negative comments

Rating: 9/10 (19 February 2007)

I'm a big fan of War of the Worlds, I was brought up in HG Well's home town in Kent. I remember the early 80's as a kid, poo'ing my pants listening to Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds late at night. For some reason, you can't help but listen.
Then I read the book, loved it, it was everything I'd hoped for; and ever since, as a huge tripod fan, I've hoped for a film.
To be honest, I loved the movie, why? Because I'd been waiting for tripods on the big screen for 25 frickin years! It was a dream come true for loads of fans I think.
However, so many people I spoke to said, "oh it was boring", "what a crap ending". All these comments were by, (surprise surprise), people who'd never even heard of the story. Guys, you HAVE to understand, this is based on a BOOK, the fact it was written in the late 1800's is incredible, H.G. Wells was centuries ahead of himself.
Steven Spielberg had two options, completely re-write it for the audience, loom a tripod over The White House etc etc, everyone will love it.
OR... stick to the ORIGINAL story by H.G. Wells, expect a few raised eyebrows.
As a true sci-fi fan, Spielberg did exactly the right thing, a tribute to the great author, who let's be honest was the God of Sci-Fi. OK there was a lot of Hollywood moments, maybe more carnage from a distance would have been good, and YES it wasn't based in Surrey! But on the whole, he stayed close to the general storyline.
Overall, 9/10, well done Spielberg, yes it has it's pants moments, but if you're a fan, or have the brains understand it's based on an old story, you'll like it.