I have to second Kirby's comments on WOTW.
"It's an OK sci-fi pic with exceptional special effects, and a terrific
performance by a child actor. " My sentiments exactly.
OK, I'm not a Tom Cruise fan but that aside I just could not buy him as a
father. Not the father of a rebel teenage boy. He's a forty year old kid
himself.
The thing that Kirby said which rings truest -
"...films start with a script. And while this is not the worst script, if
the producers had cared as much about the words these actors should say and
the actions they should make as they did about the tripods..."
This was the thing I kept thinking over and over while watching the movie.
Where's the script? What's driving this story? What's the real conflict
here?
Then I read on IMDB the film was completely rushed. 7 months from start to
finish.
I could go point for point through the film and ask "why" like the whole
peanut butter scene when they are in a house presumably stocked with food,
for example but why bother? The film is made. My script notes won't change
it. And as we say in the theater, you can't polish a turd!
I was really looking forward to this film. Spielberg, aliens and Tom
Cruise. OK two out of three ain't bad.
I, for one, was very disappointed in the whole thing. Spielberg usually
tells a better story. This time he was too glib. (Apologies to Matt Lauer,
I just had to.)
Glenn T.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kirby McDaniel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>
Sent: Monday, July 04, 2005 6:53 AM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] 2 bits worth of War of the Worlds
What hyperbolic drugs did you take? Did we see the same picture?
It's an OK sci-fi pic with exceptional special effects, and a terrific
performance by a child actor. Cruise soldiers thru capably and assures
the producers they will get their money back. Tim Robbin's sequence
almost pointless. Suspension of disbelief issues aside, these three are
the ONLY guys with a car? And where are all these people walking to
and why?
Visual effects, yes. Emotional effects, no. As I said in my little
review, it
is successful at finding the DREAD note in the beginning parts of the
picture.
The tripod snout snooping around bit in Robbin's house is tedious,
however. The
sentiment at the end feels false to me. Cruise does not do male bonding
well, that we know of, and I thought the whole father/son turf wars
typical of Spielberg.
When they arrive at the grandmother's house, it's practically
thanksgiving day.
Spielberg is better at setting things up than playing them out, in my
opinion. Both
physically (blocking actors, using locales) and dramatically. The
endings are usually
disappointing. The ending of this film is typical: Gene Barry walks
out of the house
like some avuncular presence.
Special effects in films are so omnipresent today than when truly vivid
ones appear,
it stands out. It is true that this whole picture looks terrific.
Spielberg's films
usually do. And arguably he has done this old war-horse justice.
But films start with a script. And while this is not the worst script,
if the producers had cared
as much about the words these actors should say and the actions they
should make as they did
about the tripods, then your statement below might not require so much
suspension of disbelief.
Just about everyone over 11 years old will see it, but should they?
Really?
Kirby
On Jul 4, 2005, at 2:52 AM, JR wrote:
I thought the first two-thirds of the picture a flamin' masterpiece.
Just about everyone over 11 years old should see it. It is dynamite
film-making and creates visual and emotional effects I don't think any
other film has ever achieved to this extent.
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