Customer Reviews

War of the Worlds / La Guerre des mondes (Bilingual) (2005) [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first time I watched this movie, I was too inclined to compare it to the original - and that, along with Dakota Fanning's incessant screaming skewed me to underating the movie.

However, several years later, with expectations much more realistic have given me cause to raise the rating to 4 stars.

Tom Cruise gives a believable performance as a 'yet to grown up' father who is emotionally distanced from his children and completely overwhelmed by a situtation that would drive most adults to emotional collapse. However, with a blend of basic real-world skills and some blind luck, he is able to save his family in a constant game of outrunning the threat of an alien invasion.

Dakota Fanning, when she is not screaming, plays a believable part as the youngest of the family, and ultimately the glue that holds them together. (Although, through no skill held by that of her own character)

The effects in this movie are great, with some genuinely suspensful moments. (The basement scene with Tim Robbins as the semi-crazy survivor is brilliant for its effects and tension).

This is a great popcorn movie, with some genuinely disturbing scenes and enough new twists to liven up some well worn sci-fi territory. As such, I have now added it to my own collection with a rating of 4/5.

The special FX are excellent and non-stop in this movie. Acting is good. A disturbing story for sure. I have the DVD and Blu-ray issues. Blu-ray video quality marginally improved over DVD. Worth a watch but, in my biased view, will never surpass the classic 1953 original. Special features and behind-the-scenes on single disc.

I know a lot of people did not like this movie, perhaps for the wrong reasons. I own the 1953 version, and this 2005 movie is not a remake of it, as some might have expected. In fact, Spielberg's version is much closer to the original H.G. Wells novel than it is from the 1953 motion picture. I remember reading the novel when I was 12 and it was the most terrifying book I had ever read back then. The movie offers a visual rendering of the horror I felt reading the novel. The Blu-Ray version has very good sound. The bass is overwhelming and one should be careful in order not to damage the woofers! The video, however, leaves much to be desired... Apparently Spielberg wanted to give the movie a documentary feel. So the image is very grainy, with saturation at times. The colours are far from vivid, and they are even dull... I really thought there was something wrong with my disc when I watched it, but no, that's apparently the "look & feel" that was intended... One can respect that artistic vision of Spielberg's and not be thrilled by the result in HD... A great movie, but the HD transfer is dissapointing I'm afraid...