War Of The Worlds (2 Disc Special Edition) [2005] [DVD]

I think that this Spielberg 'version' of The War of the Worlds story is actually quite good (I am obviously in a minority !).The film progression is logical, the special effects excellent and the associated 'horror' well depicted.The typical Spielberg spotlight on human behaviour is also obvious with the various 'crowd' scenes not showing 'us' in a very good light...Similarly, the characterisation of the Tom Cruise characters' children is noteworthy for their extreme behaviour.The son is INCREDIBLY annoying, with exaggerated selfish/arrogant characteristics. The daughter has an irritating habit of getting herself in awkward situations, apparently on purpose, then screaming very loudly.However, from the DVD featurettes it becomes clear that both these character portrayals were definitely intentional, but it doesn't make them any more bearable !The DTS soundtrack (composed by John Williams as usual !) is very good, with several very haunting themes; especially the scene when the machines 'rise' for the first time.The special effects/picture quality are excellent and the production featurettes enlightening.---I do have a 1 issue with the film storyline though...:Surely the effects of the EMP blasts throughout the world, and as depicted locally in Newark would have been far more catastrophic ?For example, after the electronic storm not a single airliner was seen or reported to have crashed in the area; when, in reality, almost all of them would have dropped out of the sky as their avionics would fail - the airspace over Newark is one of the busiest in the world ! It is not until much later in the film that an airliner is seen to crash...Similarly, although motor vehicles are shown to have become inactive, the effect of EMP would have at least temporarily inhibited any electronic system in the vehicle, so (especially in American vehicles !) brakes would fail, engines would stall and gearboxes freeze.So why are all the vehicles shown to have presumably harmlessly coasted to a halt ? There would have been car crashes in abundance and not just huge collections of stationary vehicles...The above errors show a misunderstanding of the EMP effect it has been decided to include in the story, or perhaps it would have been too time-consuming/expensive to correctly portray ?A simple error is that when the machines rise someone is able to use a camcorder to record the event, despite the EMP effect having just occurred and everyone else's electronic equipment not working !This aspect was not thought through properly; had it been properly depicted the impact on viewers would have been more alarming...

This movie in my opinion deserves more appreciation. When I saw War of the Worlds at the cinema it had a profound impact on me, I love movies and I love going to the cinema and not since the release of the director's cut of Alien had I been so gripped and in awe of what was unfolding on the screen in front of me.For the casual viewer this was seen as a commendable summer blockbuster with a touch of realism to it. However, if like me you had read the book it is so much more - of course the setting is shifted accross the pond, but it all makes sense. Whilst staying true to the feel of the book director Steven Spielberg places it in a post 9/11 frame of mind and it is all the more chilling for it.As a movie there are so many good things about it - no-one other than Spielberg could have done this justice, the visual effects are jaw dropping (and best viewed on the largest screen possible), the acting commendable (Tom Cruise really shines in a role much different from his action hero characters) and John William's score is both sensually haunting and tense. The horn like 'oo-la' (as described in the book and made iconic by Jeff Wayne's musical adaptation) call of the tripod machines is spine tingling!

War of the Worlds is not among Spielberg's very best work and it does suffer initially from a necessarily bland opening and Cruise's unbelievability as a working Joe, but it does go to far darker places than you'd expect from a Summer blockbuster: whereas in the novel the hero causes the death of the curate hiding with him by accident, Spielberg goes much further here in a scene that makes surprisingly chilling use of Hushabye Mountain. The scenes of destruction are genuinely apocalyptic, with the chaos unravelled in surprisingly long and ambitious takes that don't draw excessive attention to their technique. Spielberg offers some nice emotional touches, not least the look of pride on Cruise's face as his son helps people struggling onto the ferry (not overplayed or highlighted, just there) and even pulls off the ending, always a problem but here solved by visually referencing The Searchers (although I could have done without Gene Barry and Anne Robinson's clumsy cameo or Morgan Freeman's lacklustre narration).For all its many changes from the novel, this succeeds surprisingly well as an adapatation (Wells himself felt the novel out of date by the time the various proposed earlier film versions from silent cinema through to the 40s were proposed): it may not have quite the 50s Technicolor appeal of George Pal's classic version nor anywhere near as iconic alien hardware, but it's got more than enough going for it to stand on its own three tripods.

Modern thriller remake. The film is shot in muted colours that give it an interesting doom laden feel. The special effects are super especially with concrete cracking open, buildings collapsing and cars being tossed up into the air. The music by John Williams could be considered to be one of his greatest with a doom laden chill that invokes a feel of impending doom. The plot follows the story of a family that try to escape the attack from a series of alien spacecraft intent on human destruction.

Just a fantastic film... grew up watching the 1953 black & white film for many years so was glad to see itcome alive in a new light and updated version fantastic out of this world.....One film you will want to see on a large screen with surround sound... it will blow you awaybest for me to say nothing about it so you can enjoy it better....Nothing worst than knowing what is going to happenHope you get to buy a copy and enjoy it as I doP.S I also have the two music albums to this film they to are a must have to playsee photo's with my review...My Thanks to AMAZON for such good items....