War of the worlds!

I dont remember striders making ANY noise
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Really? They go WOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOO.

And when you shoot them they go: OOOOOOOOAAAAAWWWWW.

And when they die they go: OOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOWAAAADADADADADA

Yes, exactly like that.
 
Just got back from Cinema, thought it was 'good' tbh, nothing amazing.

Feels like i'm the only one though lol...everyone else loved it to bits.
 
To be honest I'd agree with Atari, just watched it with a friend- definitely a good film but nothing entirely mindblowing.

Obviously the CGI was fantastic, but the "family" segments just felt... forced, in my opinion. Dakota Fanning can clearly act, but she irritated the hell out of me when she started up her shrieking claustrophobe segment.

And yes, the film felt very anticlimatic, and I got the unpleasant feeling that it never really went anywhere. I can't help thinking that a few... well... more epic liberties would've fleshed things out a bit.

Thunder Child the super-battleship (I'm aware Wells had her as a torpedo rammer but this is a modern take, after all) would've perfectly suited the atmosphere of necessary co-operation- especially in this age of joint projects and research. It could've been the kind of thing that was in progress before the outset of the war and takes to the field- buying time for others as it heroicly sinks after ramming a wading tripod.

The 50s film did the bacterial death better, personally. And the aliens, as all you ever see is a limb- the aliens just felt and looked wrong to me in Spielberg's personal vision- very reminiscent of the Independence Day critters. They're Combine-esque creatures in the book, sluggish lifeforms entirely dependant on their machines.

But ultimately it was a good film.
 
I liked it. One of the better Sci-Fi Action movies.

I'm not going to say "OMFGZ0RZ BEST MOVIE EVA!!111eleven" because It wasn't and I'm not into all that hyperbole.
 
I really liked it. Spielberg is a great director.

and that sound the tripods made... just like striders, but with more bass and oomph.
 
Yeah, I just saw this today. Its quite impressive.
I liked the part where the railway gates closed and the flaming train rolled by...that was quite creepy
 
Sulkdodds said:
Really? They go WOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOO.

And when you shoot them they go: OOOOOOOOAAAAAWWWWW.

And when they die they go: OOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOWAAAADADADADADA

Yes, exactly like that.
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Exactly.


Anyway, the thing that really pissed me off about the movie is that it really shows how stupid and ignorant idiots can really be, you not only have one, but there are many, including the main family which is a bunch of idiots.

You have a girl that won't stop screaming and is completely uncontrollable. You have a guy that is an absolute moron and is trying to rebel when aliens are attacking, i think if i was a rebellious little shit teen, the point where i start to listen would be the point where aliens attack - i was really pissed off when that bastard was alive at the end, he should of died for his stupidity. Then you have Tom Cruise who stands there staring for 5 minutes as all the buildings around him start collapsing, the ground starts opening up and a 50foot tall alien monster suddenly emerges from the ground. What an arsehole family they were, none of which were really likeable at all.
 
Razor said:
Exactly.


Anyway, the thing that really pissed me off about the movie is that it really shows how stupid and ignorant idiots can really be, you not only have one, but there are many, including the main family which is a bunch of idiots.

You have a girl that won't stop screaming and is completely uncontrollable. You have a guy that is an absolute moron and is trying to rebel when aliens are attacking, i think if i was a rebellious little shit teen, the point where i start to listen would be the point where aliens attack - i was really pissed off when that bastard was alive at the end, he should of died for his stupidity. Then you have Tom Cruise who stands there staring for 5 minutes as all the buildings around him start collapsing, the ground starts opening up and a 50foot tall alien monster suddenly emerges from the ground. What an arsehole family they were, none of which were really likeable at all.
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bah spoilers
 
hmm..i watched this movie and while i did enjoy it.. i feel this movie had one huge plot hole.

at the beginning of the movie it is narrated that the aliens had been planning this attack for some time (thousands of years?) and i dunno.. in all that time, the aliens didn't do their homework on whether they can survive on Earth? yeesh...i dunno.. thats pretty messed up if u ask me :|

also, the Striders reminded me so much of the HL series.

especially the part with Tim Robbin talking about resistence fighters...that and all the organnic vines and stuff growing..reminded me of the Doom series as well :O
 
Dr. Freeman,

When they built there fighters millions of years ago (Before there was life on earth) there was less bacteria around, and they didnt go back to earth till the invasion. Also the Red Weed was not based on Doom.
 
Burn said:
Dr. Freeman,

When they built there fighters millions of years ago (Before there was life on earth) there was less bacteria around, and they didnt go back to earth till the invasion.
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eh? well thats still pretty weak...how do u not keep ur research up-to-date on the race u have big plans for? well anyway.

Burn said:
Also the Red Weed was not based on Doom.
Click to expand...

oh i realize that both the Striders and the red weed were not taken from Half Life and Doom but still...as a gamer, those games instantly popped into my mind when i saw them.
 
Usually I would argue that since the aliens see us as bacteria, pretty much...well, would you imagine that bacteria have their own bacteria? However in the film the aliens are actually about the same size as us which weakens that idea somewhat.

I think Burn's theory sounds most likely - that bacteria have had to contend with us for thousands of years since the aliens were last here. Bacteria have evolved, especially in the last 100 years or so with the introduction of antibiotics, speeding up the bacterial evolutionary process.

Where were these aliens while this was happening, you say? In hibernation, I'd assume, and not in a ready state to be researching new forms of life.
 
It was good, verry griping, it's good that the invasion starts at the begining and dosn't take a million years. The part with Tim Robbins was kind of weird, was that suposed to be the part with the soldier in the book ?
To my taste it needed more millitary action part and the ending was kind of done to fast.

Indenpendence day is still the king of alien ivansions !
 
I still have a few nagging questions:

I like the idea of the machines already underneath ground, but if they've been planning this for a million years, they must have very good memories or good achives.

Did the aliens feel any moral regret when passing that photo around?

Why did the aliens remind me of Nihilanth (Baby-face springs to mind)?

The film didn't explain why they needed blood (it wasn't just human blood, you see a dead sheep in one scene)

For any body who wants to see this film, it is very dark (without the dark humour), stressful, depressing in parts and twists your stomach and the way people die is not cliche'
 
I thought the movie was fantastic, with only 3 problems that would have made it the greatest sci-fi alien invasion movie ever, 2 small problems and 1 huge one:

For one thing, they totally didn't explain the deal with all the blood spraying everywhere and the red vines, and yet they got some significant screen time. Its just, yea theres red vines popping up everywhere the aliens go and they are spraying peoples blood all over the place and now the vines are dieing because the aliens are dieing or something, the end. It kind of bugged me but I guess I could live with it if Speilburg was trying to leave some mysteriousness to it.

The other little thing is the end came way too abruptly. I thought it was handled well how it sort of mirrored the classic movie in a way but it should have been a little more fleshed out between the part where they aliens are completely owning everyone to the parts where they just fall over and die. Maybe show the effects of the aliens getting sick over a little bit longer period of time.

And the biggest problem I had with this movie which almost completely kills it for me was the fact that Robbie just miraculously shows up at the end with absolutely no explaination at all, I thought that was about the stupidest thing I have ever seen and I still can't believe that Speilburg just let it happen like that. Moreover I WANTED that kid to die, "I... I.. just have to see em.. Let me see em!!" I would have thrown that kid into the napalm explosion if that was my kid and that stupid. That was also the second weakest part of the film outside Robbie showing up at the end. Oooo boy caaan't wait to run over to the other side of the hill with all the explosions and fighting with no sort of weapon of any kind so I can see the aliens I've been running from for two days. End rant.

And you know what erks me most about those problems? How easily they could have been fixed. Always with these movies we can easily pick out these obvious flaws that would make them great otherwise and yet the makers just don't see them... HOW? Spielburg can tackle the hardest hurdles of filmmaking of actually conveying the feeling that this is a real alien invasion and the claustriphobia and panicness I guess of the situation that goes along with that but these seemingly easy flaws make their way to the big screen somehow? I just don't get it. I see this with almost every movie I see all the time, and I'm not talking about just nitpics. These are obvious flaws that most people agree on... oh well.
 
The movie would of been a lot better if it had some more action scenes in it or the main characters were not so annoying. It seems you have the most dysfunctional father coupled with the 2 most obnoxious shit kids the world has scene.

The blood i think was needed for fertiliser to fertilise their plants, the red vines, and turn Earth into there own planet.

But you would think that if the aliens were so advanced and had been studying us for so long, a million years remember, they would of atleast looked at the bacteria to see if the planet is acceptable and suits their requirements. It would be like the US military invading a bog swamp, massacring the bog people and wondering why the air stinks and they are all getting sick...and this is what pissed me off about bloody Signs. The aliens have been watching us for years to study our movements, our thoughts, our weapons, etc, but seemed to completely overlook the whole fact that their most deadliest weakness that they have just happens to cover 70% of the planet their invading, is in plentiful supply for everyone on Earth and falls from the sky on a regular basis. These super advanced aliens with spacew ships and shields and ray guns really are retarded.
 
poo? said:
And you know what erks me most about those problems? How easily they could have been fixed. Always with these movies we can easily pick out these obvious flaws that would make them great otherwise and yet the makers just don't see them... HOW? Spielburg can tackle the hardest hurdles of filmmaking of actually conveying the feeling that this is a real alien invasion and the claustriphobia and panicness I guess of the situation that goes along with that but these seemingly easy flaws make their way to the big screen somehow? I just don't get it. I see this with almost every movie I see all the time, and I'm not talking about just nitpics. These are obvious flaws that most people agree on... oh well.
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Lol, Jar Jar Binks seems to spring to mind when reading that. :dozey:
 
No, they were weeds.

Actually maybe weeds isn't the right term. 'Growths' maybe? :p
 
As blockbuster popcorn flicks go, I thought it was good movie - not "great", but mostly effective in what it set out to achieve (all the little kids were enthralled throughout). The effects were brilliant (though i was expecting the tripods to be a little more "iconic"), nice little touches too like the 50's B-movie look to the heat ray. The sound design for was especially impressive, though i never knew Spielberg played Half-Life 2. ;)

Though saying this, the film has acres of flaws:

The audio sync during the part Robbie goes off to fight was waaay off. He was clearly there to play the "angry 9/11 american role", and while this did pan out well in parts, (especially against the futility of Cruise holding onto his gun) he just came over as a stupid kid. In fact, the entire message of the film is a little strange - if the martians were to be seen as 9/11 terrorists then fighting back is seen as futile and useless. Man's great resolve wasn't to be seen, in fact it paints a pretty dire picture for humanity - if we're reduced to murdering our fellow man - then maybe we should roll over, let the martians invade and hope they do a better job than us :naughty:
 
Spielberg followed the original story very closely, despite having updated it. Trying to tie it into "9/11" and current events like that is only so successful, since it was written over a century ago.
In fact, 90 percent of the problems people seem to have should be taken up with Welles, not Spielberg.
 
I took it not as the aliens needing blood as such, but simply using biomass - biological materials as a resource. Considering the big red blob-thing that comes down to grab Cruise, I got the impression that the Striders were

A. somewhat organic in places...some sort of biomechanical fusion of flesh and machine...
B. Powered by biological material

The red weeds also feed on the stuff.

Problem is, the biomass contained masses of hostile bacteria. Plants die...martians die. Morons. Nice work on the invasion there.
 
The movie itself was great fun to watch.

Just feels like it was wham, bam and over. I mean one second the machines were wtfpwning :sniper: then we see them losing their shields and getting blown up.

More action and explanations would of been better, the commentry at the end was pretty tacky.

Still, I enjoyed watching it:)
 
the whole thing feels completely unfinished, i hope the dvd fleshes out a lot of these points and plot devices that were just left alone after introduced, and i hope there's an alternate ending that's actually a good ending, i hate the one that's in there, feels like it was made up and shot minutes before the film went to theaters, that was a poor example of Spielberg's ability, sub-par at best
though, for the gripes, the movie is enjoyable, just expect to leave somewhat frustrated and confused and slightly disappointed
 
I thought the movie sucked. The trailers made it look great, but it was extremely disappointing movie

Who the **** would be so stupid as to bury weapons a million years ago so they can attack a planet they don't know they can't inhabit?? A little lack of research, don't you think? They have good enough science to create amazing weapons & perfect shields, yet they can't figure out sucking out blood of a foreign creature might possible be a little ****ing bit dangerous? Also, if these creatures needed to feed on our blood, WHY THE **** WERE THEY BLOWING US UP WITH LASERS??

And what about his ex-wife?? Tom Cruise just saved both of her ****ing kids, and the only ****ing thing she says is "Thank You." ???? She should get ****ing shot!!



The little girl actor I thought did a superb job, though.
 
Tantalus said:
Who the **** would be so stupid as to bury weapons a million years ago so they can attack a planet they don't know they can't inhabit?? A little lack of research, don't you think? They have good enough science to create amazing weapons & perfect shields, yet they can't figure out sucking out blood of a foreign creature might possible be a little ****ing bit dangerous? Also, if these creatures needed to feed on our blood, WHY THE **** WERE THEY BLOWING US UP WITH LASERS??
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They planted the tripods before mankind and therefore, most likely before many of the viruses around today ever existed. Hence why it was fine for them to bury the weapons back then.
Its an entirely plausible scenario. I seriously doubt the US would've thought "hey guys.....do you think there might be any potentially lethal viruses in Iraq?" before they invaded. The aliens, like most countries, only thought of their military might when it came to conquering Earth.
Heck, the Australian Aborigines were almost wiped out when English settlers first came in contact with them. Same thing happened to the Eskimos when they first came in contact with foreigners.

And as for the thing about them blowing us up, they only needed two pods full of people per tripod to fertilise the land.
 
Sparta said:
They planted the tripods before mankind and therefore, most likely before many of the viruses around today ever existed. Hence why it was fine for them to bury the weapons back then.
Its an entirely plausible scenario. I seriously doubt the US would've thought "hey guys.....do you think there might be any potentially lethal viruses in Iraq?" before they invaded. The aliens, like most countries, only thought of their military might when it came to conquering Earth.
Heck, the Australian Aborigines were almost wiped out when English settlers first came in contact with them. Same thing happened to the Eskimos when they first came in contact with foreigners.
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Yeah, well were not talking about Australian Aboriginies or US Marines; we're talking about a race that has mastered interstellar travel via bloody lightning strikes. These things have been studying us for millions of years, and fail to notice bacteria and it's tendency to evolve and adapt? Rubbish. It's a dated story, simple as that.

Anticlimatic, but still a fun movie if you don't think too much. Spielberg did the best he could with what he had really.
 
I thought it was a great movie.

You guys think about things too much. :|
 
Can anyone explain about Ogilvy's statement about the Japanese in Osaka were able to take down the alien tripods? Was it true that the japs were able to figure out how to take out those machines?

Was it even explained in the book?
 
The time zones are different, remember. It's night over in the US while it's morning in Japan. Since it's morning, the aliens would be dying over there while they are still running around in the US cause it's still night.
 
Combine Hybrid said:
Can anyone explain about Ogilvy's statement about the Japanese in Osaka were able to take down the alien tripods? Was it true that the japs were able to figure out how to take out those machines?

Was it even explained in the book?
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Just a rumor, or the aliens there had started to die out before others, thus japanace could take them down.

I agree with what bam23 said, its just a film.. you lot are thinking to much into this, finding plot holes etc etc. You lot are the kind of people who disliked day of tommrow because it used hollywood science Im thinking... :p
 
I think we can all agree that a little bit more explanation would've rounded things up nicely. Hell, even Half-Life 2 didn't baffle this many people...

Main problem is there won't be another title in the series to clear things up (no expansion pack or sequel to disperse this particular mystery) although DVD extras might help matters.

Fact is Spielberg adapted the story very extensively (the "They're already here" scenario and the Independance Day-esque aliens themselves), and didn't explain his changes.

A lot of people have assumed that what he hasn't explained should be taken direct from the book, but, for example, I think Sulkdodds is right on the biomechanical front- why else would sickness disable the shields of a machine? Unless there's a massive design fault whereby the pilot has to hold down a level marked "Shield" to keep it online, making it impossible if he's ill and dying. Spielberg made some big changes and then didn't explain them.

For example, in the book- although its speculation and never confirmed- the characters (i.e., the world) decide that the Martians can't breathe or eat- so they "harvest" oxygen by injecting oxygenated blood direct into their bodies. Presumably the red weed remained the same as in the book- Mars's only flora, a fast-growing sea-weed-like growth that seems to have the same reliance on bodily fluids as Mars's dominant species.
 
Great film, no extreme cuteness or super patriotism, and a very raw feel through the first half of the movie. When those Tripods show up in the distant with the foghorn kinda sound, oh baby!
 
I'm not sure why people want things explaining to them. Don't they like a bit of mystery?

Personally I thought the film was very good. As for the ending, well they're an alien race - its somewhat presumptious to think that they might think in the same manner as we do.
 
Mystery is all well and good, but I felt at times that even Spielberg wasn't quite sure what the he was doing. I keep thinking the above example is either the most obvious explanation or a massive plothole. I guess it was actually quite lazy storytelling considering his usual standards, but obviously he's never made a film like this before...
 
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