Techtite DVD Reviews

The Film: If there's one thing I like about this --director Steven Spielberg's 2005 rendition of War of the Worlds-- it is how he did not try to re-invent the wheel...at least, not by much. No remake is fun if it's an exact clone of material already released, even though you have to keep slightly true to the original story, or else what is the point? So consider this as a different spin on the tale...though not by much, and that's what I loved about this. As a fan of classic sci-fi I was very pleased here.

The core story is about a sort of everyman, Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise). His day starts out normally enough when he meets his ex-wife (Miranda Otto) to take their children for the weekend: young Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and teenage son, Robbie (Justin Chatwin). Soon after they arrive at home, lightning begins to strike, right behind their own backyard. Don't worry, insists Ray; lightning never strikes the same spot twice. Then lightning not only strikes twice; it keeps on striking that same spot, again and again. Ray's day is about to get even weirder from there.

What follows is the title's namesake, the War of the Worlds. Actually, the term "war" is a misnomer, because this is hardly an equal match. In the original story this was explained because Earth's 19th century technology was no match for the high-tech attack of the aliens. This story has been modernized so that even our modern tanks and fighter jets are no match for the aliens. That said; you can imagine how everymen like Ray fare against the aliens, in some admittedly intense scenes that --which I cannot stress enough-- make it a foregone conclusion to leave kids home from this movie. This is not another ET.

True, this story has been cloned many times, in many ways, throughout the decades. Yet this rendition of the story is not only the genuine article, but its adaptations seem truer to the story than, say, Independence Day. I particularly liked how alien these aliens are...and yes, we get to see a few of them. In addition, I liked how alien their attack is. The groan from the ships is almost Jurassic Park in nature; and what are all of these red vines growing in the wake of these ships? In addition; closer looks at the ships reveal elements that make the ships themselves seem alive in some fashion, as if they worked in symbiosis with the aliens. In layman's terms: a sort of biological attack is implied, which enhances the original story...or have I revealed too much? Well; if you don't know the story, you really should've read the book. Sorry.

The obvious follow-up question is: what's new? Well, that would be best described in a nutshell as the modern FX, though such FX do allow for added avenues to explore in the story. A possible desire of the aliens to alter the Earth for alien colonization is explored; an element of the story I don't remember before. In addition; the attack ships themselves look ten times more ominous than the little miniatures in the original film adaptation from 1953. Such changes to the story are enjoyable because they compliment the original story rather than just retool it.

Not that all other critics agree. Roger Ebert mused that at no point do we learn the motivations of these aliens. I don't know about that. Is such knowledge truly necessary? Nobody goes to a WW2 film asking what Hitler's "motivation" was. Of all the present-day murderers interviewed on various news shows, nobody has yet to offer a definitive reason for their actions. To ask what these aliens' "intentions" were is, if you ask me, slightly naive. This is not a time to ask why Earth doesn't call the alien ambassador and create a United Nations Of Planets. The human race is being wiped out; what can we do? That is the puzzle here.

Is the ending a let-down? Spoilers at bay, let me give my take on this. There are basically two camps of movie goers. One camp wish for a new ending in every movie, even for a film based on original material. Then there are those who believe that you must keep true to the original story, because if you do not, what's the point? You can see the point of the latter group of movie buffs. You cannot remake Citizen Kane without "Rosebud." Nor should you worry when young kids see said remake and cry, "That was 'rosebud'...? What a cheap ending!" You can only try to please the core audience, who are fans of the original source material. With spoilers at bay, I can say only this: If this ending is similar to the book's, it is not only a good ending, but a classic ending. Enough said there. I will say no more.

Well...okay, I lied. There is at least one element of the finale that I must mention here, though I'll try to remain cryptic. There's someone (I won't say who) who is present at the end of the movie, when it is totally, scientifically, logistically, and almost irrefutably impossible for them to be there. When they are approached, at no point does survivor #2 make any attempt to figure out how did Survivor #1 actually survive. Without such an explanation, this scene doesn't make sense, and you leave the theater with a whole lot of good movie to talk about, along with one totally incredulous final scene.

Yet in a film that kept so true to the original source material, few can complain. It would be a hard debate indeed to compare HG Wells to Shakespeare, but whenever either author's work is made into film, both deserve fair respect. I personally feel that had HG Wells seen this movie, he would have liked it too. That's the sort of feeling you want to leave a movie theater with.

The DVD : I'm going to go out on a limb here and make the two-disc "special edition" for this movie the main order link for this review. That's because the standard (either widescreen or full screen) edition is only one disc, and to the best of my knowledge doesn't even include a commentary track. In fact; buy the regular one-disc edition, and all you'll enjoy in extras is a "Designing the Enemy" featurette...which isn't much.

So what do you get with the two-disc edition? For starters you get a whole lot more of Steven Spielberg, with a personal "introduction" to the disc/movie by him, plus a few anecdotes of his own, about the original War of the Worlds film. This alone is worth at least a rental to see it, and we've only gotten started here.

There are around half a dozen featurettes. One is called "The H. G. Wells Legacy," and covers the author of the original sci-fi story. Another feature covers the "family unit" of characters, as used in the newest film. Another feature is devoted entirely to the musical score, while another feature is self explanatory for sci-fi, "aliens among us" fans: "We Are Not Alone." Rounding out the extras is a gallery of photos, and no less than four "production diaries," covering the four "parts" of the story, including: "Beginning," "Exile," "Destruction," and "War."

Is this enough for purchase? Maybe, and maybe not. It's still Spielberg's return to sci-fi "alien" storytelling, and that is good news. Mind you; if someone were to ask me what modern Spielberg sci-fi movie they should rent, I would recommend Minority Report long before this War. This is still a nice film though, and a fine remake.

	Final Rating : Large Crater. Though the story is a bit dated compared to several decades of "War of the Worlds" clones, this story is still classic.
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Techtite's DVD Reviews!

War of the Worlds (2005)

A Review by Techtite