at being a good father- remember he was largely apathetic to his kids at the film's beginning and only realized how much they meant to him when he faced the loss of his son.

The film certainly ages well because it's not so concerned with the hype. It's actually a fairly quiet story in many regards- very insulated. I respect Spielberg for re-thinking the alien invasion story and going somewhere different with it. ID4 is a joke compared to War of the Worlds (albeit a fun one).

Oh, and the scene leading up to the first sighting of the alien ship is like Spielberg conducting a symphony. It builds and builds until its expository climax. The sound design, editing, music, acting, everything works so well in that scene. One of the best directed scenes I have watched.

[Quintus 5,399]

3 a piece from me. Both score and film are good, but nothing special.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

If only the rest of the film could be as good as the build-up, the intersection scene, and then until the hill battle.

[Richard Penna 3,770]

I was very hyped for this back before I saw it, and was a bit disappointed with the finished product, although mainly the very sudden ending.

I think it's admirable that spielberg shot it in a more realistic manner, and some parts are genuinely creepy to me, but a few story elements didn't really add up - Ray killing Ogilvy, his son suddenly abandoning reason in the middle of the attack, to name two. But apart from these, I think the movie is actually pretty decent, and JW's music is sparse and affecting.

A more thematic or patriotic score would've been wrong, and I liked it enough when it first came out to buy the CD.

[crocodile 8,065]

There are several memorable moments during the film.

That's for sure. But there's something Terry Gilliams said about Spielberg "being still able to create exceptional moments but not so much exceptional films". And I agree with that.

Karol

[Corellian2019 388]

Henry Buck should be a screenwriter, methinks.

[Williamsfan301 11]

The score is hard to listen to on it's own because it's more serial/dodecaphonic. That works very well with the picture, but taken out of that context, it really takes alot of brain power to "get it."

[Ollie 1,069]

I always find that interesting, how some people have difficulty listening to certain styles. I have no problem listening to WOTW as well as Goldsmith's POTA.

I find WOTW to flow rather well as a listening experience.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

Movie: 4 stars

Score: 3 stars

Same for me.

[Williamsfan301 11]

I always find that interesting, how some people have difficulty listening to certain styles. I have no problem listening to WOTW as well as Goldsmith's POTA.

I find WOTW to flow rather well as a listening experience.

WOTW is just very dark so I tend to have to be in a certain mood to listen to it.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

I always find that interesting, how some people have difficulty listening to certain styles. I have no problem listening to WOTW as well as Goldsmith's POTA.

I find WOTW to flow rather well as a listening experience.

I love listening to POTA. And ALIEN.

[Luke Skywalker 1,810]

Still, it's not as egregious an offense as the way the orchestra abruptly pulls away in the middle of the infamous "I hate sand" scene in Attack of the Clones. The scene was bad enough already without Williams rubbing, well, sand in the wound, if you will.

As a veterinarian I can testify that this horse was already dead before the beating.

Seriously, Han Solo and the Princess from the masterpiece ESB uses the same formula for their first kiss.

And none of both the orchestra stops abruptly like in ally macbeal with an LP player glitch.

[Ollie 1,069]

Better direction, better acting, better script and chemistry between the two actors make TESB scene much better.

And the music doesn't have the same flat stop that AOTC did. In TESB I laughed because C3PO interrupted the scene.

In AOTC I cringed at the awkwardness of the scene and laughed at the "flat" stoppage of music.

[Luke Skywalker 1,810]

Better direction, better acting, better script and chemistry between the two actors make TESB scene much better.

I was just talking about the music

And the music doesn't have the same flat stop that AOTC did. In TESB I laughed because C3PO interrupted the scene.

In AOTC I cringed at the awkwardness of the scene and laughed at the "flat" stoppage of music.

Still similar musical approach.

And in a Way Leia does the same as amidala, both realise they have done something bad and then pull out embarrased.

Its not like Han told 3PO 'many thanks' and sent him away and then continued what they were doing. Leia quickly used the droid's interruption to escape from Han's grasp.

The scene in ESB is much better for the same reasons you said, but i dont feel the AOTC music piece should be critisized in the same way. Its a logical way to score the scene (there is abuilup of the theme that end because the kiss ends if the theme continued lavishly orchestrated as is, it would be awfully scored), and its not like the scene could not happen in real life (i mean its not an unbelievable scene - well maybe padme should have slapped the presuntuous kid, instead of playing the game...)

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Movies just aren't as scientific, Luke. There's a certain flow and feeling to scenes that can't be recreated by throwing the same elements in a different context.

[Ollie 1,069]

In TESB the love theme hits a peak before it stops that feels natural.

In AOTC the music just has a flat stoppage that sounds like it was out of a comedy.

[Luke Skywalker 1,810]

I dont understand while Williams is a senile old fool for composing the AOTC piece and one of the Greatest film composers of all time for composing the ESB piece.

I mean. The AOTC scene is AWFUL.

But i have no complaints about the music.

In AOTC the music just has a flat stoppage that sounds like it was out of a comedy.

Williams was trying to insuflate the comedy the actors cound not achieve with their lack of chemistry and acting skills?

The man is a genius

[Ollie 1,069]

I never said he was a senile old fool.

As I said in TESB scene the music hits a note that allows it to stop without the feeling of an abrupt halt to the music. In AOTC the music just stops and sound awkward.

[Luke Skywalker 1,810]

I never said he was a senile old fool.

As I said in TESB scene the music hits a note that allows it to stop without the feeling of an abrupt halt to the music. In AOTC the music just stops and sound awkward.

i wrote that in response to elmo's. You hadnt posted yet when i was writing it.

Anyway nobody said those two terms about williams. it was jus a resumé of the mianstream opinion about 80s and 2000s williams....

[Ollie 1,069]

But we're getting off topic here so back to WOTW.

[Josh500 1,615]

I really love the "Escape from the Basket" piece. It sounds somehow jazzy at times... but still terrifying and impressive.

At the very end of the making of featurettes (We Are Not Alone), Spielberg says, "We are not alone," and then some soldier screams "Get down," then we see the tripod crashing down, and this piece of music starts as the end credits roll. It's a piece very much reminiscent of the horror/sci-fi movies of the 50s or 60s I thought...

Sounds really cool.

[Andy 4,273]

The score is hard to listen to on it's own because it's more serial/dodecaphonic.

I wish I knew something about music, because I don't really understand what that means. I do enjoy POTA and Alien, but I didn't groove on War of the Worlds when I listened. What does that say about me? Maybe it's an acquired taste?