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War of the Worlds (2005) - Buy Movies - Rent MoviesCould the Spielberg-Cruise partnership flourish as the Scorsese-De Niro relationship? Judging by their previous effort Minority Report the potential is there but will the promise continue with this movie? Ray Ferrier (Cruise) is a self-centred bum of a dad who only cares about looking after himself and his own well-being. When his kids, Rachel (Fanning) and Robbie (Justin Chatwin) come to stay for the weekend his poor relationship with his children is exposed but once the ultimate threat is unleashed to the inhabitants of Planet Earth, Ray’s commitment and personal feelings are put to the most severest of test as he struggles to save himself, his daughter and his son. Spielberg has finally got his hands on the ultimate alien invasion story. Reminiscent of the old 50’s/60’s B-movie style flicks, The Beard has managed to recapture the feel and narrative and transfer it to the present day. The direction is excellent as would be expected from the master and the special effects are top quality, which is expected from the man who helped to pioneer top of the range SFX with Jurassic Park. Cruise gives an assured and solid performance as Ray Ferrier. His presence on screen captures the audience’s attention and interest. Dakota Fanning is once again showing what a talent she is with yet another mature display. Though not at her best and used to her full potential she does show glimpses of her sheer brilliance. The thief in the night turns out to be Tim Robbins who nearly steals the whole film with his cameo role as the insane Ogilvy who puts Ray and his daughter’s life at risk in their hideout as the threat from the Martians intensify in what turns out to be the darkest and most macabre moment of the movie. The real stars of the film and what everyone has come to see are the butt ugly invaders from Mars. The aliens do not steal or dominate the scenes but predominately War of the Worlds is about the Martians and not the scenario with Ray and his family which is just used as a backdrop to attempt to give the movie a little depth. Hell-bent on destroying the human race, these ET’s are some of the most badass mother-truckers cinema has ever seen. Visually this is a spectacular movie. Watching the 100ft tall tripods the aliens use to destroy every living creature is amazing. These SFX are used to great effect and keeps the viewer engrossed and absorbed. Thrown into the mix to make it relevant to the present day is the paranoia that still exists from 9/11 when the aliens were at first to referred to as “terrorists.” One of the many positives to come out of this picture was that there was no need to wait any longer than approximately half an hour for the aliens to start their first wave of attack. Unlike many other films such as Batman Begins, Hulk and Spider-man (to name a few), it can take up to an hour for the central attraction(s) of the movie to make an appearance. However, here’s a warning… due to some dark and very uncomfortable scenes this film is definitely not suitable for younger children. While this film did possess a number of elements to make this a very good movie such as tension, terror, sound performances and attention-grabbing action the most disappointing aspect was the unsatisfactory ending that gives the impression that it was rushed and/or possibly shortened down. Barring that we do have a highly enjoyable and a very good movie from the King of all directors. Unlike Independence Day that tried to market itself as a feel good picture because we (in truth this means the Americans) kicked the ET’s butt from here to eternity but Steven Spielberg approaches it from another angle in that this is a war transposed to a disaster movie and there is no glory involved in warfare. One thing is clear... this is the motion picture ID4 wanted to be. Leon Nicholson |
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