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Another $25 on movie tickets saved. I was very surprised at how truly bad Spielbergs's "War of the Worlds" was. Worst movie I've seen in several years. Spielberg's made some duds, but this movie was SO bad it's hard to believe his movie-making skill could decline so steeply. And will someone please tell Tom Cruise to just GO AWAY.
Follow Ups:
I thought the movie was OK. Did everyone notice Cruise's ex-wife's dad at the end? Gene Barry from the original if you didn't.
Yet no one ever mentions the technical performance of these movies played on HT systems.However you feel about the movie itself, anyone with a decent subwoofer system has got to appreciate this one. I'm buying it just for the reference.
(This rant is not directed towards you, DWPC. BTW, how's the Pioneer HDTV holding out? Did you get your boards changed with no problems? My 730 has been streak free for close to 18 months now)
Actually, the only part of this movie I enjoyed was the alien machines' deep "bwaaaaa" sound coming from my Vandies. I think you find little comment here on movie audio because the trend is "the louder the better". Subwoofer heaven but little else. Overdriven and highly compressed sound is why we no longer go to theaters for movies. Deafening isn't overstating it. Occasionally you find a movie where having a great audio system makes a difference, but for me soundtracks more often detractions from the movie.After a year I still think the 530HD is a great set. I'm still glad I opted for it instead of an LCD or DPL. Colors, contrast and blacks are terrific and more than make up for the slightly softer image of the CRTs. Pioneer replaced the boards about 6 mos ago, within about ten days of my service request; no green streaks since. Great service from Pioneer. I just wish I could find the matching RAE53B equipment rack.
Movies wouldn't be movies without them. I bet if you think of some of your favorite movies, they'll have great soundtracks. The music does so much to convey mood, suspense, and uneasiness. We're talking about suspense, horror and sci fi here though, not chick flicks. Try removing the music from Jaws or The Shining and the movie will become a big piece of poop.
On the documentary accompanying the 30th anniversary edition it is noted that when the film was screened for studio exewcutives without the john Williams score they didn't care for it.
Hire the big name actors (would someone please strangle that Dakota kid), dumb down the script and pile on the computer graphics.This movie sucked. Bigtime. The ending was vomit-inducing. At least it didn't end with the President making a speech on the lawns of the Whitehouse (with Whitehouse in ruins) with the flag waving in the background. Welcome to cliche city.
I also hired Kingdom of Heaven at the same time. I'm a big fan of Ridley Scott, but it's a pity he made such a stinker....
The only decent DVD of a mainstream movie I've rented in the last 6 months was Million Dollar Baby.
End of rant. Doug
--in case you hadn't noticed -- was that it totally avoided the cliche of what's-the-government-doing overlay and concentrated on how people handle such situations all by themselves, no supervision.Thus, in places, the people were scarier than the Martians!
clark
It's truly a mixed bag; some of it works VERY well, other parts are less successful. Visually this film is stunning in places, with images and concepts that leave a lasting impression in many folk's minds, such as (Notice - SPOILERS of one sort or ARE PRESENT):The use of human blood to cultivate the alien's terra-farming...
The under tripod "rat-catcher" sequence
The alien ray's evaporation of human tissue
The bodies floating by in the river, first just one, then hundreds, like so much driftwood
The look of the aliens and their tripod war machines
The sounds made by the machines and their ray weapons
The study of human nature in responding to crisis
THESE, in fact, are remarkable elements successfully explored by Spielberg's film. OTOH, there are glaring faults, such as (WARNING - DEFINITE SPOILERS!):
1) The choice of Tom Cruise as the lead for a blue collar NY dock worker (Cruise was totally unconvincing in this role and, in my estimation, failed to get any feel for the character); a better choice would've been an actor who can lend credibility to the role of a blue collar worker out of touch with his former wife and dysfunctional family, like Bruce Willis.
2) Awkward scenes of the contrived solanoid replacement in the midst of the catastrophic encouter with alien technology, allowing Cruise the precious coincidence of having a vehical capable of transporting his kids out of town.
3) The predictably contrived mirror scene used to extend suspense to interminable lengths (a Spielberg trademark, sad to say)
4) The rapid conclusion and lack of any sense of ultimate desperation on Cruise's part fails to let the audience dwell on the potential end of mankind glimpsed throughout the film. In fact, close-up views of Boston made the city appear almost untouched, except for the damage caused by falling Martian machines).
IMO, there needed to be more awesome scenes of devastation and loss to drive home the futility of combating this menace (more scenes of combat with the alien war machines). It's not H. G. Well's microbe based conclusion that fails, but Spielberg's pacing that doesn't work for this film. In a sense, that's where the hokier 1950's version works better, because you get a sense that mankind has actually lost this war without benefit of a miracle.
Spielberg was apparently attempting a psychological study of what it's like for one man and his family to be put through a life and death crisis; the alegory with terrorism and how different folk's react to an invasion force cannot be overlooked, but War of The Worlds just doesn't lend itself to such broad themes when taken out of it's original context and told in the manner of Wells.
AuPh
nt
High on the yakity-yak and snooz factor; if you're looking for action, it's Sominex city! ;^)AuPh
This are the subtitles. For deaf, I mean the mentally....
...it's not that bad.It's a pretty good update on the 1953 George Pal film, with 50 years of advance in special effects, which are the real star.
Spielberg has seen the last of my money 'til he stops using CGE and a big name as a magnet for it. He ignored Wells' story (hell, any story) almost totally, let his writers create completely obnoxious characters that made you cheer for the Martians, let the cast walk through it, then drenched everything in blood; I guess to impress eleven year olds. Two empty hours. The ease of using CGE has apparently ruined science fiction as a movie genre. A stinkeroo in spades.
One of VERY FEW somewhat recent films to not overuse CGE, and done fairly well when they used it. Can't wait for X3. Sci fi is now like watching a video game on screen with a live actor walking in front of it.
namely, the ending.Sometimes ya just can't win.
clark
PS Orson Welles substantially deviated from H.G. Wells too, by the way.
And the worse thing, agreed, is the computer animation. Anyone that can suspend belief watching those things... well, give me competent modeling, any day.
(nt)
I thought that one worked pretty well. LOVED the green sandwich scene.
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