Tuesday, July 5, 2005

War of the Worlds

At the risk of being redundant (after all, Chewie has already reviewed this movie), let me offer a few words about it:

Scary. Visually Compelling. Moving (sometimes). Visually Compelling. Fun (if you like Scary). And did I mention Visually Compelling?

Tom Cruise is entirely believable as an outstanding longshoreman and really crummy dad who sorta means well for his kids, and who finds out he has real courage and moral toughness when it comes down to protecting his family from blood-sucking aliens.

But what really stuck with me were Speilberg's nightmare visions of an alien-ravaged Earth: A church facade being ripped aside as an alien ship unscrews itself from the ground. A flaming passenger train roaring through a station. A killer mob trying to hijack a minivan. A wrecked jetliner in a Boston suburb. An intact farmhouse in a desolate landscape (with a deranged Tim Robbins in the basement).

If you know H. G. Wells' novel, or Orson Welles' radio adaptation, you won't be surprised by the ending. But you'll enjoy the ride.

2 comments:

Darkmoon said...

It's been a while since I read the H.G. Wells, but I swear there weren't any tripods. But it was great... even though I absolutely despise Tom Cruise.

I still think Batman Begins took the cake though.

jw said...

I'm not a fan of scary movies and it took me a while to get over the shock, but, in retrospect, it was a good movie. It is rare that I get to the theatre to see a movie. I generally don't see them until they are out on DVD, but I really think a lot would be lost on the smaller screen. But the nice thing about seeing them at home is I can leave the room during the really scary parts.