War of the Worlds

[Dark_Lord_Revan]

Well I personally love sci-fi films and I loved the book War of the Worlds. So it goes without saying that I was blown away by the new movie. Has anybody else seen it, and what is your opinion on it?

[Deraldin]

It was a terrible movie.

[Dark_Lord_Revan]

It was a terrible movie.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I'm interested to hear your reasons.

[alanschu]

I liked it. I thought the ending was a little rushed and weak though.

 

 

I thought it was too happy, and honestly would have preferred it if his son had died

 

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

We were going to watch it friday but changed our minds.

[Dark_Lord_Revan]

What I liked about it:

 

1.) I have to say the special effects were some of the best, but that is to be expected in a Speilberg movie.

 

2.)I thought overall the acting was top-notch and believable, especially by Dakota Fanning(however the son in the movie did get on my nerves a bit.)

 

3.) Conveyed the spirit/mood of the book quite well.

 

4.) Action was pretty intense for the most part, and I was on the edge of my seat.

 

5.) The plot as a whole was good IMHO. I liked how it differed from movies like Independence Day, in that it was told from the family's point of view, rather than the military.

 

The only complaint I had(and a small one at that) is that the ending could have been maybe 5 minutes longer to explain the story in a bit more detail(but I won't spoil anything here.)

 

I give it

[Dark_Lord_Revan]

I liked it.  I thought the ending was a little rushed and weak though.

 

 

I thought it was too happy, and honestly would have preferred it if his son had died

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yep I would have liked it that way too.

[Deraldin]

I'll be rehashing other posts made on other forums because I'm too lazy to point out everything that ruined the movie for me.

 

The film was ok but had some illogical things. One of the most insane: when the first tripod comes out of the ground, there is a WORKING video camera filming it. Even though the entire city has been blacked out by EMP.

 

The second most insane: When the big robot-spy snake is investigating the cellar. I mean even WE would've just IR-scanned the building. Let alone such an advanced society like the aliens. And even if the aliens felt the need to enter the building in order to scan it: they could've used something a BIT more advanced, agile, and with some more cameras.

 

I understand that this portion was in the book, but that doesn't make it any less idiotic.

 

The kid was more then irritating, I can't physically stand that kind of high pitched scream it really gives me a headache

 

 

How his son managed to survive a massive explosion, then somehow end up at home safe. Pathetic ending, son arrives at grandparents place, hmmm teleported? And the grand parents survived as well. Have to be the luckiest family on earth.

 

 

The basement scene was WAY too long. It should have been only half the length it was.

 

My biggest complaint was it didn't feel cohesive. It was like little vignettes of things strung together. The bursting from the ground scene. The ferry scene. The basement scene. Etc.

 

The fact that a biological virus also seems to affect the electronics of the aliens (where did the shields go)?

 

 

Also, how the HELL did that kid survive after running right into a fight and SEEING WITH MY OWN EYES the WHOLE thing going up in flames!

 

 

I think thats about it for now. <_<

[Dark_Lord_Revan]

I was trying not to post spoilers...

 

P.S. Every movie has mistakes, and if you analyze every one of them, then it will ruin ANY movie, regradless of how good the movie actually is.

[Deraldin]

I was trying not to post spoilers...

 

P.S. Every movie has mistakes, and if you analyze every one of them, then it will ruin ANY movie, regradless of how good the movie actually is.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Better?

[Dark_Lord_Revan]

I was trying not to post spoilers...

 

P.S. Every movie has mistakes, and if you analyze every one of them, then it will ruin ANY movie, regradless of how good the movie actually is.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Better?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Thanks. :cool:

[Deraldin]

If a movie has enough mistakes that it ruins your suspension of disbelief then it's not a good movie.

[EnderAndrew]

Steven Spielburg was almost too faithful to the book.

 

Orson Welles wasn't, and everyone loved his adaptation. The ending that everyone hated was straight from the book, as were the lightning storms, red weed and tripods.

 

Honestly, the first 2 acts of the movie are one of the best roller coaster rides of a movie I've ever seen. Visually the film was great, and I loved how tightly it was shot.

 

Spielburg did rush this movie big time for two reasons. He's trying to get to Munich and Indy 4, and he wanted to beat out the British version.

 

I hated, and I mean hated the ending. And still I really enjoyed the movie.

[alanschu]

Agreed. Up until the ending though I actually enjoyed the movie.

[Musopticon?]

I liked it too, but share your thoughts about the ending.

 

 

The stride...tripod call was so damn ominous.

[alanschu]

LOL, I thought they resembled

striders

too!

 

 

At first I didn't like the ending...it was too sudden. But after hearing that it does adhere to the book, I don't mind.

 

 

The super happy ending at the end though, was too much. Especially considering the movie was pretty grim up until that point. I can usually live with a hollywood ending (although I usually hate them), this one didn't seem to match up with the dark nature of the rest of the films.

 

[Blarghagh]

You see, Steven Spielberg is renown for continuity errors so I don't notice them in his films anymore. I have the uncanny ability to zone things like that out so I can maximize my enjoyment of a movie. It's also easier to forgive considering the studio gave them 72 days to shoot the movie. Anybody who is even remotely involved with any kind of film-making knows that this is nearly impossible for a big budget blockbuster, and I think they did a very admirable job because the movie managed to keep me on the edge of my seat. I did feel that the retro design of the alien tripods would have fit better in a movie set in the time the book was, but they were still sufficiently awesome.

[EnderAndrew]

ILM spent over 2 years doing post-production on Episode 3, and 2 months on War of the Worlds.

 

Episode 3 was incredibly detailed, but War of the Worlds doesn't look like CGI. It looked like the Tripods were there and captured on film. Part of that is what they did in the original Matrix, where many of the shots were very dark, and we imagine the effects are more realistic that way. It covers up quick and cheap effects budgets.

[alanschu]

Although I was impressed when I heard that Kashyyyk was 100% CG. But after thinking about it, I can see it.

 

 

You don't have any faces or anything, which are usually the most obvious indicators of a scene being CG.

[Musopticon?]

The shot of the tripods gathering the "fertilizer" from the water in the dark was probably the best in terms of visuals. Marvelous.

[EnderAndrew]

ILM might compete against ILM for best special effects in the Oscar race this year.

[alanschu]

Hahahaha.

 

 

I've always liked the work of ILM, ever since I learned about them while watching a making of Terminator 2

[EnderAndrew]

Hahahaha.

 

 

I've always liked the work of ILM, ever since I learned about them while watching a making of Terminator 2

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sadly you can only be nominated once per year for the Oscar race. Will they be nominated for War of the Worlds or Episode 3? King Kong will probably get WETA a nod as well.

[Blarghagh]

ILM spent over 2 years doing post-production on Episode 3, and 2 months on War of the Worlds.

 

Episode 3 was incredibly detailed, but War of the Worlds doesn't look like CGI.  It looked like the Tripods were there and captured on film.  Part of that is what they did in the original Matrix, where many of the shots were very dark, and we imagine the effects are more realistic that way.  It covers up quick and cheap effects budgets.

 

Actually, the original The Matrix used less CGI as people like to think. Many of the scenes where, for example, people hang in the air, were simply filmed using filming tricks. The things that were CGI were quite obvious, such as the Sentinels.

 

I think Spielberg is one of the few film-makers that realizes what true special effects are. Many film-makers throw in a CGI robot or creature or whatever with the knowledge that you'll be able to see it's CGI - so you'll go 'ooh, aah, look at that special effect'. Spielberg, however, knows that if someone can tell it's a special effect right away, you have failed as a film-maker. It takes the audience straight out of the movie and makes them concentrate on the special effects. That's not the effect you want.

 

I'm glad to see ILM is back on top of their game after WETA Digital spent the last couple of years kicking their bloody asses.

[EnderAndrew]

That's why Forrest Gump won the Oscar for Best Special Effects. Most people have no idea how much CGI and special effects are in the picture, but you accept them as real shots.