Loved it. They took the book and implimented it in to modern day life and it was treated just like it would be now days. Confusion, panic, anger... he captured everything very well. One of my favorite parts is the lighting. One of the only things that felt old in that film to me was the lighting. The little girl standing by the stream and the fake looking reflection is dancing across her face, the basement shots with the windows blocked out- all done insanely well.
*spoiler warning*
My only problems were Tom Cruise and the survival of the son and how that was done. I was really hoping they would off him in this version but not only did they not, but they gave no explanation to his miraculous return to Boston. The end was just crap (plotwise).
Otherwise loved it. 4.3/5 here. Good watch.
EDIT ************* SPOILERS ***************
I didn’t mind the modern day adaptation. It was nice to see some of the elements of the book added: Tim Robin’s character as a combination of the Artilleryman and the Curate (even some of the dialogue is from the book), The exodus scenes, the disease, the tripods, the red weed, the heat-ray (no black poison though :sad: ).
I agree some of the panic and confusion scenes were done real well. I loved the scene with the van and the mob.
I had no complaints about the special effects or the cinematography.
But little plot holes and flubs ruined it for me. The lightning supposedly acts like an EMP charge knocking out all the electronic devices over a large area. Yet one of the scenes directly after this storm, when the alien rises from the ground and starts heat-raying people, is shown from the PoV of some onlooker’s DIGITAL CAMCORDER’S LCD screen. LOL. And when Ray gets back to his house it’s like nothing really happen in his neighborhood. You mean to tell me that people a few blocks down the road from the spot where a huge tripod of death and destruction started ripping shit up wouldn’t notice something seriously wrong? Can they not here it or see it? What about the hundreds of people that would undoubtedly be running like hell from the center of the action?
And I want to know how a jet liner fell onto the house and destroyed it but manage to leave the van intact and untouched (and left it a nice path to escape).
And the whole reason for having the machines buried under the ground was never really explained. In the book the martians bring stuff with them to build, so why the change to having them buried for many many years? Big fat question mark there.
Same with the red-weed. In the book it is explained, but in the movie they change the "blood" harvesting from food for the aliens to fertilizer for the red weed. Why? What purpose does the weed serve in fthe film? Another big fat questionmark.
The whole action sequence with Cruise turning into a bad ass and taking out one of the tripods was stupid and totally out of place with the rest of the movie (looked like somebody dropped a Bruckheimer sequence into the film).
And the transition to the alien deaths was FAR too quick. It does happen quite suddenly in the book, but not THAT quick. It is extremely distracting to have the movie suddenly “end” like it does.
I also, like you, thought the kid should have stayed dead. That whole part when Ray walked up to house in Boston and the mother came out I was like “that dipshit better not walk out”. Sure enough out he comes. “Awwwww, how sweet,” too much of a sappy Hollywood ending for me.
There are inconsistencies and loose ends throughout the whole movie.
I can usually ignore minor flubs, inadequate explainations, and forced situations and just enjoy an action movie but when there are so many glaring discrepancies it gets distracting. You begin to wonder if the director just doesn’t give a shit, thinks the audience will be too dumb to spot it, or both.
I don’t know, this was far below the quality Spielberg usually puts out IMHO.
Why didn't you like it Mr. Couch?
~Mike
