"You're gonna want to look around, but you're not going to, are you?" (Review)

I’ve never seen the original War of the Worlds movie. I’ve never read the book and I’ve never heard the radio play. I’ve heard all about the story, of course, specifically Orson Welles radio drama that apparently convinced a number of people that we were actually being invaded by martians. And I have seen Mars Attacks, which is supposedly a spoof of the story. Perhaps it’s the fact that I am so unfamiliar with the original work that I enjoyed the 2005 version as much as I did. Regardless, Steven Spielberg’s take on the martian invasion is highly entertaining and a great short story.

War of the Worlds focuses on Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) and his two children, Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and Robbie (Justin Chatwin). As with most Spielberg films, the father has a very strained relationship with his children and it is during one of their weekend visits that the relationship is put under more stress than anyone could have imagined. Bizarre lightening storms and unexplained earth tremors announce the arrival of…something. Ray quickly realizes that an otherworld power is intent on invading planet Earth. War of the Worlds is about Ray’s struggle to save his children amidst chaos, death and destruction. The plot sounds simple, and it is, but it works.

I wonder if the original book was as unclear on the intent of the aliens as the latest film is? All we ever really know is that the aliens like to kill and destroy. But I think H.G. Wells' intent was not to tell an alien story, but to tell a human story that just happens to be set during an alien invasion. This idea comes across clearly in the 2005 version. Spielberg’s brilliant filmmaking talents put us right in the thick of it with Ray and his kids. Nearly every scene is filled with tension, either from the aliens, the surrounding environment or from the family members themselves. The film rarely lets up and it’s this tense, roller coaster feel that makes the movie so enjoyable.

The special effects are just as fantastic as you would expect. Spielberg has mastered the art of using only enough CG effects to get the job done, and relies on physical sets and characters for the majority of his storytelling. It’s an effort that is not lost on the audience. We believe the invading tripods are real because they look real - and because we have no frame of reference for what a “real” alien tripod should look like. However, the houses and buildings and cars and people and ships and explosions and tanks and everything else look real – because they are real. I’m a big fan of using actual, physical pieces whenever possible, as opposed to relying on computer generated effects. You don’t get any of that Lucas-cartoon stuff in this film. It goes a long way toward making you invest more in the film and becoming that much more involved in the plight of the characters and the terror of the invasion.

I have a lot of respect for Tom Cruise. I really don’t care about his personal life and I don’t follow any of the media about his relationship with Katie Holmes or his religious beliefs. I just think he’s a fantastic actor. I know that he puts a lot of work into his roles, often researching them to death in order to portray his character as realistically as possible. While War of the Worlds is largely an action affair, Cruise’s performance is still top-notch. Dakota Fanning also does an amazing job. I’ve seen her in I Am Sam and Man On Fire, and there’s no doubt that she is fast on her way to becoming one of Hollywood’s best young actors. Cruise and Fanning work wonderfully together in this film. You believe they are father and daughter and that belief makes the tension that much more, well, tense.

Steven Spielberg has decided to produce most of his films in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. This essentially means two things: 1) When transferred to DVD the image will fill the entire screen of a High Definition TV and 2) When the idiotic studios decide to edit the film in order to release a Full Frame version, there is less to actually cut away. Spielberg hates Full Frame. And so should you. But I digress. The video transfer is brilliant on this DVD. The colors and lighting are quite muted in a number of scenes but it is apparent that this was an artistic decision as opposed to a poor transfer. In addition to the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio option we are given a wonderful DTS 5.1 mix. This is nearly reference material. The lightening strikes and tripod lasers completely fill the room with their booming effects. And don’t even get me started on the brief, but incredible, Armed Forces counterattack. Apache hellfire missiles never sounded so good. Although I’m not sure I can remember ever hearing an Apache hellfire missile before…but you get the idea.

Sadly I made a rule not to purchase any more DVDs until after Christmas, so I’m going to have to wait to watch this one again. Which means I’ll also have to wait before I can check out the second disc of special features. The Limited Edition seems to have quite a bit of bonus material though, and boy oh boy, would I love to get my hands on it. Wait, what’s that you say? Christmas is right around the corner? Hmmm…(hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge).

All in all I found War of the Worlds to be very entertaining. In the end, it is what it tries to be – a well told short story about an alien invasion. In DTS. ‘Nuff said.

War of the Worlds (2005) gets 8 molecular-destructive laser beams (out of 10).

Out of this world trivia for ‘War of the Worlds’.