humans v aliens (War Of The Worlds (Special Edition, 2 DVDs))

Member Name: west_jenn

Product:	War Of The Worlds (Special Edition, 2 DVDs)
Date:	09/01/06 (109 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: mesmerising, great human element

Disadvantages: a bit violent for a 12

When I heard the War of the worlds featured Tom Cruise and was about the earth being invaded by aliens, I was quite keen to see it. However, I thought it would be an independence day kind of film where Tom Cruise was a scientist/army officer/all action hero who would help to save the earth and still have time to crack a joke and kiss his wife.

War of the Worlds was completely different to what I had imagined. It is based on the 1898 H.G Wells book, I’ve not read the book so I’m not sure how true the film is to the book. Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a blue collar dock worker in New Jersey, so that was my first surprise no glamorous super hero profession for Mr Cruise in this film. He lives a bit of a sloppy life and has out of date food in his fridge. He is dad to Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and Rachael (Dakota Fanning) . Their mother (Miranda Otto) is married again to a more upwardly mobile husband. Robbie is a typical sulky teenager who has a few issues with his dad and the hinted up irresponsibility in the past. Rachael is a fragile, intelligent slightly strange child.

On the day the aliens strike they are spending the weekend with their dad. At first they believe there has been a freak lightning strike, they become unnerved when they see lightning strike twice in the same place. Near his house Ray sees a huge tripod like creature rise up from the earth and start striking down people with huge deadly light beams. In a blind panic Ray returns to his house. He is hyperventilating and very scared when he returns home. This is what I liked about this film all the way through it people react in the way real humans would down when faced with possible annihilation by aliens. There is no bravado, so I found that I really started to care about what happened to the characters.

Ray pulls himself together and takes his children out of New Jersey in an attempt to escape the aliens who are killing everyone in their reach. They join crowds of bedraggled, scared refugees. The infrastructure of the country breaks down and within the crowds of refugees people will do anything to survive. There is quite a disturbing scene when Tom and his family are forced out of their car. I thought some of the scenes were quite violent and eerie and I think there is a case for it being a certificate 15.

The aliens had been planning this invasion for a long time, the tripods that sprung from the earth had been planted before man was around on earth. Ray is driven by a determination to save his children and the three of them run from a series of attacks on fleeing humans that leave a lot of people dead. I’ll leave the storyline there!

Tom Cruise is brilliant in this. At one poin the bursts into tears of despair and it’s a really powerful moment, because hes at breaking point. Although he recovers you do really start to get a sense of the family and the earth’s fragility in the face of the destructiveness of the aliens. I thought the actress who played Rachael was amazing in this. There was such terror on her face at time that you got a shiver down the spine at time. She was brilliant in the car coming out of New Jersey when she was having a panic attack because of the trauma of what she’d been seeing.

The crowd scenes are mesmerising you really get a sense of mass panic and terror. The film lasts for 117 minutes and is a certificate 12. The dvd features a documentary on the making of the film and the making of the special effects and tripods.

Summary: great special effects, great characters