Blogcritics Comments on Revisiting 2005's War of the Worlds

Comment by Melissa on Revisiting 2005's War of the Worlds

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:34:26 EDT

Ruvy -- Thanks for the refresher!

Comment by Ruvy on Revisiting 2005's War of the Worlds

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:57:15 EDT

I thought the deal with the birds was very vague... That part with the birds was taken straight from Wells' story. In the story's end, the protagonist sees birds feasting upon the dying Martians, and dogs running off with fresh meat as he wanders exhausted through London, hearing the Martians screaming "ulla, ulla" before falling silent in death. Earlier in the film, since little Rachel's main job is to scream in terror (so it seems) the birds flying off in terror give her reason to be terrified....

Comment by Melissa on Revisiting 2005's War of the Worlds

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:44:32 EDT

Thanks for your comments. Ruvy -- I thought the deal with the birds was very vague. I don't know why they were attracted to the tripods (perhaps they were aware the aliens were dying and wanted to feast on them?), but the fact that the birds could touch them revealed that their shields were down and they were thus susceptible to weapons. That's as far as I got.

Comment by El Bicho on Revisiting 2005's War of the Worlds

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:46:30 EDT

I was only offering my opinion, Ruvy. Glad the movie worked for you, although what was going on with the birds. They seemed to have a presence in the story that was never explained.

Comment by Ruvy on Revisiting 2005's War of the Worlds

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:29:30 EDT

El Bicho, It takes all kinds to make the world go round, you know. It was a bad movie, in your opinion. My opinion is different from yours. I enjoyed this movie, even though it never even gets across the point that the invaders are from Mars. The book, which was very literate and clear, is a long read by 21st Century standards, even though Wells is an excellent story-teller. Wells' story's age shows in its length - written when a book provided the kind of entertainment that TV and movies provide today. Spielberg does more than just steal from his Juraissic Park stuff - he re-uses the same alien types used in Independence Day. In addition, he uses his basic theme of kids damaged by divorce that he used in ET. I didn't really know that this was a Spielberg film until Ms. Cuppett said so. But the minute she did, all those points fell into place. Melissa Cuppett did an excellent job with this review - she did far better than I could have (an unfinished War of the Worlds review sits on my damaged hard-drive awaiting resurrection some day). Finally, and most importantly, the movie deals with Wells' basic these of human complacency - an issue I run into all too often on this site in the political section where I usually hang out.

Comment by El Bicho on Revisiting 2005's War of the Worlds

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:03:47 EDT

"was perhaps marred for some moviegoers by its unfortunate timing." It was marred for me by being a bad movie. I didn't care about the characters. The son showing up was ridiculous. Spielberg stole from himself by recreating his "raptor in the kitchen" sequence from Jurassic Park. I better not remember anymore or it will ruin the rest of my day.