Hollywood figures that if you have good special effects, Tom Cruise, and a cute girl precocious for her age in a way only seen in movies, then you don’t actually need a story that makes any sense. Maybe Hollywood is right and War of the Worlds will make a lot of money for everyone involved.
But still, my take on the movie is that it sucks. If Steven Spielberg is supposed to be such a great director, can’t he read the screenplay and figure out how bad it is? I guess he can’t.
Yes, the movie is about Tom Cruise running around the northeastern part of the U.S. for no logical reason. Why does he think it’s a good idea to try to drive to Boston when aliens are blowing everything up and he has the only operating car? Why not drive out to the Poconos and hole up in the woods?
At the beginning of the movie, all electrical devices stop working. But why is someone’s video camera still working? Surely the video camera is a lot more sensitive than the starter of a car?
The beginning of the movie is filmed in Staten Island, and we see the Bayonne Bridge destroyed by aliens. Yet somehow, Tom Cruise is able to drive off the island, presumably via the Outerbridge Crossing, because we see him driving along the West Shore Expressway and the Outerbridge is the only bridge that route leads to. Why was the Bayonne Bridge destroyed but not the Outerbridge Crossing? How did he manage to get from middle New Jersey to Athens New York? Why was a mob of what looked like thousands of people trying to get onto a ferry going across the Hudson River? What could be dumber than getting onto big ferry when aliens are shooting at anything that moves? Why does the ferry still operate when all the cars are dead? How did Tom Cruise manage to get, on foot, from Athens to Boston? Didn’t anyone look at a map and see how far away Boston is from Athens? If aliens had destroyed all the bridges across the Hudson River, why would they leave alone all the bridges across the Connecticut River (which is between New York and Boston)? Why were all the buildings in the major city of Boston still standing when all the little houses in the middle of nowhere upstate New York were destroyed?
Sorry, this movie makes absolutely no sense at all.
THE SCIENTOLOGY ANGLE
Scientology believes that evil aliens are plotting to take over Earth. Is it a coincidence that Tom Cruise, who is heavily into Scientology, chooses to do a film about aliens taking over the planet? I think not.
This interview with Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg may shed some additional light on the Scientology angle. Or it may not.
I don't want to see this but I am going to be forced by my family to suffer through it.
Posted by: TWM | July 03, 2005 at 04:26 PM
Have you heard the Orson Welles radio version?
It is still gripping radio theatre even when you know what is happening. Just imagine the impact that had in 1938 when it was first broadcast.
Why did cars stop and the radio kept broadcasting and the telephones still worked? Where would the show have been with the Martians having superior tech?
Come on, give it some latitude!! Otherwise you just sound like a bitter old man who wants any reason to take a poke at Tom Cruise; like everyone else on that particular bandwagon.
Did you criticise the fact that there was a video / film camera at the Crucifixion? Was that because of belief or the fact that Mad Max Mel Gibson was directing and starring?
Posted by: probligo | July 04, 2005 at 12:48 AM
Oh, and I should have said too -
No, I have not seen the film.
No, I do not intend to go see it. Why not? Well, I do not have much time for Tom Cruise as an actor, I do not have any time for TC the man, the script is wooden, the acting fossilized. That is judged from the promos, trailers and reviews published down this way...
Posted by: probligo | July 04, 2005 at 05:49 PM
Have you considered that the family's flight was a nightmare that Tome Cruise had?
There are too-numerous-to-mention indicators. I'd be happy to send you a Word doc enumerating them if you provide an email address.
Then, try watching the film again with the thought it's a nightmare. You'll see the genius behind a brilliant director's masterpiece.
Posted by: Tone | September 09, 2005 at 06:59 PM
Have you considered that the family's flight was a nightmare that Tome Cruise had?
There are too-numerous-to-mention indicators. I'd be happy to send you a Word doc enumerating them if you provide an email address.
Then, try watching the film again with the thought it's a nightmare. You'll see the genius behind a brilliant director's masterpiece.
Posted by: Tone | September 09, 2005 at 07:00 PM