WOTW Reviews All Good

Max · Post by **Max** » 2005-07-05 05:27pm

When Tom and Dakota are in the basement with Tim...wouldn't the probe/camera thing use thermal imaging? It's an advanced race, why wouldn't they use that or night vision?

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-07-05 05:36pm

Since they were never in the field of view of the camera, it makes no difference. The probe kept missing them and the fact that it reappeared after giving the impression it was all clear shows that the boot trick didn't fool it. We never see a lot of useful sensors being used by various sci-fi powers, but it doesn't mean they don't have them, especially if they can build something that blasts cities to ash.

Ligier · Post by **Ligier** » 2005-07-05 05:41pm

Nitpick.

The tri-pod aliens entered AFTER the boot trick.

So, they were under the impression it was all-clear, or the tri-pods were confident enough to handle a puny hooman or two outside of their machines.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-07-05 05:43pm

Ligier wrote:Nitpick.

The tri-pod aliens entered AFTER the boot trick.

So, they were under the impression it was all-clear, or the tri-pods were confident enough to handle a puny hooman or two outside of their machines.

I expect they came in to see for themselves and deal with whatever was there, the probe didn't seem to be armed anyway.

Stravo wrote:
Perhaps people should stop saying this is one of the top films of the year because as awful as this year's crop has been this is not the cream of the crop.

With respect, the only real criticisms I've seen by critics have been to do with the end. The rating on Rottentomatoes.com was 100% fresh (there's another site whose name escapes me that does better than a good/bad rating like that website does) with the first dozen reviews in and stayed that way for a week. The other critiques were either "We're sick of Cruise/fanning" or "This is just Spielberg's old stuff rehashed" which are irrelevant.

Since when have the critics ever been a force for deciding movies anyway? I seem to recall a lot of bad reviews of many decent movies I liked along with others here in the past and the Academy Awards are a joke.

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2005-07-06 02:37pm

Below is my review, originally posted on the Omniverse Zero forums. Yes, I know, I use the same template as The Ruthless Guide To 1980s Action. Why? Because I'm Frankenstein. Frankenstein does stuff like that.

Entire Plot in One Sentence:
Humans die in droves; then Martians.

Homoeroticism:
In one scene, the camera seems to be fixated on Tom Cruise's biceps. In another, a tripod shoves its phallic-looking eye-tentacle into a damp, dark basement. And that is before we get to that scene where Tom Cruise throws a grenade into the anus-like "feeding" orifice on one of the Martian Mecha. Gay, gay, gay!

Corpse Count:
Between 150 and 200 humans die on-screen. Billions die offscreen. And that's before we get to the Martians!

How Bad Is It Really?
I was somewhat disappointed by the whole thing. Though the tripods (which looked almost H. R. Giger-ish at times) are among the most convincing CGI I have seen, I have the growing suspicion that most of the budget went to Tom Cruise. Now, my dear reader, you ask me What do you think went wrong?. I am personally unable to put a finger on everything which made me disappointed, but here is my complaint list:

Despite some very effective scenes, such as practically everyone where the Martians kill people, there appeared to be something wrong with overall impression the movie gave me if judged as a whole.
The prologue and epilogue narrations felt somewhat tacked-on, they did not really add to the movie. Especially the epilogue struck me as awkward, it felt as if the morale of the story somehow had become so divorced from the story itself that the ending epilogue (yes, I know it was taken from the book) had to point it out.
The appearance of the aliens. In this versions, they looked like the bastard offspring of a deformed Asgard and a Xenomorph. They were too damn cute for my taste, really. I clearly prefer how they were described in the book - as vampiric landbound giant octopi. CTHULHU FHTAGN!
The way the Martian mecha pilots were deployed into them by use of what appeared to be fancy lightning. Where were the huge Martian spaceships who should have projected these lightning storms? Were the Martian spaceships somehow camouflaged as clouds? Now, in a Jodorowsky comic or a Douglas Adams novel that would have worked fine, but only because the rest of the setting would in both cases resemble a bad acid trip.

However, do not get the impression that I hated the movie. I loved the scene with the ferry, for example, as well as the appearance of the first tripod. In retrospect I like Harlan Ogilvy's remark about how a couple of tripods had fallen over in Japan, since at times I thought the tripods would do fine as Angels in Neon Genesis Evangelion if they were a bit less mechanical-looking... given the present-day setting, though, it is more likely that it was Godzilla who took down those tripods. Godzilla vs. The Martians... now that's a movie I'd like to see!

Post-Mortem One Liner:
None at all.

Novelty Death:
The Martian death-rays vaporize people but not their clothes. Not to mention the scene where a tripod sticks a tentacle into a hapless man and drains his blood, and a later one with someone getting sucked up into the anus-like orifice of a tripod mecha.

Stupid Political Content:
The military are incompetent, at least against huuuuge Martian tripod mecha.

Did The Movie End With An Atomic Blast?
There was actually a burning tripod which kinda looked like a mushroom cloud.

Was there an Evil Albino?
No, though the Martian who died at the end was a bit more pallid than the ones who invaded Ogilvy's cellar.

Did The Negro Survive?
Not sure.

What Did I Learn From This Picture?
Martians are to blame for power surges.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2005-07-06 04:53pm

The ridiculousness of the ending was only heightened by the fact that Tom Cruise's son managed to survive. HOW THE FUCK COULD THAT HAVE HAPPENED? Think about it--last time we saw him, the entire hillside he was on went up in flames. He must have survived that, then somehow evaded the aliens and their walkers during the entire time that Cruise was in the basement. Then, he must somehow have beaten his family back to Boston, all the while without being seen by the aliens.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2005-07-06 05:14pm

weemadando wrote:Yeah, that to me, looked like the same thing you see troops in any war doing. Once they have secured some enemy held territory, they take a moment and look around the often completely alien environs that they are now in - and sometimes even do some looting. The "martians" looked like they were just interested in discovering what kind of paraphenalia humans accumulate around their dwellings.

The one Martian spinning the bicycle wheel (and jumping back when it fell off the wall) was a real nice touch in that scene. It gave me the impression they were just looking around to satisfy their curiousity.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-07-06 05:19pm

Master of Ossus wrote:The ridiculousness of the ending was only heightened by the fact that Tom Cruise's son managed to survive. HOW THE FUCK COULD THAT HAVE HAPPENED? Think about it--last time we saw him, the entire hillside he was on went up in flames. He must have survived that, then somehow evaded the aliens and their walkers during the entire time that Cruise was in the basement. Then, he must somehow have beaten his family back to Boston, all the while without being seen by the aliens.

I assume he peaked over, then saw how the military was really not doing all that much but make a pretty light show, then he buggered off, stage right. The tripods would take the military vehicles out first since they ignored the refugees the army was protecting at that point before their suicide charge. Then it's a case of him going the opposite direction to the invaders and maybe getting a ride. Ray and Rachel were stuck in Ogilvy's house for a while, so it's safe to say Robbie had a headstart and avoided other conflicts through luck.

And anyone saying Martians here is wrong. Spielberg explicitly stated they aren't from Mars because it'd be harder to suspend disbelief for given the probes sent there.

felineki · Post by **felineki** » 2005-07-06 08:46pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:And anyone saying Martians here is wrong. Spielberg explicitly stated they aren't from Mars because it'd be harder to suspend disbelief for given the probes sent there.

That's stupid. It's not War of the Worlds without Martians. So what if real-world Mars has no life? Blargh. Freakin' Spielberg.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-07-06 09:23pm

felineki wrote: That's stupid. It's not War of the Worlds without Martians. So what if real-world Mars has no life? Blargh. Freakin' Spielberg.

It's a closer adaptation than the '53 Pal movie, which even if it had saucers, was still amazing. I didn't like this idea at first either, but then it adds some mystery to the story since we don't know where they came from or whether they'll be back soon.

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2005-07-07 03:46am

Master of Ossus wrote:The ridiculousness of the ending was only heightened by the fact that Tom Cruise's son managed to survive. HOW THE FUCK COULD THAT HAVE HAPPENED? Think about it--last time we saw him, the entire hillside he was on went up in flames. He must have survived that, then somehow evaded the aliens and their walkers during the entire time that Cruise was in the basement. Then, he must somehow have beaten his family back to Boston, all the while without being seen by the aliens.

Perhaps the Martians are big fans of Jeff Foxworthy and the son happened to have a Jeff Foxworthy CD on him.

That NOS Guy · Post by **That NOS Guy** » 2005-07-07 04:00pm

Peregrin Toker wrote:
Perhaps the Martians are big fans of Jeff Foxworthy and the son happened to have a Jeff Foxworthy CD on him.

They're an advanced civilization bent on conquering.

Scratch that. Bill Hicks was right, we'll be taken over by the hillbillies of outer space.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2005-07-08 09:19am

Jaepheth wrote: On a side note, this movie screams HL2 mod (During the shots with the alien machines I half expected someone to run buy screaming "Strider!!!")

was it me or did they nearly made the same sound?

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2005-07-08 09:49am

Master of Ossus wrote:The ridiculousness of the ending was only heightened by the fact that Tom Cruise's son managed to survive. HOW THE FUCK COULD THAT HAVE HAPPENED? Think about it--last time we saw him, the entire hillside he was on went up in flames. He must have survived that, then somehow evaded the aliens and their walkers during the entire time that Cruise was in the basement. Then, he must somehow have beaten his family back to Boston, all the while without being seen by the aliens.

That pissed me off. The whole point of the scene with the army was forcing Tom Cruise's charector to choose one child or lose them both. For him to 'have his cake and eat it too' cheapens that whole family subplot. drek.

Darth Raptor · Post by **Darth Raptor** » 2005-07-08 12:32pm

Col. Crackpot wrote:That pissed me off. The whole point of the scene with the army was forcing Tom Cruise's charector to choose one child or lose them both. For him to 'have his cake and eat it too' cheapens that whole family subplot. drek.

Apparently, the point of that was to show how he never gave up hope in the face of all reason. And that's somehow a good thing.

"We... got seperated. He'll meet us in Boston."

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-07-08 01:33pm

wautd wrote:
was it me or did they nearly made the same sound?

No, it is something slightly similar to the ending of the tripod call, but the Strider isn't as close or scary sounding. A closer match would be the mothership from the end of Close Encounters or the seismic charges from Episode II.

The Strider is also far easier being less than 20 metres tall next to the 45 metres quoted for these new tripods and not having the firepower or shielding. It takes 5 RPG-7s to take a Strider down and about the same number of Javelin ATGMs for a unshielded tripod fighting machine.

Vicious · Post by **Vicious** » 2005-07-08 01:34pm

Darth Raptor wrote:
Col. Crackpot wrote:That pissed me off. The whole point of the scene with the army was forcing Tom Cruise's charector to choose one child or lose them both. For him to 'have his cake and eat it too' cheapens that whole family subplot. drek.
Apparently, the point of that was to show how he never gave up hope in the face of all reason. And that's somehow a good thing.

"We... got seperated. He'll meet us in Boston."

Before the ending, I thought this line was for his daughter's benefit. She hadn't seen what had happened, so he was shielding her from the immediate trauma of knowing her brother is dead. He seemed to know full well that his son was flambe', but for her sake he wasn't gonna say it in front of her.

Then came the ending, of course.

Shroom Man 777 · Post by **Shroom Man 777** » 2005-07-08 01:45pm

I'm mixed about the ending. But it's good for Tom's character - I mean, in the end good guys win, and in that situation, that was how he won. Or something. Meh.

As for the Tripod battlecry, it kinda sounded like those lighthouse/foghorn/boat horn things.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2005-07-08 06:42pm

I loved it, for some reason I really connected with the girl, acting all mature like, but like most kids, has it being a facade and screaming like a baby when having danger, it was really...emotional.
Mostly well connected with all the characters, I mean, I can understand the teens "I WANT REVENGE" aspect, typical teen bravado.

Two scenes stand out in my mind besides all the STRIDER sequances(their not tripods, their striders, someone was playing HL2 in there!)...
The train, mentioned this elsewhere.
And the battlescene, watching all the smoke "Our mission is to deley them", they KNOW its hopeless, yet they keep working, not deserting.

Darth Raptor · Post by **Darth Raptor** » 2005-07-08 09:54pm

Something I just thought of: How plausible is it for the aliens to have burried the tripods hundreds of years ago (never mind "millions" that's ridiculous)? What I mean is they were all strategically placed in major metropolitan areas. Either the aliens had ridiculous luck, could see the future, or...

What if the lightning strikes were beaming the tripods into the ground? Some kind of teleportation imbeded the equipment but couldn't be used for the crews. Because of this the crews rode the lightning down in their pods instead of teleporting. Burrying these things with such precision so long ago doesn't make any sense.

Trytostaydead · Post by **Trytostaydead** » 2005-07-09 12:05am

Came back from seeing the movie, held off on reading this thread until then.

First of all

Something I just thought of: How plausible is it for the aliens to have burried the tripods hundreds of years ago (never mind "millions" that's ridiculous)? What I mean is they were all strategically placed in major metropolitan areas. Either the aliens had ridiculous luck, could see the future, or...

I think some were coincidentally in metropoliton areas. We saw tripods come out of the woods or under water.

But I enjoyed the movie, it kept me on my seat most of the time. If you know how the movie ends, and can accept the ending because you know it's based off of a revolutionary book and ideas for its time, then I enjoyed it and do not belittle Spielberg in anyway for it.

What I do have to say is I was distinctly uncomfortable with the wholesale slaughter of civilians. I dunno, it just doesn't make me comfortable. Soldiers, yes. Civilians no.

And the character surviving at the end? Uuuh.. no.

BTW, how come in all Spielberg movies there's usually a kid I want to beat the shit out of?!!!

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2005-07-09 02:21am

Darth Raptor wrote:Something I just thought of: How plausible is it for the aliens to have burried the tripods hundreds of years ago (never mind "millions" that's ridiculous)? What I mean is they were all strategically placed in major metropolitan areas. Either the aliens had ridiculous luck, could see the future, or...

What if the lightning strikes were beaming the tripods into the ground? Some kind of teleportation imbeded the equipment but couldn't be used for the crews. Because of this the crews rode the lightning down in their pods instead of teleporting. Burrying these things with such precision so long ago doesn't make any sense.

We have no idea how many tripods there were or how many emerged away from metropolitan areas. We have at least one account of one in the Pine Barrens, which is about as close to the middle of nowhere as you can get in the Northeast--it either emerged there or was traveling through the Barrens for some reason.

The Martians could have planted them around likely spots for cities; certainly New York Bay would have looked like a natural place for a city 10,000 years ago or whenever. Or they could have been seeded more or less at random and converged on the cities, and it's just a coincidence one popped out of the ground in Bayonne.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-07-09 04:18pm

I maintain that they were placed near potential areas of population such as near the Thames for London, San Francisco bay or the Seine for Paris. But after all those years (likely thousands, the million year figure is unsubstantiated and from a madman) they passively detected activity above and moved accordingly, no one would really notice the tremors if they did it slowly and delicately.

Sephirius · Post by **Sephirius** » 2005-07-11 07:17pm

Shroom Man 777 wrote: As for the Tripod battlecry, it kinda sounded like those lighthouse/foghorn/boat horn things.

actually, this is what I always thought it should sound like.

http://www.jedimark.co.uk/stuff/ularh.wma

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-07-12 10:02am

I never expected them to use "ULLA!" or "ALOO!", cool as they are in the musical (the documentary on how they made that was great), they don't fit this movie's atmosphere. If you can find it, there are two sound clips of the movie battlecry, one deeper than the other. Play it on a 5.1 Dolby system with full bass and it scares the fuck out of anyone in the room.