Directed by:
Steven SpielbergScreenplay:
David KoeppCinematography:
Janusz KaminskiComposer:
John WilliamsCast:
Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto, Justin Chatwin, Tim Robbins, Rick Gonzalez, Yul Vazquez, Lisa Ann Walter, Ann Robinson, Gene Barry, Peter Gerety (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. When his ex-wife and her new husband drop off his teenage son Robbie and young daughter Rachel for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm suddenly touches down. What follows is the extraordinary battle for the future of humankind through the eyes of one American family fighting to survive it in this contemporary retelling of H.G. Wells seminal classic sci-fi thriller. (Paramount Pictures AU)
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Reviews (10)
Nope. Upon watching this a second time, it definitely wasn't the same, and there are plenty of things that typically bother me about Spielberg - the melodrama, which is sometimes unnecessary, the excessive pathos, and scenes that are stretched out without affecting me. In fact, I didn't even feel the tension anymore. It almost seems like I want to start a "I Hate Spielberg" club, but this film still belongs to those that I can tolerate from him.
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Spielberg's version of War of the Worlds is a great counterpoint to the tradition of the disaster films. It is a film unusually turned in on itself, which mostly despises the monumentality of battles and the pathos of heroism. It focuses on three small, insignificant points that are desperately tossing in the wild tide of war, and they have no time left for any heroism, phrases, or nationalism. The actors' portrayals of the three points is famous – the chemistry of the family trio is especially dramatized by the tiny Dakota Fanning, whose life is worth much more, from the point of view of the film's narrator, than some Statue of Liberty, the White House and other hitherto indispensable elements of the genre. Tom Cruise doesn't surprise me anymore – I know he's one of the best, and Ray Ferrier just confirms it. Steven Spielberg uses the wonderfully functioning magic of the characters and holds them close to the body through Janusz Kaminský's phenomenal camera. The result is an intense and unusually intimate spectacle, into which the luster and glory of the great battles of mankind reaches only in the form of vague messages. John Williams' unusually introverted soundtrack and, of course, the magnificent effects, which are among the best ever, complete the dense atmosphere of War of the Worlds. The most impressive moments are scenes with hints of the destruction of mankind – the rain of clothes, hundreds dead in the river... Spielberg has become the ultimate leader of contemporary spectacular science fiction with this film. His films have a soul, they have an engaging visual, they have spark. And unfortunately, they have broken endings. In War of the Worlds, the problem is not in the idea, but the fact that the cliché, which had been successfully avoided until then, strikes like a bolt of lightning at the end. Too bad. A weaker 5*.
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Mediocre in almost all respects. Except from a few individual scenes (the plane, the port, the train) and nice sound, this is nothing but a random onslaught of scenes, mundane actors, uninspiring music and a pleasantly “well-worn" look. If you’re looking for an intelligent, different slant on alien invasion, Signs is a better choice. This certainly isn’t bad or boring - Spielberg is too good and experienced a filmmaker to allow that, but I can’t help thinking that here we get his routine work and nothing more. Unfortunately he found support neither in the actors or in the screenplay. ♫ OST score: 3/5
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A film that has a higher ambitions than just to scare. Its added value are the scenes that make you think. It's as if Spielberg has no illusions about people and their ability to help their fellow humans when they are in the role of "prey" fighting for bare survival. This is evident in a great scene when the crowd, under the influence of mob psychosis, wants to lynch Ferrier's family; does a person have the right to kill a fellow human being if it helps their family? What would we do in such a situation? This really isn't about war, it’s rather an intimate drama where everything is seen through the eyes of Cruise’s character. That's why we don't see the carnage in other cities, why we don't see the battle on the hill because Ferriero is standing under it, and why the "quick" ending seems logical to me. For if we were to view the gradual destruction of the aliens globally, it would contradict the original concept of the film as an intimate drama – the fate of one family. On top of that, there are no American flags, no heroic president in a fighter jet, just a joy to behold. My only quibble perhaps are a few holes in logic, and then if Spielberg had pushed a little harder on the tragic fate of the Ferrier family, as opposed to the happy ending, that would have been hardcore. Five-star hardcore.
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The more logic he gets on his side, the more surprisingly Steven Spielberg is able to win in completely different fields with suspense and unexpectedly perfectionist action. With Tom Cruise as the traditionally determined main hero, he couldn't possibly go wrong.
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