Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Audiophilander (A) on November 28, 2005 at 16:31:29

In Reply to: Rented WOTW on disk...lucked out on avoiding another stinker posted by DWPC on November 28, 2005 at 10:15:08:

It's truly a mixed bag; some of it works VERY well, other parts are less successful. Visually this film is stunning in places, with images and concepts that leave a lasting impression in many folk's minds, such as (Notice - SPOILERS of one sort or ARE PRESENT):

The use of human blood to cultivate the alien's terra-farming...

The under tripod "rat-catcher" sequence

The alien ray's evaporation of human tissue

The bodies floating by in the river, first just one, then hundreds, like so much driftwood

The look of the aliens and their tripod war machines

The sounds made by the machines and their ray weapons

The study of human nature in responding to crisis

THESE, in fact, are remarkable elements successfully explored by Spielberg's film. OTOH, there are glaring faults, such as (WARNING - DEFINITE SPOILERS!):

1) The choice of Tom Cruise as the lead for a blue collar NY dock worker (Cruise was totally unconvincing in this role and, in my estimation, failed to get any feel for the character); a better choice would've been an actor who can lend credibility to the role of a blue collar worker out of touch with his former wife and dysfunctional family, like Bruce Willis.

2) Awkward scenes of the contrived solanoid replacement in the midst of the catastrophic encouter with alien technology, allowing Cruise the precious coincidence of having a vehical capable of transporting his kids out of town.

3) The predictably contrived mirror scene used to extend suspense to interminable lengths (a Spielberg trademark, sad to say)

4) The rapid conclusion and lack of any sense of ultimate desperation on Cruise's part fails to let the audience dwell on the potential end of mankind glimpsed throughout the film. In fact, close-up views of Boston made the city appear almost untouched, except for the damage caused by falling Martian machines).

IMO, there needed to be more awesome scenes of devastation and loss to drive home the futility of combating this menace (more scenes of combat with the alien war machines). It's not H. G. Well's microbe based conclusion that fails, but Spielberg's pacing that doesn't work for this film. In a sense, that's where the hokier 1950's version works better, because you get a sense that mankind has actually lost this war without benefit of a miracle.

Spielberg was apparently attempting a psychological study of what it's like for one man and his family to be put through a life and death crisis; the alegory with terrorism and how different folk's react to an invasion force cannot be overlooked, but War of The Worlds just doesn't lend itself to such broad themes when taken out of it's original context and told in the manner of Wells.

AuPh