Well kids, I finally got to see the new Spielberg-version of the old
Wells chestnut "The War of The Worlds" this past weekend. I was a
little leery about having to endure another Tom Cruise-as-a-hero
flick, as I'm not his biggest fan. I still don't think he's the best
choice for the role. However, he is a fairly competent actor; and
there's no denying his star-power ability to draw in people who'd
never see a sci-fi flick, but would watch anything with him in it.

That said, he did a good job. He's come a long way from the boyish
blowhard in Top Gun. The range of emotions wasn't too broad here, but
was well-done. The little girl was annoying more than cute, so I'm
still not sure whether I liked her or not. The son was a typical
I-hate-everyone type, which was right on-target to me, as I felt much
the same way towards my then-divorced father at that age.

The story was interesting in that it stayed much closer to the
original Wells novel. The beloved 50's film took the core concept and
jettisoned everything else. This new version takes a little from that
great old film, but sticks closer to Wells' intended narrative. It
was a riveting two+ hours. My only real gripe with the film is that
there wasn't enough exposition about the aliens themselves. BTW...
Mars is not where these baddies are from, though they follow the
"everything-in-threes" pattern that Wells' novel discussed, and the
50's film version showed us. I was fascinated by them and wanted to
learn more. As the film follows only our central character, we never
get to see any "nuts & bolts" of the military or takes on the aliens
from scientists. In fact the only things we ever "learn" about the
aliens are some conspiracy theories from fellow refugees that Cruise
and his family meet, and some conjecture based on a few fragments of
video gathered by a news crew that Cruise briefly encounters. They
tantalize you with a few tidbits, but that's all. Bummer.

As for the effects... WOW! As you'd expect in a summer blockbuster
film, especially one from Spielberg and Co., they are nothing short of
amazing. The level of realisim in CGI-based shots has been upped a
notch here. There are scenes and shots that will have your eyes
bulging and your jaw dropping. They are incredible. The alien
tripods are pure Wells this go-round. They look and move extremely
convincingly. There's really no need to suspend your disbelief. It
all looks so realistic, you could believe that they just pointed a
camera and started shooting footage as a real alien device worked
itself out of the ground. The scenes of destruction are amazing and
heart-breaking at the same time. Perhaps it's still too soon after
9/11 to see chunks of major city real estate being leveled. It sure
made me wince a few times.

And this is one of the few films in recent memory that actually scared
me. I don't mean cheap shock effects meant to startle you. I mean a
building sense of dread that coils in the pit of your stomach and
makes you wish you were anywhere but there with those characters.
Delightful.

I loved the Wells novel as a child in school, and I am a huge fan of
the beloved 1953 George Pal film version, having it on VHS and now on
DVD. This new version is damn good. I don't know if it'll ever
achieve cult-status and engender the warm love for it that the Pal
version does, but who knows? It has the potential. I know I'll be
buying it when it comes out on DVD. It has a high repeat-viewing
factor, at least for me. :)

PEACE ALL! (and keep watching the skys!)

-JN