War of the Worlds (2005)

In this modern retelling of H.G. Wells' sci-fi classic, civilization is laid to ruin when a race of super aliens invades Earth.

Director:

David Michael Latt

Writers:

H.G. Wells (novel), David Michael Latt

Stars:

C. Thomas Howell, Rhett Giles, Andrew Lauer

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
C. Thomas Howell	...	George Herbert
Rhett Giles	...	Pastor Victor
Andrew Lauer	...	Sgt. Kerry Williams (as Andy Lauer)
Tinarie van Wyk Loots	...	Felicity Herbert
Jake Busey	...	Lt. Samuelson (as William Busey)
Dashiell Howell	...	Alex Herbert (as Dash Howell)
Peter Greene	...	Matt Herbert
Kim Little	...	Rebecca
Edward DeRuiter	...	Max (as Ed Deruiter)
Meredith Laine	...	Audrey
Matthew Jaeger	...	Jared
Cayman Mitchell	...	Jake
Luis de Amechazurra	...	Bill
Gary Robbins	...	Jules
Berna Roberts	...	Elaine (as Bernadette Perez)

Storyline

The story tells of a man named George Herbert who is separated from his wife and child when a Martian invasion begins. He tries to make his way to Washington, D.C. to reunite with them as the world is torn apart. But civilization is laid to ruin when a race of super aliens ultimately invades Earth!

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Plot Keywords:

alien | topless female nudity | breasts | search for family | loss of faith | 

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Taglines:

The Invasion Has Already Begun.

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sci-fi violence/gore, language and brief nudity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 June 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds

Filming Locations:

Agua Dulce, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Asylum

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie, released around the same time as the Spielberg produced adaptation, generated immense interest from video rental chain Blockbuster. As a direct result the film's production company, The Asylum, began focusing on so called "Mockbusters" or movies with very similar titles and premises to big budget movies.

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Goofs

George Herbert uses a rabies serum to knock out the aliens. He says something to the effect that life defeats life. However rabies vaccinations use dead virus cells to generate immunity. Serum labeled "live" contains genetically modified components but does not actually contain intact live virus.

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Quotes

Lt. Samuelson: Assault on one of my officers is punishable by death in my new world.
Sgt. Kerry Williams: It's okay, sir. It's okay. I fell. Remember George here, sir? He's the astronomer. His brother is a Ranger.
Lt. Samuelson: Rangers are pussies. I haven't seen one of those assholes in over a week.

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Crazy Credits

Why are you still reading this? Go back to the video store and rent another Asylum film. You know you want to.

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Connections

Version of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds: The New Generation (2013)

User Reviews

Too Much Boring Talk

War of the Worlds (2005)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

The Asylum put their name in the headlines with this "mockbuster" that was released just prior to the highly anticipated Steven Spielberg-Tom Cruise hit. In this film, father and husband (C. Thomas Howell) must try to make his way to Washington, D.C. to his wife and kid but along the way he must battle with aliens who have come to Earth to destroy it. Keeping with The Asylum's reputation, this here is a pretty poor film and there's really no point in trying to compare it to the much bigger and much better film from Spielberg. I doubt anyone went into this thing thinking it could compare to the "other" film but I did at least hope to be entertained in a "B" movie way but that didn't happen. The biggest problem with this film is that there's not an inch of life to be found anywhere as the entire thing is just so poorly paced that you're cheering for the aliens to wipe everything out by the ten minute mark. The majority of the 93-minute running time is devoted to extremely long patches where nothing is going on except for the characters walking around talking. Howell's character pretty much has to walk to Washington, D.C. and along the way he meets various characters who walk with him and give him someone to talk to. These long patches of dialogue sequences are just so boring that you'll be wishing just about anything else would be happening. Even worse are the "dramatic" scenes that are supposed to make us feel for the characters but they just make us care less about them. Check out the sequences with the raving woman talking about how much she hates God. For the most part Howell gives a good performance but there's simply nothing here to work with. The supporting players also don't have much to work with so no one really stands out. WAR OF THE WORLDS, Asylum style, is a complete failure from start to finish and don't even get me started on the special effects.