War Of The Worlds (DTS) "Two Disc Limited Edition"

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Robin

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Title: War Of The Worlds (DTS) "Two Disc Limited Edition"
Year of Release: 2005
Film Studio: Paramount Pictures / DreamWorks
Genre: Science Fiction - Horror


An earth-shattering adventure to be sure. Steven Spielberg's version of the famous, H.G. Wells, Si-Fi - Horror book was a lot of fun to watch on film. I just bought the, "Two Disc Limited Edition" set from Amazon, yesterday... We watched it last night on DVD, for the first time and it was great fun. As my daughter said, "It was gripping!" The screenplay by Josh Friedman and David Koepp was really, as close to the book, as I could have hoped for. You see, I thought , H.G. Well's book was an excellent classic. I loved Wells descriptions of the War of the Worlds... The screenplay is a contemporary retelling of the story, only closer to the book than the 1953, version of the film. Like having the space-ships already buried on earth, the invaders from outer-space, having planned the conquest of earth for hundreds perhaps thousands of years, was excellent. Also the space-ships being, "tripod's", with protruding arms was following the H.G. Wells vision to-a-tee... Also the alien's, 'red plant' life, was a nice touch too.

Tom Cruise, did a fine job, as a selfish, almost, 'dead-beat-dad', in the film. I thoroughly enjoyed his relationship with his kids. Cruise's character of 'Ray' was portrayed very well in a realistic way and sincerely felt too. I also thought, he did a good job in showing the transition of his character, as far as, being more of a father to his children, he was excellent. He had chemistry with his children especially Dakota Fanning... Dakota Fanning was superb as a pre-adolescent teenage daughter, 'Rachel'. It is hard to believe, little Miss Fanning is a veteran actress, as she is so very young, although outstanding in this role. I must say, It was a wonderful surprised to see, the 1953 co-stars, Gene Barry and Ann Robinson, in cameo, roles, as the maternal grandparents, in this 2005 - version. The young Canadian, actor Justine Chatwin, who played 'Robbie', was an outstanding actor, as the son. He seemed natural and riveting in his role. Tim Robbins had a funny role as a horror struck crazy man. Although brief.., it was a very good performance.

"War Of The Worlds" has thrilling in DTS sound for HT. Not only where all my ML speakers working as expected, but my Descent subwoofer was working over-time. Steven Spielberg's special effects sound department was truly working to make the sound separation really outstanding... I think, I'm going to start using the first 'Alien Tripod' scene, where the first space-ship comes out of the ground and starts attacking all the good folks in New Jersey, as my new, 'Wow to impress people to my system', scene... :D It really rocks the place...

"War Of The Worlds", is not best picture material, but it is an extremely entertaining film to watch, as a Saturday matinee film at home. It was a lot fun... I heartily recommend it to all my follow ML earthlings... :D

:D HT relaxed, comfortably in HT bliss, until next time, let the movies turn you on...

Cheers

-Robin
 

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I thought the sound was good, but everything else was awful. Definitely not part of my collection. (And I have a lot of action flicks) This story line was just so disjointed and implausible that it was painful to watch.
 
In my opinion, to enjoy or understand the new version, you need to have seen the original. But the music/soundtrack was awesome
 
War of the Worlds (Remastered) (1953)...

DTB300 said:
In my opinion, to enjoy or understand the new version, you need to have seen the original. But the music/soundtrack was awesome
Dan,

I agree, I bought the remastered version of the 1953, "War Of The Worlds". It is a classic 1950's Si-Fi... :D I like the spaceships, even though you can see the wires holding up the spaceships. They used similar spaceships, with the classic Si-Fi film, "Robinson Cursoe On Mars". Someday they will release, "Robinson Cursoe On Mars" on DVD too. I had it on laserdisc... Maybe it will come out on Blue-Ray DVD next year... :rolleyes:

Cheers

-Robin
 
If you have a really hard-core subwoofer, this movie WITHOUT A DOUBT needs to be in your demo collection. People will NEVER stop talking about "that time you showed them war of the worlds".
 
The bass in this movie is quite amazing, but a little caution should be taken, some people over on the AVSforum have reported blowing up their subwoofers on this movie.
 
War of the Worlds...

Zip3kx07 said:
The bass in this movie is quite amazing, but a little caution should be taken, some people over on the AVSforum have reported blowing up their subwoofers on this movie.
Joe,

Blowing up Subwoofers during the actual viewing of this thrilling film would be so scary, physicalizing the HT experience to the max. I submit it would bring HT to another level. Wouldn't you agree, Joe... :D
 
Before I got my sub, I drove my main amp into protection a couple of times while watching this movie (and I'm not a bleeding-ears kind of guy).
 
War of the Worlds...

I am now regularly using the scenes, 'of the alien space ships first coming out of the ground in New Jersey', to Wow new visitors to my HT. War of the Worlds (2005 version) sound FX dynamics are impressive, most impressive.. :D
 
Robin,
I enjoyed the movie very much too, but I'm surprised the reception to it was as lukewarm as it was. I read Wells' book, and the '05 movie version almost reads like the book, as you say, very different from the 1953 version. I like that one too; it was done well, but strayed significantly from the original story. And yes, the bass tracks are really great!
That's it! I'll have to buy a copy! It's your fault, so you'll have to pay for it! Wait a minute, that was a bit forward of me to say. Tell you what. Meet me halfway on it, and we'll be even. :rolleyes: :D
And thanks for pointing out the cameo roles from the '53 version. I didn't catch that before!
Regards,
Ross
 
I really enjoyed the sound and visual from the movie. I originally saw it in the theatre but sounded much tighter and full at home. For me the reason I didn't enjoy the overall story was the way that they tried to portray Tom Cruise's character as the Dad and the way the kids reacted to him after the event had started. In the original you can at least identify with the two characters as they try to make it back to Los Angeles? The remake I did enjoy the way it followed the book more closely.
 
Statman said:
I really enjoyed the sound and visual from the movie. I originally saw it in the theatre but sounded much tighter and full at home. For me the reason I didn't enjoy the overall story was the way that they tried to portray Tom Cruise's character as the Dad and the way the kids reacted to him after the event had started. In the original you can at least identify with the two characters as they try to make it back to Los Angeles? The remake I did enjoy the way it followed the book more closely.
I totally agree with you about the portrayal of the father. They could've done better. Given that, I think the way the kids reacted I suppose would be reasonable, given that they were in a terrifying situation. But I would've liked
to have seen the father portrayed as a well rounded, solid citizen type, desperately trying to get his kids out of harm's way and reunite with his wife hundreds of miles away. The part of the movie that I really didn't like was the scene where the HUMVEE is rolling backward down the hill on fire. That to me seemed really corny and out of line with the otherwise excellent technical work in the rest of the movie.
 
War Of The Worlds...

Ross,

Thanks for the kind words. I am glad you will own a copy of this fantastic SiFi film. It's a hoot and a lot of fun as well... :D

Statman,

:D Yes, the newer version is a much better film and does follow the book more closely but their is something near and dear to my heart, with the 1953 version as well, I own them both ;)
 
Robin said:
Ross,

Thanks for the kind words. I am glad you will own a copy of this fantastic SiFi film. It's a hoot and a lot of fun as well... :D

Statman,

:D Yes, the newer version is a much better film and does follow the book more closely but their is something near and dear to my heart, with the 1953 version as well, I own them both ;)
I disliked the general acting in this, but can accept it for what it is as an effects/suspense flick. I dislike movies where I'm hoping that one or more of the protagonists gets killed/eaten/mauled because of the gross stupidity of their behavior. Behind Enemy Lines was similiar - I wanted to shoot Owen Wilson myself (the enemy is down there and I'm up here hiding, how about I stand up and yell at them when my friend is shot?...). Eleven year-old Dakota Fanning was the best actor in this, with a nod to Tim Robbins as the creepy guy.

If you like classic SciFi, get Forbidden Planet. It's amazing how well the special effects and storyline hold up even now for a mid-50's movie. There are a number of faces you'll recognise from later work, including Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielson, and Earl Holliman.
 
SteveInNC said:
I disliked the general acting in this, but can accept it for what it is as an effects/suspense flick. I dislike movies where I'm hoping that one or more of the protagonists gets killed/eaten/mauled because of the gross stupidity of their behavior. Behind Enemy Lines was similiar - I wanted to shoot Owen Wilson myself (the enemy is down there and I'm up here hiding, how about I stand up and yell at them when my friend is shot?...). Eleven year-old Dakota Fanning was the best actor in this, with a nod to Tim Robbins as the creepy guy.

If you like classic SciFi, get Forbidden Planet. It's amazing how well the special effects and storyline hold up even now for a mid-50's movie. There are a number of faces you'll recognise from later work, including Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielson, and Earl Holliman.

I don't think anyone watches a tom cruise movie for fantastic acting. :)

And I'm with you on the shooting Owen Wilson. I can't stand that man.

The nice thing with War of the Worlds is that the best parts of the film are accessable via chapter search, AND that in those scenes, there's very little acting required to get the point across... with the exception of Tom running for his life like some sort of maniac while bodies turn to ash in his path. :D

And, in my opinion for classic sci-fi, you can't go wrong with Alien. To this day it still makes the women hide their faces. :eek:
 
War of

Question, does anyone know if the original "War Of The Worlds" is available on DVD? I originally had it on Laserdisc. What a superb picture. This, has always been a favorite of mine. In fact, for that time, the make of those space ships, and how they just hovered over the ground, and shot those rays, I thought was pretty good.
I don`t know how you all feel about it, some classics should not be re - done. Though this movie was decent, I still prefer the original. Funnny thing about our youth today. I believe they should know about the classics. When asking my stepsons friend if he knew that there was an original "War Of The Worlds" he said no.
I make sure my stepson has seen the original, before we go and see the re - make. When we saw Kong, during the film, he was able to tell me where or where not the new film followed the original. I thought that was good.
Anyway, is it available?
 
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