and I guess they met every sunday in the same church, too... no religious offense meant with this! (I just imagine how you meet people in hollywood)

Saw a clip Cruise showed with Leno tonight on the TONIGHT SHOW. In it, Cruise, Fanning, and some other guy are in the cellar hearing noises from up above and seeing weird lights.

Funny I seemed to like this scene better when it was in SIGNS a few years ago Even the staging seemed identical!

I really hope the movie has more going for it but I have to confess what little I've seen doesn't get my heart pumping.

AndyDursin wrote:Saw a clip Cruise showed with Leno tonight on the TONIGHT SHOW. In it, Cruise, Fanning, and some other guy are in the cellar hearing noises from up above and seeing weird lights.

Funny I seemed to like this scene better when it was in SIGNS a few years ago Even the staging seemed identical!

Hopefully, War Of The Worlds won't end with Cruise beating an alien to death with a baseball bat.

Honestly, anyone who can't get excited by the prospect of a Spielberg movie about invading aliens should hand in their movie geek card immediately. Personally, I'm glad that Spielbergo is keeping the majority of the F/X "money shots" a secret.

Anyone have any inklings on how Williams' score is for this film yet?

Go to this URL:
http://www.soundtrack.net/features/article/?id=151

There are 30sec. snippets (Quicktime format) from all the tracks of the new John Williams score, with comments. On first hearing, it sounds good.
Elsewhere on the soundtrack.net website, you can listen to clips from the Batman Begins score, which is sounding very "Black Rain"-like, which is acceptable, but what do the titles of the tracks mean?

I'm glad that Spielberg has ensured that the look of the aliens hasn't been revealed in the trailers, TV spots, posters et al. That is a good sign.
I understand that the 2nd to last track of the score has Morgan Freeman narration (like the opening track) and it gives away the ending, so stay away from that when you buy the CD.

Harry Chen
Hong Kong

I'm glad that Spielberg has ensured that the look of the aliens hasn't been revealed in the trailers, TV spots, posters et al. That is a good sign.
I understand that the 2nd to last track of the score has Morgan Freeman narration (like the opening track) and it gives away the ending, so stay away from that when you buy the CD.

And yet another derivative touch -- Morgan Freeman addressing us at the end of the film about humanity digging out from under the rubble...just like he did in DEEP IMPACT.

I'll stop now, I hope the movie delivers, but I'm not holding my breath.

but in one of the trailers, one of the TV spots I guess, as it is only 30 seconds long you can see one alien outside of the window of the farmhouse stomping around. looks like the ID4 ones actually... big bulky body and with kind of a human face on it... intertesting design.. of course you couldnt see it clearly, but for a trailer you could already see it pretty well...

I'm kind of looking forward the WOTW- I have really enjoyed Spielberg's forays into the science fiction genre. I was one of the few who really liked A.I. and I didn't think MINORITY REPORT was all that bad. I probably would have preferred that he cast more of an unknown actor in the lead role of WOTW, but that remains to be seen. I am very excited about a new John Williams score. I write movie reviews for work (for fun) and have been trying to plow through all Spielberg's films and do a "retrospective" which has been interesting. Anyway, WOTW is the one film I was really looking forward to this summer, so I hope it delivers the goods.

romanD wrote:but in one of the trailers, one of the TV spots I guess, as it is only 30 seconds long you can see one alien outside of the window of the farmhouse stomping around. looks like the ID4 ones actually... big bulky body and with kind of a human face on it... intertesting design.. of course you couldnt see it clearly, but for a trailer you could already see it pretty well...

Several of those trailers spots look a bit too much like ID4 for my comfort...

Several of those trailers spots look a bit too much like ID4 for my comfort...

Two other things that also concern me about this film:

1. Spielberg's talk about the 9-11 influence on the movie. Sorry but what does a film about extraterrestrials and Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning running from being exterminated by alien invaders have anything to do with 9-11. People go to the movies for an escape, which is why they're going to see this movie. Bringing in parallels to an actual tragedy is pointless in a film of this nature, and only undermines the significance of 9-11 itself.

2. Tom Cruise's latest stunt as a Publicity Whore could undermine this movie's long-term box-office success. There's good publicity (Brad + Angelina, not talking and at least letting their movie speak for itself) and bad publicity (Russell Crowe tossing a phone). It seems like we can't go 24 hours without Tom Terrific weighing in on Scientology or Katie Holmes or Brooke Shields (hey Tom have you ever given birth?). Katie's BATMAN BEGINS was a big disappointment at the box-office, and while I expect WAR OF THE WORLDS to open well, I doubt it's going to be a summer blockbuster of epic proportions. I could well be wrong, but you never know...

AndyDursin wrote:

Sorry but what does a film about extraterrestrials and Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning running from being exterminated by alien invaders have anything to do with 9-11. People go to the movies for an escape, which is why they're going to see this movie. Bringing in parallels to an actual tragedy is pointless in a film of this nature, and only undermines the significance of 9-11 itself.

It's certainly relevant to the subject matter - all the versions of WOTW have tapped into contemporary paranoia and angst (except, of course, for the Tim Hines amateur hour production, which seems to be channelling The Tweenies without the intellectual depth) .

With the novel it was a combination of the threat to British imperial supremacy by a newly unified Germany undergoing a massive armaments programme, the effects of new technology on the workforece and good old end of millenium angst. For Orson Welles radio broadcast it was the threat of a Nazi sneak attack (although, of course, it would be the Japanese who attacked the US). For the George Pal movie it was fear of a communist sneak attack. It would be impossible to make a modern-day version of a story which is basically about a massive sneak-attack on America NOT to reflect 9/11.

War of the Worlds is not a feelgood happytime shoot-em-up story and never has been: it's one of those apocalyptic stories that gets wheeled out whenever people are feeling particularly insecure.

War of the Worlds is not a feelgood happytime shoot-em-up story and never has been: it's one of those apocalyptic stories that gets wheeled out whenever people are feeling particularly insecure.

True, but why do I have this cynical impression it's more about another attempt by Spielberg to be "taken seriously as an artist"? Nearly every film since he tag-teamed with Kaminski has had this gritty, ugly look and restrained emotion...not to mention a pretentious kind of air. Even "fun stuff" like CATCH ME IF YOU CAN kind of left a bad taste in the mouth to a degree.

I still can't say I have much interest in this film.

I'll be eagerly awaiting Andy's review for it, among others.

Well, I was planning on waiting for the DVD, but after Tim Hines' effort, I think I have to see this one just to wash the taste out of my mouth!

AndyDursin wrote:

War of the Worlds is not a feelgood happytime shoot-em-up story and never has been: it's one of those apocalyptic stories that gets wheeled out whenever people are feeling particularly insecure.

True, but why do I have this cynical impression it's more about another attempt by Spielberg to be "taken seriously as an artist"? Nearly every film since he tag-teamed with Kaminski has had this gritty, ugly look and restrained emotion...not to mention a pretentious kind of air. Even "fun stuff" like CATCH ME IF YOU CAN kind of left a bad taste in the mouth to a degree.

Interesting points. He fluctuates between serious pieces and light pieces- that's his style. I don't know if he really thinks about the "artist" thing: the one thing I believe about Spielberg is that no matter what the subject matter, he's sincere about what he makes. The only time I think he really tried to focus on the "artist" thing was with AI, since he was making it in homage to Kubrick. One of the reasons I didn't like AMISTAD is because I felt that it was too preachy and he was trying too hard; on the other hand, we know about his WWII obsessions so SAVING PRIVATE RYAN came across as sincere. AI and MINORITY REPORT were two sides of the same coin- darker material that he was experimenting with. He didn't take AI as far into the darkness as it could go....but for the first time in a Spielberg movie, the lead protagonist tried to commit "suicide" (if you could call it that)- CMIYC and TT were just light fare that one could take or leave, but no harm done.

I honestly don't see it as Spielberg trying to be taken seriously as the "artist"- he's just making films he wants to make. And all those films have something to do with the family unit, abandonment, etc. on some level or another- nothing new there. If he's trying to put political subtext into WOTW, that might be new territory for him. At this point in his career, his legacy is already there. All he has to do is make films he's sincere about- that's when he works best. I can't imagine that anyone in the Hollywood community would brush him off as insignificant- he's been around too long and has made too many solid films for them to do that. We'll see what happens- only 48 more hours!!!!!!