It's not a new concept to rip-off the latest Hollywood blockbuster with a direct-to-video movie of a similar name. Released alongside 2005's theatrical summer hit War of the Worlds, distributor Asylum's video release H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds fails to offer any of the gripping action of Spielberg's epic. With a meager $1 million to work with, creating a special effects masterpiece is not a feasible expectation for director David Michael Latte. However, there's still the expectation of being entertained, and that's what's missing.
The film begins with scenes that parallel those in Spielberg's version. There's some fun foreshadowing in the start for fans of the story, and not long after that, things go horribly wrong. Leading the film is C. Thomas Howell, caught in the alien invasion that begins with zero force. There is no build up to the inevitable, the mystery is absent, and the original designs for the alien death ships are revealed with no care.
Resembling an insect with a tank turret for a head, these ships produce little in the way of horror or fear. The special effects will likely incite laughter instead if the viewer is unaware of the budget, and even then, they stop the movie the cold. Even as they're blasting a few extras down to bones, their rays fail to produce the intended effect.
We see and hear hundreds of invaders falling to Earth to begin the assault, yet you can count on one hand how many actually appear in the film to cause damage. There's no sense of scale to the damage or the dire situation. People begin a mass evacuation in a matter of minutes in film time after the first ship appears in a forest, and there's little cohesion from scene to scene. Ineffective dialogue is the only way you're told how large the invasion is.
Editing is rough, and there are times when a single cut will throw the viewer right out of the movie. Multiple points make it difficult to tell where the characters are or how they got there. Howell's character is trying to run from the invaders to find his family, yet actually appears to be following the attack. You'll see the result of the visit from the alien force, not the actual act itself. Scenes of any destruction are meager and brief.
Article comments
1 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
CD ShmeedD; TV ShmeeV. One does far better to simply read the story "War of the Worlds" by H. G. Wells. It's far better than any movie or TV show could be.