War of the Worlds (2005): standard Hollywood movie?

[Alan Smithee]

Less than a month to go, I'm still rather leary of Spielberg's WotW.

I'm sorry, but I'm afraid Spielberg has caved in to the conventional Hollywood formula. I'm sure he's taking serious liberties with this film.

I can see it now: hunky Cruise sneaks onto the alien mothership, slays the queen alien, plants a bomb, leaves in time with seconds ticking away, the mothership explodes, and said hunk saves humanity.

Paging Michael Bay! Paging Roland Emmerich!

Of course, Spielberg will probably also take a page from Shamlan (or whatever his name is) and pull a "Surprising twist" in the end.

And then what's a Spielberg movie without a coached, "lovable" kid? This Dakota Fanning character looks so obnoxious, it runs the risk stripping whatever edge the movie has.

Probably the only thing going for it would be the fx. But I'm afraid this movie won't be a thought-provoking, intelligent, horror/sci-fi movie, but  another ID4 (which was a low rent WotW knock-off).

Too bad.

[dean]

>>>>>I can see it now: hunky Cruise sneaks onto the alien mothership, slays the queen alien, plants a bomb, leaves in time with seconds ticking away, the mothership explodes, and said hunk saves humanity.



Not happening.  Sorry to say, but this won't happen.  I just don't see Spielberg pulling that kind of stunt.

From what I've heard, they are sticking to the general ideas/feelings in the book, which, yes, usually means they are taking liberties with the script compared to novelisation, but Spielberg isn't the sort who'll go with the Michael Bay-style action, though of course there will be some sort of action [how can there not be?]

My guess is that it will focus on family.  One part of the novel which is of some importance is the narrator's wife, whom he got seperated with and his worry for her.  I'd say its obvious this has been expanded on from the trailer [I noticed that the father/daughter gets seperated]

I also doubt there will be a big surprise twist.  That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if Spielberg changed the original ending slightly to accomadate the general themes/feelings of the movie.

>>>>>But I'm afraid this movie won't be a thought-provoking, intelligent, horror/sci-fi movie, but another ID4 (which was a low rent WotW knock-off).

It won't be another ID4 as it won't be a knock off with big action sequences as the focus, but rather it will focus on the ordinary people who are involved.  It might have scary moments, but since it's Speilberg it won't be a horror-fest, and it will be much more thought provoking than ID4, since that's not too hard to do.

Mind you, of course, these are my humble opinions, and I find it hard to think Spielberg will drastically change the formula he has used for his last few films.

And I personally cannot wait for this one to come out; if anyone was going to do it, I have to say that I'm glad it was Spielberg rather than someone else.

[Ash]

I agree with dean.
I trust in Spielberg's abilities to do a good job.
I'll definitely be going to see it.

[nobody]

Alan Smithee: "This Dakota Fanning character looks so obnoxious, it runs the risk stripping whatever edge the movie has."

I refuse to watch anything that stars Dakota Fanning just because she's so obnoxious and annoying.

[Mr_Vindictive]

I will certainly be there opening night of WoW.  The trailer looks good, and it looks like it might actually stay fairly "true" to the novel.  Well....as much as possible considering it is set in modern times.

But, of course it will make insane amounts of money just because it's a Spielberg flick.  I enjoy his flicks, but the man is too damn overrated.  Sure, he's a decent director but nothing great.

As for Dakota Fanning, you have to give the girl credit for landing some huge roles.  Lets see she's already acted with Denzel Washington, Robert DeNiro, and now Tom Cruise?  She's on her way to being a huge actress.

[nobody]

Maybe when Dakota Fanning is older I'll be able to handle watching her in a movie... when her age more than warrents the grown-up attitude and intelligence she's always made to portray on-screen. Right now, however, I can't believe any role she takes. She always plays this super smart and insightful 8-year-old that seems more science fiction than any aliens Spielberg can throw at us. I have yet to meet such a bright child, girl or boy, in real life. Most children are too preoccupied with toys, cartoons and video games to have had the hard and thought provoking real-life experiences that eventually conceive adult intellect.

BTW, I really don't give her the credit for landing the roles she's got. I just think she's a lucky actress. She's become Hollywood's "quick pick" for any  "preadolescenct girl."
And saying you've worked with Robert DeNiro at this point is hardly a highlight of any Hollywood career. DeNiro would probably act with ME if I asked him to. :)

[trekgeezer]

The indie version comes out June 14 on DVD. I admit the effects look a little on the cheesy side, but it is set in the proper time period and location and follows the novel pretty well..

Here's the high-res trailer.


I am also looking forward to the Speilberg/Cruise version, it seems to have the atmosphere of the book.



Post Edited (06-04-05 09:31)

[Flangepart]

Hummm....
Think i know the plot...cause i flipped through a comics adaptation of the flick at the Laughing Ogre last week!
Lousy art work, and the plot fit the looks of the trailers.
Contemporary setting, dad and kid, a few Martian's going down, Ect...
D'oh!

[DaveMunger]

Wouldn't it be cool if they made it kind of like the Silverberg book "The Alien Years"? That was his take on WotW and Independence Day. The aliens in it are truly alien; their reasons for invading are incomprehensible (as opposed to ridiculous), their technology is invincible, and eventually they just leave for their own incomprehensible reasons. People are eventually able to hack into their mainframes, but only because the aliens didn't mind, it was a convinient way for them to be able to communicate with collaborators, and it couldn't be used to give the "mother ship self destruct" order. The system was alien enough that you couldn't really mess it up just by feeding it bad information, it was like giant brains in vats or something. The aliens are fairly indifferent to humans, the damage they do at first is inadvertent, like their landings start brushfires in California, then there is some retaliation for our feeble attempts to nuke them (they shut down the internet, mainly). The only hackers that are able to benifit from making contact with the alien mainframes are the ones that become collaborators; they can find out what the aliens want people to do and pass the orders on to other people. The aliens pay them back by pretty much letting them do whatever they want. Lots of people are drafted onto giant public works projects, the ones that were ordered from the top are really weird, like re-arrainging Stonehenge and building giant concrete walls around all the major cities. Most of the projects were thought up by the collaborators though, so they kind of make sense in human terms, like bridges and stuff. Then the collaborators are just left high and dry at the end.

I didn't really mean to go off on "The Alien Years" at such length. I think it is a pretty good example of the "let's get it right this time" movement in SF. On a similar note,  later I think I'll post about the posibilitiy of remaking all the Star Wars movies in the distant future.

"Toughened your nipples, didn't it?"

[Mr_Vindictive]

"and it couldn't be used to give the "mother ship self destruct" order."

Am I the only one who thinks that it's hilarious that in every SF film, the ships has a Self Destruct option?

[odinn7]

Skaboi wrote:

> Am I the only one who thinks that it's hilarious that in every
> SF film, the ships has a Self Destruct option?
>

Don't be silly...doesn't everything have a self destruct button?

[Flangepart]

Installed by Bill Gates, no doubt.

Has any alien invasion movie ever been made, where the invaders attack Earth because they go the wrong attack orders?
Oh, wait...." SPACED INVADERS"....carry on, never mind...

"A space army? I'd death ray my grandmother for a space army about now!"

[Master Blaster]

Is that the one where the old couple is on the porch, the wife says something unintelligable and the husband looks over and says "Aint you dead yet?"

I always laugh remembering that scene.

[Alan Smithee]

I think I would've had more admiration for Spielberg if he set the movie in 19th century England and cast some truly unknowns instead of the tried-and-true Tom Cruise.

Granted War of the Worlds is the mother of all alien invasion stories, but this movie just reeks too much of craptacular ID4 or some Michael Bay movie.

It would be nice if Spielberg gave us a truly downbeat ending. I doubt he'd take a risk like that.

I'm going to relunctanly see this movie, but I fear that it'll be relatively toothless.

[Susan]

It's the "Independence Day" of this year