War of The Worlds... eh?

Royality

Royality

Royality

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[Spoilers]


So I just watched this movie and am sat here feeling very confused...

I just don't get this movie at all, the plot is riddled with flaws and loose ends thus meaning any atmosphere the director was trying to create is lost or just not created at all.

My biggest gripe is probably the flitting between places, he starts in New Jersey and travels to a house in a car, then he goes to a different town for a bit and gets kicked out the car. Fair enough, this much I can cope with. Then he just kind of trots along arriving in new places and narrowly avoiding the big aliens. Then he gets to Boston (I don't know the distances but it seemed a bit easy) and finds his ex-wife perfectly okay in their little house as if nothing happened - and his son is safe for no discernible reason.

Then the machines stop working, Cruise says something about birds and they can suddenly blow the machines up.

Now I might be being stupid and I realise the it's supposed to be a mystery, but why did the machines stop working? I'm guessing it's something to do with nature... :confused:

Man what a crap movie. :mad:
 
Bacteria killed them. (youve never listened to the original then?) actually doesnt it explain it at the end about the bacteria in the water?
 
Listen to commentary at the end of the film. It explains that the aliens had no immunity from our planets bacteria, thus when they drank our water and ate our food they got sick. We've been on the planet a long time so our immune system is much better adapted.

I found the ending funny though, they all looked like they had just finished their sunday lunch imo. Not a mark on them! :D

edit: got there before me :rolleyes:
 
They were killed by our viruses - to which they had no immunity. Did you not listen to Morgan Freemans last little bit of narration? ;)

He pointed to the birds because they were landing on the tripod and that meant the shields must have been down.

As for the film in general, Spielberg was trying to capture the atmosphere and terror felt by an "average" family rather than an all-out action blockbuster like ID4 - therefor it flowed realistically, rather than going from one set piece to another.

I loved it, although most people seem less enthused. I like it even better than the original WotW movie, and that's saying something!

EDIT: I still hate the fact they showed the aliens tho.....bad mistake for me :(
 
d3adm0nk3y said:
Listen to commentary at the end of the film. It explains that the aliens had no immunity from our planets bacteria, thus when they drank our water and ate our food they got sick. We've been on the planet a long time so our immune system is much better adapted.

I found the ending funny though, they all looked like they had just finished their sunday lunch imo. Not a mark on them! :D
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Now I'm even more confused... what commentary? There was a short speech but it didn't explicity say when they drank water they died... It didn't even say bacteria.
 
Are you sure? I'll have to watch it again now. Maybe I'm confused with the original film. Now, that's a funny one. Weak women, brave men. Ahh the fifties.
 
End speach from the film.

Narrator: From the moment the invaders arrived, breathed our air, ate, and drank, they were doomed. They were undone, destroyed, after all of man's weapons and devices had failed, by the tiniest creatures that God in his wisdom put upon this earth. By the toll of a billion deaths, man had earned his immunity, his right to survive among this planet's infinite organisms. And that right is ours against all challenges. For neither do men live nor die in vain.
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Basically what they are getting at is that man has evolved on the planet and has become immune to a lot of bugs and organisms. The aliens, however, are from another planet where biology is different. They haven’t had the benefit of thousands of years of evolution on earth to protect them. Earths environment killed them.
 
Royality said:
Now I'm even more confused... what commentary? There was a short speech but it didn't explicity say when they drank water they died... It didn't even say bacteria.
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i cant put my hand on my heart and say it definitly did.... put im pretty sure it did
 
Royality said:
Now I'm even more confused... what commentary? There was a short speech but it didn't explicity say when they drank water they died... It didn't even say bacteria.
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I can't remember the exact speech, but it made it pretty obvious. I think you need to watch this movie again when you're a bit more switched on :D
 
Curio said:
I can't remember the exact speech, but it made it pretty obvious. I think you need to watch this movie again when you're a bit more switched on :D
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No, it certainly alluded to viruses and such just didn't clear anything up for me.

Nevermind I understand now it's a poor script and not me that made this film pants. ;)

Edit: I must've not been concentrating. :o
 
The version I watched when it first came out didn't have that speech on :D
I thought Tom Cruise had killed them all by throwing the hand grenades up the aliens hole (ooh err).
 
Tom killed one of them by throwing grenades into one.

The cinema release and following DVD release I watched all had that speech on, and explained in the same way as the old version how the invaders were beaten. If you didn't see them you shouldn't be watching dodgy copies :p

The only thing the new version doesn't have is the bit right at the end where the invaders come again, when the various outposts notice something and then lose contact with each other.
 
Gilly said:
The only thing the new version doesn't have is the bit right at the end where the invaders come again, when the various outposts notice something and then lose contact with each other.
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Is that in the book?
I watched the original about a month ago and i'm positive it wasn't on there.
 
Pretty sure it's in the book. Though it was many, many years ago that I read it. Don't think I've been back to the text since Jeff Wayne's version.
 
Gilly said:
Tom killed one of them by throwing grenades into one.

The cinema release and following DVD release I watched all had that speech on, and explained in the same way as the old version how the invaders were beaten. If you didn't see them you shouldn't be watching dodgy copies :p

The only thing the new version doesn't have is the bit right at the end where the invaders come again, when the various outposts notice something and then lose contact with each other.
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I know Tom killed one... I'm not that stupid... :mad:

It had the speech on mine (NTL Front Row poof :p), I must've just not been listening properly.

Nevertheless - pants movie.
 
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