So, it's been out for a few days now. Who's seen it and what do you think?
I really enjoyed the movie to be quite honest. The first 30mins were great when the aliens first came, and the machines rose from the ground. That, and the 'house' scene had me on the edge of my seat.
Thumbs up to Steven Spielberg for keeping with the original story, not turning it into some 'America, saviours of the universe' flick. I also thought it was clever that no they didn't directly say, "Bacteria killed them!" (I think?) but could possibly be a bit confusing for first timers to War of the Worlds?
Some little things that annoyed me: The ferry scene. What a lost opportunity, not including the Ironclad Thunderchild that buys the ferry enough time to escape.
And the kid (the teenager) should have died, without question. Damn happy endings.
I would of found the movie more enjoyable to watch if that little kid and the teenager were wiped out at the start of the movie. Watching the remainder of the 1hr and a half is a painfull experence i dont want to relive.
The thing i liked the most about it is that it wasn't about "Tom Cruise".... it was more about the things happening around him and how he reacted. (take a guess I don't like Tom that much...)
And yes, the main thing I missed was Thunderchild, that would have been an awesome scene, but I think Stephen Spielberg had to get the main characters off the ferry.
I think Nathaniel was meant to be the Ambo dude that goes crazy Smurf.
Pretty cool movie but so many things made me go wtf, maybe some fans of the movie can help me out? First of all, why do the aliens need blood to grow their plant thingys? I mean, is their home world covered in human blood or something? And if they had been watching our world for so long, and they had those tripods buried for so long, why did they attack when there was so much crap around? why didn't they take over during the stone age or something - would be much easier. Did they do that cause they needed blood to grow their plants? But if they have such uber intelligence asif they couldn't figure out how to grow their plants without human blood... I mean what is the chance that alien fertaliser is exactly the same as human blood? Oh and if they had been studying us for so long, don't you think they'd have found out about germs? I mean, didn't any of the super smart aliens invent a microscope? Are these all valid questions or is it kind of generally accepted that there are plot holes?
Did anyone else think the aliens were a bit "cutesy" too? Looked like a cross between the guys out of Independence Day and ET.
Another plot hole, what a bad way to exterminate a planet, killing us one at a time. We don't do it when killing bugs. And they should have started the killing all at once instead of attacking different cities at different times.
Plus a smaller plot hole but after the EMP type thingo stopped all the cars and everything, why was there a guy with a video camera turned on?
There is only one explanation! These aliens were teenage space tourists who paid some travel agency to get to have some fun exterminating a species and the red blood stuff is infact grafitti! :cool:
Quote from ruin: was there a guy with a video camera turned on?
Yeah me and my friends laughed at that, the guy holding the camera over the hole in the road.. was stupid. Why dont they pick things up like that. It was so obvious.
Considering how weak the American power grid system is, dont you think a major EMP blow to the power line that would shut down somthing like 10 major power stations of the state and still have working power in other places in america?
Quote from chad: Considering how weak the American power grid system is, dont you think a major EMP blow to the power line that would shut down somthing like 10 major power stations of the state and still have working power in other places in america?
I dont quite understand, there was power in other parts of america..
What I mean is there is allot of big holes in the movie relating to real life events that happened about 1 year ago from this date. I think it was last year or the year before that, that one of the power stations in United States of America shut down, this sent a power surge rippling through the power grid system. Because of the States power grid system almost running always on the limit, this one power station set of a series of events that shut down the USA power grid system resulting in a complete black out.
Now when the aliens attacked they set of an EMP wave that would shut down any type of electrical equipment within 100kms from the impact site. Now, considering that EMP travels via wires and electronic devices, it would atlas shut down 2-3 major power systems on the grid “not mentioning nuclear power stations”. To proven serious damage to the generators the remainder of the states would then automatically shut down their generators from overloading.
In the movie, you had parts of USA still with power. In fact they shouldn’t of had any type of power at all except generators.
Quote from ruin: There is only one explanation! These aliens were teenage space tourists who paid some travel agency to get to have some fun exterminating a species and the red blood stuff is infact grafitti! :cool:
And when you view it from orbit it spells out a rude word :o
I agree with the opening poster, the kid should never have lived.
What I did like was the fact that Tom Cruises character was a bit of a tosser...makes a bit of a change from the perfect guy who does everything perfectly and cant put a foot wrong.
The movie would have worked way better with no-name actors though. I was disappointed overall, the best scene (the cellar where they are dodging the aliens) was ripped straight out of the 1950's version. My verdict - yet another movie that had great potential that Hollywood have screwed big time.
Quote from lurker: I was disappointed overall, the best scene (the cellar where they are dodging the aliens) was ripped straight out of the 1950's version.
lol I didnt even know there was a book. Also, the opening sentences should have been the ones from the audio version by Jeff Wayne, they sounded way better.
As many would already know, Orson Welles did a radio play of this in 1938 which many people thought was an authentic news report, and it caused panic throughout much of America.
Wow... I love how everybody here is an expert on EMP's. :p Guys, An EMP will have an effect on everything, however, be it detremental, or irrelevent, you can usually avoid any serious electrical damage by removing the power source, and making sure that the camera can discharge any energy that it might gather.
It's about as useful as a dead rotting fish, but it points out that there are certain things that can help to reduce the effect of an EMP on electronic devices. It's hard enough doing a google for that sort of thing. ^_^'
Quote from Hitokiri Kensuke: I liked the film, so much so, I actually went and watched it again.
damn I feel so out of place with these threads. Everybody loves these movies except me...I just cant stand how theres all this devastation going on, but it never touches the family in the movie...the kids all live, the wife comes out at the end with her parents...wtf? people are dying left right and centre and their world is untouched?
If it happened in movies occasionally I wouldnt mind, but it seems like it happens in every hollywood movie these days.
I really enjoyed it. Tom Cruise didnt save the day, which was a bonus. But i really do think either his wife or son should have been sacrificed, for my personal viewing pleasure.
The Mech's were well done and i loved how they turned humans into fertilizer, that was brilliant. The best part of this movie for me, was how they didnt explain anything about the aliens. Movies that let your imagination set the scene, are much better IMO.
I liked the "Striders" ;) Always wondered what it'd be like to see HL2 on the big screen, and it really did give me that feeling occasionaly :)
Top movie though - I'm a big fan of the original.
ha - exactly what the movie was doing to me. kept getting hl2-esque little flashes, with the ruined suburbia sort of environments. also everytime the striders blew that phat horn, i got a mad urge to run behind cover and equip my rocket launcher.