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War of the Worlds (2005)

Director: Steven Spielberg

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2 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Given the clampdown on timely press screenings and its star's assorted diversionary tactics, you'd suspect 'War of the Worlds' had something to hide. Yet this update of HG Wells' 1898 novel of alien attack is vintage latter-day Spielberg, re-establishing the director as reigning architect of disaster porn, unleashing a frenzy of the visible to metronomic rhythms of set-up and money shot, set-up and money shot.
Divorced bad dad Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) has his two kids for the weekend when a freak lightning storm hits his blue-collar New Jersey neighbourhood. Next, an apocalypse: the ground cracks and yawns open, the basso-groan of alien-built tripods begins a terrifying industrial symphony, and crackling beams vapourise the fleeing herds one by one, their suddenly body-less clothes borne into the air like kites. (The mass-panicked humans can pose as much a threat as their predators, as when a deranged zombie mob descends on the Ferriers' car.) Like its characters, 'War' is always on the run: no time to explain the alien infrastructure or the crimson kudzu-like vines choking the landscape; when a burning train screams past, we pause to stare wordlessly at its smoking streak, then it's on to the next catastrophe. September 11 signifiers abound – in the thick film of white death-dust veiling Cruise after a narrow escape, and the Red Cross volunteer megaphoning 'We have more blood than we can use' – but any social context or family pathos (yes, Ray rises to the occasion, but so did the dread Giuliani) is thin and wobbly. Nevertheless, the film succeeds as pure sensation, an exacting distillation of fear.

Author: JWin

Time Out London Issue 1820: July 6-13 2005

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User reviews of this film

tjalfe svendsen said...

Posted on Dec 07 2007 20:06 ow and more things that is a totally fuck up.
what where you thinking they specifically describe the "heatray" as invisible and they make it up in a manner that really gives this story soul WTF where you thinking going all hollywood like and saying "ow there gotta be fancy effect"..
and it is a HEATray, when it hits people it burns them, it doesn't disintegrate them or puff them into dusk leaving their clothing behind, wtf ?! was it too hard to NOT leave the cloth behind ?!
besides that why the F do they use lights all the time?! it is not like it is needed in daylight and it is only included in the history like twice and both times as a form of "watch" towers..
and where is all the soul of the story?! GONE i tell you, it have NO soul at all...
it is like you didn't even known the story to begin with... ARG.... it is so bad it is unbelievable, only idiot that would find this good is some one that don't know better and didn't read the story or hear it at any point :S

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tjalfe svendsen said...

Posted on Dec 07 2007 19:59 i hate you so much it is unbelievable.
you destroyed an AWESOME history, EVERYTHING is wrong in this movie, you didn't even get the "start sequence with the story telling" right, you cut out some of the best parts of the story, the marchents doesn't look at all as described, the first meeting with the metallic cylinder is totally wrong and over crappy "hallowed stereo type made".
even the actor doesn't have ANYTHING near the personality as the main character in the story, in generally you fail at every turn and i wish that you would NEVER put your hands on such a master piece to totally and utterly destroy it as you did, you deserve to get your ands cut of, eyes boiled out and legs broken for making this movie :S

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