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Quinn meets his grandparents »

I finally got to see this over at the local $1.50 theater(where by the way we had a very un-Charlotte experience of some noisy moviegoers talking throughout the film - it was like being back in NY). An amazing post-9/11 disaster film by a post-Saving Private Ryan Stephen Spielberg. It is one of the most intense and frightening films I've ever seen. Spielberg and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski do a lot of things right here. The scene of the aliens first attack on the streets of New Jersey are obviously informed by the 9/11 attacks and the footage of people running for their lives in the city streets but Spielberg adds an otherworldly danger that is terrifying. He gives us a street level view of the attack, not just in the focal point (not enough filmmakers realize that you don't need to show-off your cgi shots, put them in the background or give us just glimpses and it makes it so much more believable) but also by giving us an interesting, modern, dysfunctional family to run with.

The film falters in one scene that goes on a bit too long and drags down the pacing a little. Tim Robbins appears as some sort of survivalist nut bringing scenery-chewing overacting to the movie for the first time. We also get our first glimpse of the aliens in this scene and Spielberg can't resist making them kind of cute and E.T. like which I think was a mistake.

Like in the previous 1950's film iteration of H.G. Wells' novel, the ending needs to rely on a voiceover in order to explain what happens. It makes the movie feel a little old-fashioned and I think Spielberg tries to embrace this feeling a bit. There's nothing wrong with this really, as he's given us a very modern take on a classic kind of sci-fi/horror film.

Posted at October 11, 2005 08:32 PM

I'm not saying this is a thrilling hidden twist, but some people like to think that War of the Worlds is just a dream. If you'll remember, when Roy (Is that Cruise's name in this?) goes home and picks up the kids, he immediately takes a nap. After he wakes up, he finds his son has taken his car, which signals the beginning of the weirdness and horror; the whole movie *could* be interpreted as Roy's bad dream. I like that approach because it explains the almost bizarre ability of his family members to survive, esp. the son and the ex-wife's family. A neat theory, I thought.

I really enjoyed how slowly and evenly the movie dealt with the pods coming out of the street next to the Church is Jersey. Spielberg really showed restraint and balance, easily building up the steps of the menace, rather than just having the pods swoop out of the sky.

Posted by: brent at October 11, 2005 11:28 PM

That's pretty cool, I like that interpretation. Very Mulholland Drive.

Posted by: Rich at October 12, 2005 10:51 AM