CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Wow. Just got back from seeing this one. I thought it was great!! The special effects were phenomenal (after all, it is a Spielburg film!), the acting was very good (Dakota Fanning is a fantastic actor for her age), I loved the cinematography, the whole thing was well done. It was intense, but not without enough comic relief. A very good movie, I reccommend it!

[SPOILER]For anyone who's seen it, I noticed a lot of symbolism. For instance, when the church was destroyed, I thought that kind of showed that there was no hope for the people. Also, at the end, the bud on the tree symbolized life, and how everything would grow back and flourish once again. Anyways, who else noticed that?[/SPOILER]

Yes! It was! I saw it with my friends from church and it was awesome. *__* We're going to see it again on Saturday.

i watched the origional war of the worlds on saturday, and im going to see the new one later today

I get a bit peeved when an english book that is set in LONDON in the 1890s is updated to nowdays and set in AMERICA of all places. American movie makers think the world revolves around America, or that it is the only place aliens would attack. Don't get me started on the historical inaccuracies in Pearl Harbour! Anyway, I still want to see this movie because Steven Speilberg is a very good director and I wish to see what he's done with the material.

I'm going on Saturday, I look very much forward to seeing this.

Warrior 4 Jesus wrote:I get a bit peeved when an english book that is set in LONDON in the 1890s is updated to nowdays and set in AMERICA of all places. American movie makers think the world revolves around America, or that it is the only place aliens would attack.

America is a good place to start an alien invasion, though.

I love the book. I'd like to see the movie made faithfully from the book. I think it would be cool but maybe I'm the only one who does.
Anyway -- I'll probably catch it this week sometime.

well, i just got back from it.....unfortunatly its absolutly nothing like the book or the original movie.....

it was a good movie, but i think i like the story of the original movie better.

I just got back from seeing it also, and i give it two thumbs up! The specail effects was great there was non-stop action from start to end and i was on the edge of my seat from the start to the end. Its a must see this summer!

Warrior 4 Jesus wrote:I get a bit peeved when an english book that is set in LONDON in the 1890s is updated to nowdays and set in AMERICA of all places. American movie makers think the world revolves around America, or that it is the only place aliens would attack.

I dunno, did the invasion actually start in America? I remember hearing a great deal about how Spielberg wanted to only depict events that the main character witnessed (i.e. the scene with the massive battle over the hill that the audience and the hero didn't see). So it would kinda make sense that the main character wouldn't know what's going on elsewhere in the world, or the next state for that matter with the communication networks out. Though if you want to go after Spielberg for picking an American dude as his hero, go for it

I just saw the movie tonight. It was kinda dark for a birthday movie choice, but the CG was amazing and the action sequences were awesome. The initial scene, where the Tripod emerges from underground, was so jaw droppingly sweet

::drinks water and breathes deeply to calm heart beat::

I do NOT do well during stressful movies....Signs stressed me out. This....whooooa boy...my leg is sore from bouncing it up and down on the rail in front of me.

Other then that I loved it. Great acting, great CGI, great story IMO and awesome feeling. I hate the feeling but the feeling you get when you can't escape from something that is chasing you...quite possibly one of worst feelings in my opinion. I connected with Cruise during the scene when running away from the ship in the starting and hiding behind buildings and in his house...no where to hide.

::takes some asprin for his headaches::

I agree Hitokiri, twas a very, very tremendously stressful movie. But in a fun way

Oo, I also nearly forgot about that. I spent the entire movie comparing it to Signs and Independence Day, it was kinda like some crazy cinematic merging of them, with way better effects. I think that bacteria made a far better anti-alien defence than water...

I'm looking forward to seeing this soon. Have any of you actually listened to the old, original radio broadcast (you know, the one where people thought it was real and all)? It's pretty cool.

. . . I sort of. . . thought it was lame.

I mean, yeah, the special affects were incredible, but the story itself was lacked strong flow. In essence the film could be broken down like this

15 minutes of character development.
1 hour of running from aliens
45 minutes of watching Tom and his daughter in a basement.
15 minutes of a lame and somewhat unexplained ending

Overall, I just thought the movie was all about special effects and it lacked the elements which would connect the audience with the characters. Additionally, there were just some "Um, and why is it that. . ." kind of stuff. Such as:

[spoiler]At the beginning of the movie, everyone is getting vaporized by the aliens. Sudddenly, half way through, Mr. Spielberg must have decided that wasn't gruesome enough and he decided instead to make the alien suck blood. From then on, the aliens instead captured their prey and sucked the blood out of them. Nas.ty. So, why the crud was it that they changed suddenly?[/spoiler]

[spoiler] Okay, so the idea is that BILLIONS of years ago, before human life had even "evolved" on the planet's surface, the aliens planted these ships under our feet, ne? Well, so it turns out the aliens want our blood and that APPEARS to be the only reason that the creators of the film supply us with as a reason for this invasion of our planet. With that said, care to explain how it is that that works when there WEREN'T EVEN PEOPLE AROUND WHEN THE ALIEN PLANETED THEIR SHIPS HERE!?[/spoiler]

I think that the original is probably alot better than the newer one. I don't know, because I haven't watched it yet, but the original was more based on Christianity, in fact, in the end of the movie, they show a verse of the bible at the end, which, in short, said that God would protect them. I liked that one alot, but this new one seemed to be based on more humanistic aspect of survival.

My parents are going to see it tonight.

Wilson, HG Wells was a strong humanist but I remember that last line in the book and it really illustrates that Wells struggles with the idea that there may be a God watching us and protecting us. I think the line is very appropriate but unusual for a book written by a humanist. Infact it is that last line that many non-Christians get upset over when they read the book!

Lizardqueen, I haven't seen the recent movie but I know the book's invasion began in LONDON in 1890's and it makes much more sense to keep it in that era and location.

Wow....I realy need to read the book!

Lizardqueen, I haven't seen the recent movie but I know the book's invasion began in LONDON in 1890's and it makes much more sense to keep it in that era and location.

That's a good point. But the book was written by an English author and published in the 1890's. So at the time it was intended to be set in the present day (19th c.) in the author's homeland, which probably added to the realism and the scare factor. Perhaps the directors and writers behind the film were attempting to achieve the same effect. And maybe they were concerned that audiences would have a harder time relating to and fearing for people from a completely different era.

It definitely would have been a completely different film if it adhered to the book, and in a way I can see how it might have been scarier. For one thing, human warfare technology has advanced significantly, which detracts a little from the sense of helplessness. Still, I'm thinking I'll have to read the book someday.

Overall though, I always find that movie adaptations never seem to match the source material in terms of quality. Even at their best. That's why I think perhaps it's a good thing that the new movie is quite different from the book, it stands less chance of altering a reader's interpretation. Imagination tends to be scarier than anything a movie can come up with.

I have a collections of H.G Wells. I'll get around to reading this one... M. Night Shyamalan should of done it.

Spielberg. At. His. Best.


Is in essence what I rate this movie.

Mangafanatic wrote:I mean, yeah, the special affects were incredible, but the story itself was lacked strong flow. In essence the film could be broken down like this

15 minutes of character development.
1 hour of running from aliens
45 minutes of watching Tom and his daughter in a basement.
15 minutes of a lame and somewhat unexplained ending

I agree. I saw it the first day it came out and I didn't know what to think right after it finished. At first I thought it was good, but then the way it ended kind of got under my skin. And to top it off, there was little to no character development

[spoiler]The fact the aliens planted the ships before humans "supposably" lived, just to wait a billion years to attack and cause havoc. Plus the fact the aliens died because of their immune systems... That was just a dumb way to end a movie. Oh, and who would have thought that Tom's son would surprising be alive to greet his father at the end? [/spoiler]

Like I said, at first I kind of liked the movie when it was over... Then after I was out of the theatre and thought about the movie more in depth... I was a bit disspointed about the ending and the story layout. True the special effects were kind of cool, but the story is what makes the movie good and that was faulty. I would suggest saving your money. There only seemed to be about 40mins of decent content in the movie... Well, that's my thought

Anyone who hasn't seen it, please disregard my post...i'm just reply to Mangafanatics post and making my entir epost a spoiler tag would be redundant when it isnt exactly a spoiler.

Mangafanatic wrote:15 minutes of a lame and somewhat unexplained ending

Overall, I just thought the movie was all about special effects and it lacked the elements which would connect the audience with the characters. Additionally, there were just some "Um, and why is it that. . ." kind of stuff. Such as:

That's one of Speilberg's trademarks

[spoiler]At the beginning of the movie, everyone is getting vaporized by the aliens. Sudddenly, half way through, Mr. Spielberg must have decided that wasn't gruesome enough and he decided instead to make the alien suck blood. From then on, the aliens instead captured their prey and sucked the blood out of them. Nas.ty. So, why the crud was it that they changed suddenly?[/spoiler]

I think Speilberg introduced that just to provide a alternate and maybe more complex explanation on why the aliens invaded. Remember, Speilberg intended that this movie was through Ray's eyes...not through a narrators eyes (Morgan Freeeman = awesomeness). That's why we don't know what was the aliens doing...say in England unless Ray saw or heard about it. same goes for the ways of the aliens. All ray knows it has come to extinguish the human race and to protect his daughter and son with his life...which is awesome transistion from the starting to the movie to the end.

[spoiler] Okay, so the idea is that BILLIONS of years ago, before human life had even "evolved" on the planet's surface, the aliens planted these ships under our feet, ne? Well, so it turns out the aliens want our blood and that APPEARS to be the only reason that the creators of the film supply us with as a reason for this invasion of our planet. With that said, care to explain how it is that that works when there WEREN'T EVEN PEOPLE AROUND WHEN THE ALIEN PLANETED THEIR SHIPS HERE!?[/spoiler]

I thought of that too....I guess it will just remain a mystery to us.

One thing that is peeving me off is how everyone is like "It has a political motive". I'm like "Shut up and watch the freakin movie. Stop comparing everything to politics."

I want to see it again...I'm going to go see it with my parents sometime this week, then with my best friend an dhis girlfriend possibly, and then possibly with the youth group when they get back from there missions trip.

Random thought..
[spoiler]If the aliens had planted the tripods and such on earth a very, very long time ago, wouldn't they have brought some type of earth disease or bacteria back to their home planet?

I also had major issues with Ray's Ex, her new hubby and the grandparents being perfectly groomed in an undamaged house looking no worse for the wear. It would have been far more convincing for me if Ray had encountered them taking shelter in a tunnel, or even the ruins of their home..[/spoiler]

The case for:
Alien technology that would make Half-Life 2's Striders weep.

The case against:
Already well covered by everyone else. I think Spielberg ran out of ideas. And I found Tim Robbins' character completely unecessary.

Ingemar wrote:The case for:
Alien technology that would make Half-Life 2's Striders weep.

The case against:
Already well covered by everyone else. I think Spielberg ran out of ideas. And I found Tim Robbins' character completely unecessary.

Thats what I was thinking all th eway through the movie.

I was hoping for Freeman to come out with the gravity gun and save the day >.>

Awesome movie XD

the_lizardqueen wrote:Random thought..
[spoiler]If the aliens had planted the tripods and such on earth a very, very long time ago, wouldn't they have brought some type of earth disease or bacteria back to their home planet?

I also had major issues with Ray's Ex, her new hubby and the grandparents being perfectly groomed in an undamaged house looking no worse for the wear. It would have been far more convincing for me if Ray had encountered them taking shelter in a tunnel, or even the ruins of their home..[/spoiler]

I totally agree...I didn't like the ending...it was too happy >o<

*Holds head*

TIME TO CRACK SOME SKULLS!!!

At the beginning of the movie, everyone is getting vaporized by the aliens. Sudddenly, half way through, Mr. Spielberg must have decided that wasn't gruesome enough and he decided instead to make the alien suck blood. From then on, the aliens instead captured their prey and sucked the blood out of them. Nas.ty. So, why the crud was it that they changed suddenly?

You're kidding right? it wasn't changed, the aliens either use huyman blood as a fuel source or drink it themselves. Not rocket science. OR it is VERY possible they'll use the blood to further study us for whatever reason. This is a race of intelligent beings God knows how many times more advanced than ours.

Okay, so the idea is that BILLIONS of years ago, before human life had even "evolved" on the planet's surface, the aliens planted these ships under our feet, ne? Well, so it turns out the aliens want our blood and that APPEARS to be the only reason that the creators of the film supply us with as a reason for this invasion of our planet. With that said, care to explain how it is that that works when there WEREN'T EVEN PEOPLE AROUND WHEN THE ALIEN PLANETED THEIR SHIPS HERE!?

Did you even pay attention to Morgan Freeman's narration?

"While mankind busied himself with his various concerns, our planet was being watched by intelligences far greater than ours. Silently they watched and waited. Studying our every behavior. Soon these intellects viewed our planet with envious eyes and silently they made their plans against us.

Then Ray's chat with the old man: "They've been planning this for a million years, these were only the first they'll keep coming. This is not a war between the two races, this is an extermination"

That sums everything up: The aliens regarded our race as insignificant and useless. Then made plan to not just invade but destroy us. They were going to kill the human race off for whatever reasons. Maybe use our planet for their race and their further advancement who knows the SPECIFIC reason they wanted to kill us off. But they just wanted us eliminated.

The fact the aliens planted the ships before humans "supposably" lived, just to wait a billion years to attack and cause havoc. Plus the fact the aliens died because of their immune systems... That was just a dumb way to end a movie. Oh, and who would have thought that Tom's son would surprising be alive to greet his father at the end?

Did you evenr ead the book/ the aliens die of bacterial infections. What? you thought the movie would end like ID4 where everything is completely blown up and destroyed? how could that be? pay attention and remember. These beings are THOUSANDS perhaps MILLIONS of times more advanced than ours. You really think we could nuke them and that would be that. They planted the Tripods and watched and recorded and studied EVERY aspect of human life and behavior. They knew how to combat and beat us.

And to top it off, there was little to no character development

What ARE you talking about? the first Tripod that rises is a taste of character development. Notice how quickly Ray went from a slacking, care free iresponsible dead beat. To a highly concerned and caring father who did not even think about his own safety but his primary goal was to get his kids safely to their mother. As well as the peanut butter sandwich scene, AND don't forget when the mob hijacked their car. Look how viciously Ray fought them off to protect his daughter, he went to the point of using a gun to threaten them off. THAT's real character development, just because the characters didn't sit around each other all fancied up while sipping a cup of tea saying "Oh how was your day my love?" doesn't mean there's no character development.

Forgive me for not reading any of the prior posts (lest I spoil something for myself) but can anyone tell me how scary/suspenseful this movie is? I wanted to go see it, but...I'm really, really sensitive to that sort of thing. If you could compare it to a recent movie, that'd be very helpful. Thanks guys!

Ashley wrote:Forgive me for not reading any of the prior posts (lest I spoil something for myself) but can anyone tell me how scary/suspenseful this movie is? I wanted to go see it, but...I'm really, really sensitive to that sort of thing. If you could compare it to a recent movie, that'd be very helpful. Thanks guys!

I didn't find it to be too bad. And I typically can't stand horror movies, they leave me sleeping with the light on. WoTW definitely had some tense scenes, but I don't remember too many made-ya-jumps. There are alot of loud disconcerting noises and scenes of mass destruction though, and some of the scenes are a bit disturbing (though not terribly graphic). Overall, I'd say it's kinda similar in violence and intensity to Jurrasic Park, but in a bigger setting with more destruction.