| War of the Worlds |
| While the story has lost a lot of its suspense over time, the fact that it's directed by Steven Spielberg will make it worth seeing. |
| Rated PG-13 |
| ~Finally a remake worth remaking~ |
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| By Todd Karella June 29, 2005 |
| Original Story Synopsis; |
| A remake of the H.G. Wells film about a family trying to survive the attack on Earth by unknown aliens. |
| Movie-Pix Best Guess: |
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| Over the last few years Hollywood has been churning out the remakes like crazy. Whether it's based on a previous film or stolen straight from the TV screen, they just keep coming. The latest trend is to throw the most unlikely choices into the leading roles. But then every once in a while they pick the right film to remake, with the right cast, the world's best director, and it all works. Spielberg demonstrates why he is considered the best director of our time. While most directors would have focused simply on the death |
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| Best Guess Results: |
| Once again Steven Spielberg proves why he is the greatest director of the modern era. Not only is the film a touching portrayal of a divorced man and his strained relationship with his children and his struggle to become a true father in their eyes, but it's one heck of a destruction film filled with aliens and giant killer robots. |
| and destruction of the world with the main character being the one to save it, he sticks to the heart of the story about the relationship of a man and his estranged family. Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a New York dock worker whose life is in shambles. He's recently divorced, his kids don't respect him and he doesn't even know how to deal with them. It's his weekend to take care of his children, Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and Robbie (Justin Chatwin). Not only is he late for their arrival, but |
| his house is a mess and he doesn't even have any food in the kitchen. This may be a glimpse of why Ray and Mary Ann (Miranda Otto) got a divorce. There is nothing unusual about the kids' visit. Ray and Robbie are fighting and Rachel is taking care of herself as usual. Suddenly, the weather begins to change and strange cloud formations appear in the sky. While the city waits and stares at the phenomenon, they are surprised to see large flashes of lightning |
| striking the ground over and over at the same point causing the power to go out and all electronic devices to cease working. When the storm finally subsides, Ray heads out to see where the lightning had struck. A huge crowd has amassed to see the site and possibly get some answers. As the police try to restore some order to the city, the ground begins to crack and shake. The crowd stares amazed as a giant robot with three legs rises up from under the streets. Their amazement turns to horror as the robot begins blowing apart buildings and vaporizing everyone in its path. Ray runs as fast as he can to get back to his house and children. They have no idea what is going on and become worried as their panicking father begins packing and sends them fleeing from their home. Fortunately, Ray knows where the only working vehicle is in town. They steal the minivan and head for the highway, as buildings fall and people die all around them. |
| found responsibility and wants to get his kids back to their mother so he doesn't have to deal with it, a point which Robbie brings to his attention during a heated argument. As Ray gets closer to Boston, he finds mobs of people trying to get to safety. So many that they turn on him, beat his family and take their car. Even this setback isn't going to deter him from saving his family as they push on towards their objective. After their ferry is capsized by |
| a group of robots, they find themselves in the middle of a battle between the aliens and the military. The military cannot get through their impenetrable shields and find themselves helpless against their weapons. At this point Robbie rushes off to join the fight as Ray is forced between which child to save, his stubborn teenage son or his young daughter. Torn between the two, his only choice is to save the daughter and |
| hope that his son can survive on his own. As explosions go off around him, Ray grabs Rachel and takes refuge in Ogilvy's (Tim Robbins) root cellar. While grateful to the man for helping them escape, Ray finds his savior is a little deranged. The reason he helped him to escape was to get Ray to join his one man army and fight off the invaders. This isn't in his best interest, and he finds himself making the toughest decision of his life. He must get rid of Ogilvy or else risk the old man giving them away and getting all of them killed. |
| The special effects are amazing during this escape scene. The robot looks unbelievably realistic as it destroys entire buildings, overturns cars, demolishes bridges and vaporizes people in a cloud of dust. The three race towards Mary Ann's house hoping that the invaders have not been there. When they arrive, the power is on but she has already left for Boston to visit her parents. It may have been a better choice to head away from populated areas, but Ray decides to press on towards Boston. Partly it may be because Ray is scared of all this new |
| The ending may come too quickly for some, but the point of the film is to show the relationship between the father and his children and how under extreme circumstances he must grow up and become a man. The best performance in the film is given by young Dakota Fanning who goes through the full range of emotions and outclasses the rest of the cast. If you're looking for a good exciting film with great action, a good story, and superb acting then you must see War of the Worlds. |