The sound is the thing

Rating: 7/10 (10 July 2005)

I know most people will come away with various impression of this movie - some will love it, some will like it, some will hate it. I was not overwhelmed by the visuals - they reminded me of things I have seen before and was actually a little put off by some of them. There are certain cheap references to 911 - both visually as well as in the dialog, and the movie also has a Saving Private Ryan look to much of the action which I found distracting. Don't get me wrong, there were some brilliantly chilling moments to the move which I found astonishingly original. However I found myself wondering if the writers actually read the book. At times the move felt as if it were based on the a combination of the radio show, the 1953 movie as well as Jeff Wayne's Rock Opera. The best aspect of the movie was the voice of the war machine. This interpretation of the "Ula" call fro the book was fantastic. Although I would have enjoyed the movie more if it had been done as a period piece, I did find it worth seeing in a theater and hope to give it one more viewing in the near future. The sound is the thing that calls me back.