Rate Spielberg's War of the Worlds

[Banshee16]

Hmm...I probably won't see this again so I'll have to take your word on that. Of course, it then raises the question of why were the clothes raining down in the forest later? I assumed it was a direct way of showing passengers in planes had been heat rayed.

Is there a reason why people were disintegrated, but their clothing remained?

Banshee

 

[Krug]

Is there a reason why people were disintegrated, but their clothing remained?

Banshee

Coz it just looked so awesomely cool!

 

[Banshee16]

Coz it just looked so awesomely cool!

Point to you I was trying to figure out why, thinking that maybe it just vaporized organic matter, but unless they were all wearing polyester, that was unlikely. Then I just decided it must be just for drama....it was pretty horrifying seeing all those clothes swirling around in the air.

I think there were some inconsistencies in the film, but not as many as some would claim. If you've actually seen people in a panic, or been in a mob, and seen frightened people, it's a lot easier to accept some of the behavioural things in the movie.

Some of the stuff, like the working camera and TV crew and stuff I just figured it was because the people with that equipment weren't near the EMP when it affected everything.

Personally, I found the movie really intense. Once it got going, it was like "run, run, run". It was easy to imagine myself in a similar situation, and try to figure out what I'd do.

I think the main thing that disappointed me was the son surviving. That just smacked too much of a happy ending. Not when just about everything in the area got vaporized.

I gave the movie a pass. High Theatre? Not at all. Enjoyable? Definitely...much more than a lot of the crap coming out of Hollywood lately.

Banshee

 

[Jdvn1]

Is there a reason why people were disintegrated, but their clothing remained?

Banshee

I'm not sure why they were disintigrated in the first place. Weren't they collecting bodies for a reason?

 

[DonTadow]

A few points....

Is it so foolish that a police officer could have been wrong? He could have spoken up, not understanding what was actually happening.

A mob of people killing each other over a car? Have you seen a mob? My brother was in *our* car on Canada Day downtown, and a mob of people, who are apparently harmless, trampled over it, with two of our friends inside it, and destroyed the vehicle, caved in the roof, shattered all the windows, and crushed the hood and trunk. Again, this was *with* people in the car at the time, while it was moving. Mobs are not harmless, and in groups, people are irrational and dangerous. When they tried to get out and pull people off the car, they almost got the stuffing beaten out of them.

The movie wasn't perfect.....but some of the things, like aliens not having bio suits, falling victim to disease, etc.....that's part of the book. It's the whole point.

I was wondering about the van. That's a pretty efficient motor. But I missed the beginning of the movie, so I'm not sure what city they were in to start with, or how far they actually drove.

Banshee

Speilberg didn't put the cop in the movie to be wrong. Else there's no point for the cop to be in the movie.

My thing is that the mob was inconsistant. Why attack Cruise and his van but not the army jeeps and other men. Mobs should be either really uncontrolbable or orderlly but not both. If Speilberg wanted to stick to the book and make it make since he would have had to set it in the past.

 

[Banshee16]

Speilberg didn't put the cop in the movie to be wrong. Else there's no point for the cop to be in the movie.

My thing is that the mob was inconsistant. Why attack Cruise and his van but not the army jeeps and other men. Mobs should be either really uncontrolbable or orderlly but not both. If Speilberg wanted to stick to the book and make it make since he would have had to set it in the past.

The cop was wrong for a reason......to display that people had no idea what was going on. He was an authority figure who still had no clue. I'm pretty sure that was done purposefully.

As to the mob not attacking the army, I'm pretty sure the racks of machine guns and rocket launchers had something to do with it.

Banshee

 

[Hijinks]

A reluctance to show us horror.

I thought the bodies floating down the river was pretty horrifying. I don't particularly like gorefest horror films, and I especially don't like gorefest sci-fi films. I don't need to see entrails and brains to know people died horribly.

why were the clothes raining down in the forest later? I assumed it was a direct way of showing passengers in planes had been heat rayed.

Hmm. I thought the force of being rayed on the nearby beach was blowing the clothes into the sky, to rain down a short distance away. Could be from a plane though, that would have explained to me why I didn't see any bodies in the earlier plane crash debris and I would never have thought about it again.

Weren't they collecting bodies for a reason?

I doubt they needed billions of people. They took what they needed for food, and vaporized the rest. Also, killing millions instantly is a darn good way of waging warfare - scare the poop out of your enemy and he'll show less resistance.

I gave it a 7. I was very scared during the ferry scene, although I'm terrified of boats so that was part of it. I agree that the basement scene is a little long, but I thought the blindfold + lullaby song while the dad killed Tim Robbins was emotionally effective. I was unhappy that the jerk teenaged son survived, although when the mom hugged the little girl and didn't ask about the boy, I knew he was alive, and was disappointed. I loved the scary foghorn sound - wow that was loud, but again effective.

The thing that bothered me the most was the people standing around wondering what was rising out of the ground. Like they'd never seen a sci-fi film or something. I would have been halfway to Poughkeepsie by the time the asphalt stopped cracking. Then after people started getting vaporized, they would still run away half-heartedly, darting glances over their shoulders as they loped away. 'Scuse me, but I'm not looking back, I'm tucking my chin to my chest and running like hell. That was a little over-the-top dramatic for my tastes.

I do agree about the mob mentality - the mob scenes were frightening because I know that's how people would act if this were to really happen. Dumb, scared sheep, following the herd.

 

[Jdvn1]

I doubt they needed billions of people. They took what they needed for food, and vaporized the rest.

In the movie, they vaporized first. Regardless, why would you do something to limit your crop?

Also, killing millions instantly is a darn good way of waging warfare - scare the poop out of your enemy and he'll show less resistance.

Like they said, it wasn't warfare. It was extermination. The humans didn't have a chance.

 

[DonTadow]

The cop was wrong for a reason......to display that people had no idea what was going on. He was an authority figure who still had no clue. I'm pretty sure that was done purposefully.

As to the mob not attacking the army, I'm pretty sure the racks of machine guns and rocket launchers had something to do with it.

Banshee

We obviously disagree on this part. I really don't think, as a writer, I'd use a cop to show how know one knew what was going on. Cops, lawyers and judges are traditionally used in fiction as authority figures. When they have dialogue its usually to convey a message of the truth.

The immediate questions in people mines when they see lightening hit a hole 21 times is, well aren't there sewer pipes, wires, gas lines, water mains and such down there. Isn't this illogical. Notice he doesnt say anything until the ground starts rumbling. Before we know anything about aliens, Speilberg needs us to know that it is not something natural. The logical conclusion would have been it is a water main breaking or a gas line about to errupt. So Spielberg needs us to know that this is not natural, and he uses the cop to do that. My beef is that the cop is the wrong figurehead to convey that knowledge as he's just a beat cop.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Very intense. As a father with a daughter, the most horrific scene

Spoiler

was when he was begging to pull his daughter out of the mini-van before the carjacker stole it. To me that was the most intense part of the movie.

The aliens were backdrop in this flick.