War of the Worlds (2005)

A determined meteorologist must embark on a nationwide journey to find his son during a massive alien invasion that's goal is to exterminate the human race.

Director:

David Michael Latt

Writers:

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

Stars:

C. Thomas Howell, Rhett Giles, Andy Lauer

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
C. Thomas Howell	...	George Herbert
Rhett Giles	...	Pastor Victor
Andy Lauer	...	Sgt. Kerry Williams
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
Bernadette Perez	...	Elaine

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the first of many Asylum Studio "mockbuster" rip-off films that cash in on more popular movies, though this film did not start off that way. The script was originally written in 1997 by Carlos De Los Rios. Titled The Invasion, the film was to be a modern-day loose adaptation of H.G. Wells's War Of The Worlds, featuring two brothers (one a scientist and the other a solider) going on a cross-country quest to find their families amidst a full-scale alien invasion. The script interested many big studios and the two brothers were to be played by C. Thomas Howell and Tom Cruise, but the project fell through due to budgetary concerns. Years later, De Los Rios took his script to The Asylum and planned to make it there, but when they heard that Spielberg was working on his own version of War Of The Worlds with Cruise in the lead, the creators felt discouraged and decided to retool the script to cash in on his project. Director David Michael Latt said in an interview "We were doing it first...I think they knew about [the production] and never cared to reach out to us, so this was our way of giving them the middle finger." When the cash-in marketing proved to be a huge success, The Asylum started intentionally making more mockbusters and knock-offs as and used this film as a business model. Other elements, such as the musical score and effects created specifically for this movie, would go onto be recycled in countless Asylum productions.

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Goofs

The credits refer to the "Hopetown Mayor", but the town's name in the movie, and the real New Jersey town, is Hopewell.

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Quotes

George Herbert: Victor, we have rabies vaccines right here.
Pastor Victor: You're gonna give these beasts rabies?
George Herbert: No, I'm gonna inject toxins that can spread a deadly disease through their system.
Pastor Victor: We're gonna give them a virus?
George Herbert: Yes. Nothing's worked. The missiles, the bombs, guns, nothing. But this is life fighting life. Victor, this has a chance.
Pastor Victor: Right. How about I go out there and call them in now?
George Herbert: I didn't say it was a perfect plan. Do you have a better idea?

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Crazy Credits

No aliens were hurt during the production of this screenplay. In the case of an actual alien attack, please refer to the duck-and-cover method, which is on page 72 of your manual.

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Connections

References The Simpsons (1989)

User Reviews

The Worst movie I have ever seen.....EVER.

I felt like I was watching an example of how not to make a movie. I think the director filmed it in his back yard! There was no real plot.

Terrible script.

Terrible acting.

The worst production I have ever witnessed. A couple of bad CG effects and then the rest of the movies was spent walking around in what looked like a junk yard.

I don't normally write reviews to movies but was moved to warn everyone about this one.

Life is to short to waste your time with this movie!

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