War of the Worlds (2005)

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers (WGA):

Josh Friedman (screenplay) and
David Koepp (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

29 June 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

They're already here.

Plot:

As Earth is invaded by alien tripod fighting machines, one family fights for survival.

Plot Keywords:

Tripod | Alien | New Jersey | Fight | Television Reporter

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 12 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

Tom Cruise	...	Ray Ferrier
Dakota Fanning	...	Rachel Ferrier
Miranda Otto	...	Mary Ann
Justin Chatwin	...	Robbie
Tim Robbins	...	Harlan Ogilvy
Rick Gonzalez	...	Vincent
Yul Vazquez	...	Julio (as Yul Vázquez)
Lenny Venito	...	Manny the Mechanic
Lisa Ann Walter	...	Bartender
Ann Robinson	...	Grandmother
Gene Barry	...	Grandfather
David Alan Basche	...	Tim
Roz Abrams	...	Herself
Michael Brownlee	...	TV Reporter, Osaka
Camillia Sanes	...	News Producer

Also Known As:

Out of the Night (USA) (working title)
Party in Fresno (USA) (fake working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for frightening sequences of sci-fi violence and disturbing images.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Taiwan:PG-12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | France:U | Malaysia:U | Chile:Y7 | Spain:13 | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | South Korea:12 | New Zealand:M | Germany:12 (f) | Japan:U | Australia:M | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 | Ireland:12A | Finland:K-15 | Hong Kong:IIA | Singapore:PG | Czech Republic:12 | Netherlands:12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Iceland:14 | Argentina:13 | Philippines:PG-13 | Peru:14 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Brazil:12 | Sweden:11 | Mexico:B

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Tim Robbins's line, "It's not a war any more than it's a war between men and maggots", is a slightly modified quote from the original novel, substituting "maggots" for "ants". The line was also used in the infamous 1938 Orson Welles radio broadcast. In addition, the news reporter's line, "Once they begin to move, no more news comes out of that area", is taken directly from The War of the Worlds (1953). Also taken from the original film were the scenes with the probe examining the basement, followed by the inquisitive aliens. Tom Cruise chops the head off the probe with an axe, just as Gene Barry did in the original. Also, the shot of the dying alien's arm coming down the ramp is a reference to a similar shot in the original film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the first attack, we see a Grand Cherokee coming out from the crater, falling down on a Ford Taurus on the left side of the screen. That car's left window was down before the camera pans up, and the same window is up (and stays intact) after the Cherokee comes down on it.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: No one would have believed in the early years of the 21st century that our world was being watched by intelligences greater than our own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns, *they* observed and studied, the way a man with a microscope might scrutinize the creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water...

Movie Connections:

Featured in Boffo! Tinseltown's Bombs and Blockbusters (2006)

Soundtrack:

Hushabye Mountain

Plot holes like craters, but a scary ride anyway

"War of the Worlds" is Steven Spielberg's third movie in which extraterrestrials visit Earth, but the first in which their intentions are malevolent. It can't be coincidence that the arrival of the ETs is heralded with eerie lights flashing amid lowering clouds, as in "CE3K." From there, the similarity ends--no light show as friendly aliens come in for a closer look. These creatures (presumably Martians, as in the original H.G. Wells novel) aren't interested in making nice; nor is there any ambiguity about their ultimate objective (as there was for much of "CE3K"). They're here to wipe us off the face of the planet, plain and simple, a point we understand before the movie has played for even half an hour, and the giant walking tripods they deploy are remorselessly efficient. So, too, is the movie--at scaring the hell out of us, notwithstanding some gaping plot holes (what's up with that camcorder, anyway?) and a couple of sequences that are too reminiscent of other movies (particularly "Independence Day" and Spielberg's own "Jurassic Park").

That Spielberg uses imagery alluding to 9/11, the Holocaust, and perhaps the siege of London during World War II is, for me, less an exploitation than a reflection of how seriously he intends the audience to take the on screen mayhem. The atmosphere is heavy with threat, and the depiction of a populace numb with shock amid the devastation is chillingly convincing, despite a few moments of Hollywood cheese. We don't have Will Smith delivering snappy one-liners right after millions are massacred by the invading alien forces, a la "ID4." Nor is there much of a rah-rah, let's-kick-some-alien-ass mood as the outmatched Earthlings try fighting back. Even the ostensible protagonist (a low-key, effective Tom Cruise) crumples at one point under the enormity of what's happening.

I'm not really sure what the posters who complained of insufficient action and FX were talking about. Seems to me the tripods were pretty much a constant presence (if not always in the foreground) from about the 15-minute mark onward. And in fact the "war" of the title is waged from the beginning--it's just not on the level of humans vs. aliens combat that some viewers apparently were expecting.