FILM: War of the Worlds (2005)

[indy4 155]

I have always really enjoyed this film, but for some reason watching it recently it really resonated with me. I think it is absolutely one of Spielberg's best, up there with CMIYC, Minority Report, the Indy sequels, SPR, etc.

What struck me most was how creatively and uniquely Spielberg shot and staged his scenes. The film flows incredibly well, with each scene seeming to lead naturally into the next. I wouldn't know how to divide this film into acts, it's like it's all just one really engaging scene. The camera movements are really impressive, he's got some great shots. One of my favorites is the scene in Ogilvy's basement, when the camera pans past the mechanical eye and pauses on the axe for a split second, and before we can even fully realize that the axe is being emphasized we see Ogilvy's hand unlatch it. Another great shot is the one panning in and out of the van as Cruise drives his family out of the city. And the video camera capturing the massacre in New York. And the hand that reaches down and grabs Cruise's gun, right before we hear a loud gun shot....

The lighting and cinematography are magnificent. The scene in the basement when all the weird colors are flashing is petrifying. I think that scene perfectly represents the confusion and inability to get a figurative "bird's eye view" of the character's situation that the characters feel throughout. And how Robbie is the one who ultimately makes the decisions for the whole family....

Spielberg masterfully develops the two key relationships between his two kids. You really feel bad for the kids in the beginning, then for Ray when he really starts trying to be a good dad. The two big blowups between Cruise and Robbie are great (when Robbie tries to join the military). And anybody who says Spielberg can't do with the schmaltz should watch this film, because he shows a lot of restraint. (A lot of this has to do with JW's music during the reunion scene at the end.)

The acting is great, as always in a Spielberg film. The look on Cruise's face when he was telling Fanning that he wasn't familiar with her lullabies was heartbreaking. Sometimes with Cruise it can be hard to distinguish his character from film to film based on his performance alone, but Ray is a completely different person than John Anderton. And everybody else is great too.

Oddly enough, I thought the worst part of the film was the music. When I first got the OST, I thought it was boring. I have come to appreciate it A LOT more since then as a standalone listening experience, and 90% of it works incredibly well in the film. But there's just too much. The mechanical eye basement scene, for example, was one that really needed no music. This is one of the rare instances where I think JW mitigated the film's impact. That said, it does wonders in some key scenes. When Cruise sees the plane crash, "The Ferry Scene", "Escape from the City," and, of course, "The Reunion." One of my favorite musical moments are the string hits while Cruise and Ogilvy wrestle with the rifle...just amazing.

Overall, this has got to be one of Spielberg's most underrated films. I found every second of it to be engaging for multiple reasons.

[Jilal 569]

This is my favorite movie ever and it will always be.

[Brónach 1,302]

I love how Spielberg gets the tone of the novel through most of the film. It's not "you're having a great adventure", it's more like "you're just going to die". The music helps.

And yes, Spielberg's style got more awesome with the years. This is one of his peaks in that regard. I guess he had pretty clear what he wanted (he shot it very fast).

[Hlao-roo 389]

"The Intersection Scene" works wonders both on film and on album.

It's also great in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

[karelm 2,912]

This film really drives me nuts and I find it to be one of Spielberg’s weakest. The biggest reason why is this film is entirely over directed even by Spielberg’s standards. Way too many dramatic close up shots of eyes that you get the sense he doesn't really know what else to do.

This is what the script must have looked like:

Slow close up on Dakota

cut to slow close up on Tom Cruise

cut to slow close up on their brother who sees something the audience doesn't see but senses based on his reaction

cut to slow close up on Dakota Fanning shrieking

By the way, Dakota's shrieks are painful. The first few times it was ok but by the midpoint of the film - overdose on those painful shrieks!! This film was presented as a modern retelling but has so many plot holes for the sake of convenience. The ending of the aliens dying from a virus worked fine in the original story and earlier film because that was state of the art thinking back then, but now it’s really weak and robbed any surprise or sense of suspense. What far superior invading alien force wouldn't have thought of the potential risk for a native virus that any reasonably intelligent person would already know? Lots of people traveling to a foreign country will take a shot to help protect them from local illnesses but vastly superior aliens didn't think of this issue that we thought about before we went to the moon? Really a bad film and one of Spielberg's worst films. On the positive side, I like the first half the best and the sense of dread at the ferry scene is terrific. This film is really a series of set pieces (the first attack, the airplane in the yard, the ferry scene) but it shouldn't be so obvious that the script is lacking. Overall, this film is a mess but the non thematic music serves it well as setting just a dispairing tone.

It really needed a much better script. This is how it should have ended - rather than a virus killing off the aliens who were set up to be so advanced that there was no humanly way we could win against their invading forces, we realize these aliens consider humans as just cows for feeding. Then some other alien comes in so much more powerful than them, that they are obliterated as easily as we were being harvested - without a fighting chance, as if they were cows to some other vastly superior malevolent force. We just being ants in this big picture fight way beyond our comprehension as part of a cosmic food chain - we are the plankton, they are the fish, and someone else is the shark who is indifferent to the plankton but eats the fish. Also the military should have tried a nuke or two in an effort to "contain" the problem with acceptable collateral damage. There you go, my version would have only needed five minutes added to the film and would have actually been a much better updating for the 21st century version of the story.

[Jilal 569]

"The Intersection Scene" works wonders both on film and on album.

It's also great in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Yeah. Too bad Paramount removed my isolated score of that scene.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I've warmed up to this movie a ton since seeing it at home. Shockingly, my reaction to the theatrical viewing was that we should have seen Revenge of the Sith again.

It just is NOT that bad. In typical Spielberg fashion, we jump into a story with characters we already know well within the first 15 minutes. Enter insane visual effects and action/chase sequences, and tripod basket-loads of suspense and horror. There is some truly pulse-raising stuff here. The actions and machines of this mostly unseen alien race are fucking intense. It's definitely entertaining.

However, if you don't like Tom Cruise, I can see how you wouldn't enjoy this. But I never really got that. Cruise has always been a fine performer.

[Quintus 5,399]

I hate this movie, it's shit.

[A24 4,331]

By the way, Dakota's shrieks are painful. The first few times it was ok but by the midpoint of the film - overdose on those painful shrieks!!

Thank you for noticing. Are you European? Oh, you're from L.A., that's okay too.

[karelm 2,912]

By the way, Dakota's shrieks are painful. The first few times it was ok but by the midpoint of the film - overdose on those painful shrieks!!

Thank you for noticing. Are you European? Oh, you're from L.A., that's okay too.

??? That made no sense

[A24 4,331]

Oops, I thought you were sophisticated, my bad.