Wow. Just wow.

Rating: 8/10 (29 June 2005)

Just saw the SS/TC version with my wife who is not, I repeat, not a science-fiction fan at all. We both spent most of this movie completely on the edge of our seats. We held hands all through the film (nothing unusual) but I noticed that we had to let go every once in a while during this one because we noticed that we were squeezing so tight that we cut off each-other's circulation. (Very unusual) My wife freely admits that she found herself forgetting to breathe during some of the more scary moments. It was that good! The trailers are a good indication of the pace of the movie; a very few moments on just how much of a bummer life is in New Jersey when you're an irresponsible deadbeat dad, and then bang. A few lightning strikes and tripods all over the place. Now that, my friends, is a real bummer...
Things that really worked in this movie: (Warning. May contain spoilers.)
1. Morgan Freeman is to this movie what James Earl Jones is to Star Wars. You never see him, but you very glad to hear him.
2. The opening showing the microbes in the drop of water didn't register to my wife, who isn't familiar with the story, until the end of the movie when she said, "Oh. That makes perfect sense!" Quite an inside joke.
3. People today, are just a bit too sophisticated (and, dare I say it, paranoid) to stand around for a whole Saturday staring at a cylinder in a pit wondering who is inside and whether or not they want to be friends. The lightning, EMP and ground-shaking come quickly and effectively convey the experience of a sneak attack.
4. The Tripods. Not a completely original design. They seemed to draw on some of the more elegant elements from tripods drawn by many early illustrators of the novel. I'm glad that Spielberg went that route with the design. The movement of the tripods was as realistic as I believe I could have imagined. Finally, Spielberg remembered the Ulla! Can you believe it? 5. The Heat Ray. An incredible effect that was used sparingly, and for the most part only in the very beginning of the movie. It was clear that Spielberg only wanted to use the effects to further the story. There was no gratuitous, "Hey, lets see what we can blow up next!" Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of explosions. Just not too many.
6. The Demolished House. This scene takes the best elements of the novel, and the 1953 Pal production and melds them into a very scary, gut-wrenching experience. You see the aliens running about, get to watch them 'feed' their plants, and get a very well done redo of the Pal periscope idea.
7. Dakota Fanning. This movie wasn't a stretch for her. She's played this same character before. Only opposite Brittany Murphy instead of Tom Cruise. And, oh yeah, without aliens running around in tripods, killing everyone.
8. Tom Cruise. This was the only way I could get my wife to the movie theater. If not for Tom, I'd have eaten that whole large buttered-popcorn myself, and she would still not realize why I'm such a WOTW freak. Now she gets it.
9. Tim Robbins. Anbody who was ever married to Susan Sarandon could surely keep it together during an alien extermination of humanity. Well, maybe not. What was it Buffalo Springfield said? Paranoia runs deep? Some things that didn't work for me: 1. The Metal Fishermans Basket. "Come on, they had shields. You couldn't do the part where the artillery shell hits the tripod and it runs into the church at Shepperton if they have shields." Sure. But did you have to destroy the tripod a la Luke Skywalker and the AT-AT on Hoth? Very annoying. And, by the way, you do see the artillery-takes-out-a-tripod-and-it-in-turn-takes-out-a-building scene later, and this time it kinda makes sense. This was the 'Hollywood Block-Buster Formula' at its worst. Totally gratuitous.
2. I was very glad to see Gene Barry and Ann Robinson. I just wanted to see more of them. Couldn't Spielberg have given them a few lines? Oh, well. The Director's Cut or at least the deleted scenes hold out some hope for me.
3. No Thunderchild scene. "They had shields. Hello?" Yeah, I know. The ferry scene was good, but it wasn't what I hoped for. They let Cruise blow up a tripod with hand grenades, why not let the Navy, the Coast Guard, or even Steven Segal on a jet-ski ram one? All in all, this was a very enjoyable experience for me. I hated 'Hitchhiker's Guide' and didn't think 'Revenge of the Sith' was the movie it should have been. I was really counting on this one to bring me out of my summer movie disappointment. It did.