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Amazon.co.uk Review
Despite super effects, a huge budget, and the cinematic pedigree of alien-happy Steven Spielberg, this take on H.G. Wells's novel is basically a horror film packaged as a sci-fi thrill ride. Instead of a mad slasher, however, Spielberg (along with writers Josh Friedman & David Koepp) utilizes aliens hell-bent on quickly destroying humanity, and the terrifying results that prey upon adult fears, especially in the post-9/11 world. The realistic results could be a new genre, the grim popcorn thriller; often you feel like you're watching Schindler's List more than Spielberg's other thrill-machine movies (such as Jaws or Jurassic Park). The film centers on Ray Ferrier, a divorced father (Tom Cruise, oh so comfortable) who witnesses one giant craft destroy his New Jersey town and soon is on the road with his teen son (Justin Chatwin) and preteen daughter (Dakota Fanning) in tow, trying to keep ahead of the invasion. The film is, of course, impeccably designed and produced by Spielberg's usual crew of A-class talent. The aliens are genuinely scary, even when the film--like the novel--spends a good chunk of time in a basement. Readers of the book (or viewers of the deft 1953 adaptation) will note the variation of whom and how the aliens come to Earth, which poses some logistical problems. The film opens and closes with narration from the novel read by Morgan Freeman, but Spielberg could have adapted Orson Welles's words from the famous Halloween Eve 1938 radio broadcast: "We couldn't soap all your windows and steal all your garden gates by tomorrow night, so we did the best next thing: we annihilated the world." --Doug Thomas, Amazon.com
DVD Description
Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, staring international superstar Tom Cruise. A contemporary retelling of H.G. Wells’ seminal classic, the sci-fi adventure thriller reveals the extraordinary battle for the future of humankind through the eyes of one American family fighting to survive it.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Grain haters be warned,
By Geoffrey McCarthy "jaffa201" (Eastleigh, Hampshire) - See all my reviews
This review is from: War of The Worlds [Blu-ray] [2005] (Blu-ray)
War of the Worlds is one of those rarities; a remake better than the original. The 50's version had great effects for it's time but not a lot else; 1 dimensional characters and not much plot. This time round we also have great effects, a little more plot but much better characters. The film focuses on one small family rather than look at the whole world's reponse to the invasion, as is often the case with this type of film. War of the Worlds benefits from this sole focus on the family, and Tom Cruise gives a good if not great performance as do the other actors.
From looking at the reviews of this blu-ray version of the film I seem to be in the minority here in actually approving of the transfer, at least on Amazon anyway. The film, as it was meant to be, has a very grainy transfer, so those that don't have time for these appearances be warned. Some have commented that it is no better than the DVD version. Well I watched the blu-ray and then popped in my old DVD version for comparison afterwards; the Blu-ray does provide much improvement on the DVD so I would recommend others consider upgrading too. If in doubt I would recommend reading the reviewer's review on the blu-ray.com website for an accurate description of the video quality of this version.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
war of the worlds special edition.,
By
This review is from: War Of The Worlds (2 Disc Special Edition) [2005] [DVD] (DVD)
after seeing the cinema version,I was concerned that it would not transfer to d.v.d. it was remarkable! but you need a surround sound system to get the full effects, colour and clarity were excellent.
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Nice SFX, pity about the story...,
By
This review is from: War Of The Worlds (2 Disc Special Edition) [2005] [DVD] (DVD)
One day (he said hopefully) someone will make WOTW the way it was written, in Victorian England, with the British Empire at the height of its powers (but relatively primitive by today's standards) confronted with a vastly superior technology and without the imagination to cope (back then, science fiction as a literary genre was Wells and Jules Vernes and that was about all). I found this a weak effort, which proved that Dakota Fanning could scream very well but not much else. Probably (just) worth it for the SFX; it was pleasing to see at last Wells's tripod monsters strutting the landscape (it was beyond the ability of George Pal in 1953 to create effectively, which is why he chose the hovering machines). The definitive version remains to be filmed.
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