War of the Worlds

Ginkasa · 06-29-2005, 04:52 AM

Okay, I just got back (we had to wait until everything was closed and stuff before we could start watching it).

It was great. It was awesome.

Mostly.

BAB: You shouldn't be disappointed. There is a lot of action, although it might not be what you were expecting. There's lots of explosions and running and stuff, but not so much in the department of actually fighting the aliens. You get a few glimpses, but this movie focuses enitrely on Tom Cruise's character, and he's not a soldier. There's a point in the movie where Tom and crew are right beneath the top of the hill. Right over that hill is a giant battle between the army and the aliens. You don't ever see it, because Ray (Tom Cruise) never goes over that hill. You can only hear it and see some fighter jets and missiles and stuff go over.

The whole movie's pretty much like that. The aliens appear without any real warning. One minute Ray is inspecting a hole in the ground, the next has the Tripods rising up and blasting people into dust (literally).

The whole movie just follows Ray and his kids as they try to not get killed. If there's something they don't know, neither do you. While it is a bit disorienting since, well, you never really find out a whole lot, it does keep War of the Worlds from becoming just another alien movie and moving beyond to something greater.

It doesn't keep up, though. It starts to wind down and just kind of end. The ending just...sucks. I can't say why without spoiling it (which I will soon, but not now), but it just doesn't satisfy...

SPOILER

Ray and Rachel, his daughter, come out of this basement they've been hiding in and find the world covered in some red vines that are fertilized with human blood. I was expecting... I don't know. That the world would end up being changed or something. I don't really know what I was expecting, but it wasn't what happened. Ten minutes after this image of the complete alteration of the landscape, the aliens die. What do they die from? The flu. Or AIDS. Or the cold. Some disease. Whatever. Their immune system couldn't handle our germs. So they died. And that's it. That's how the alien threat is eliminated. The chicken pox. I'd figure they'd have immunizations.

Then Ray's son, who was previously thought killed after he went over that hill into the battle, suddenly walks out his mom's house and hugs Ray. Ray looks incredulously and smiles. Double-you, tee, eff. The bloody hill flew up int flames, and the kid survived without a scratch. No explanation as to how he survived.

Conclusion: Spielberg is a [insert five letter word that begins with "p" and ends with "y"]. He can't even let one single main character die. I mean, its alright to have a happy ending. But to have one character go over a hill that explodes into flames only to walk away unscathed? And to hide it from us until the end of the movie so we et the impression he's dead, but woops! Not really! Joy!

Awful.

END SPOILER

So, besides the ending sucking majorly, the movie's great. If the movie is shown on the Cine Capri (the largest non-IMAX screen in Oklahoma), I'll have to make sure I see it on that.

I give a 9 out of 10 (would be a nice round 10 if it weren't for that awful awful ending).

/me shrugs and walks away

Fox 6 · 06-29-2005, 01:31 PM

SPOILER

Well, to be fair the aliens dying from our germs was true to the book. Thats the way the aliens are defeated in the novel. Sure its not the best way to end a big movie like that but if you going to do it, do it right.

SPOILER

Crash · 06-30-2005, 04:37 AM

SPoiler

Quote:

Spielberg is a [insert five letter word that begins with "p" and ends with "y"]. He can't even let one single main character die.

I was thinking the opposite, I loved when the lady carrying the baby goes up in smoke.... bout time some bitch is killed, no one else has the balls to show a women get killed in a pg-13 summer blockbuster... let alone a baby

end spoiler

The movie was the next best thing to perfection... yeah, sudden ending, but that is what spielberg was going for, make the audience exhausted.

Loved every minute of the movie!

Awesome things about the movie:

anyone notice how freaking awesome the van driving down the highway was. the camera passed the car like 3 times in a circle without breaking away. How'd they do that? It was freaking cool!

The military actually used ground forces, not like crap independence day, where only jets can fight in a war...(in reference to ID4) duh, lets send 300 jets at em, instead of firing missiles from 200 miles away.......(that was before they knew they even had fighter plane aliens too)

i like how spielberg did not sugar coat human-panacking mob mentality...

Thumbs way up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ginkasa · 06-30-2005, 05:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crash

SPoiler

I was thinking the opposite, I loved when the lady carrying the baby goes up in smoke.... bout time some bitch is killed, no one else has the balls to show a women get killed in a pg-13 summer blockbuster... let alone a baby

She's hardly a main character...

/me shrugs and walks away

Crash · 06-30-2005, 12:59 PM

yeah, I know.... I just thought it was cool.

Null · 06-30-2005, 04:18 PM

through out the whole movie, i kept thinkin, Wheres Gorden Freeman!?

Movie could easily of been called Half Life 2 the movie and still worked.

Ginkasa · 06-30-2005, 04:21 PM

...What about it was similar to Half-Life? (I've never played either game).

/me shrugs and walks away