War of the Worlds Review
by Shane Burridge (sburridge AT hotmail DOT com)July 9th, 2005
War of the Worlds (2005) 116m
Perhaps the scariest thing about Orson Welles' Halloween prank in 1938, which found Americans frightened out of their wits by a radio presentation of 'The War of the Worlds' in the guise of a breaking news story, was the number of people who failed to correlate the events of the broadcast with the plot of H. G. Wells' novel. Was it as early as the 30s that people stopped reading and started digesting their culture from radio and movies? When George Pal made his film version in 1953, it was no doubt perceived as 'the film of the radio show' as much as 'the film of the book', and when in turn Jeff Wayne produced his popular concept album in 1978 it had likely evolved for many consumers into 'the musical version of the movie we saw on TV as kids'. With Steven Spielberg's 2005 remake (or re-imagining, as the buzzworders would prefer to have it) Wells may have all but been forgotten by the general viewing public. I wouldn't be surprised if this version of the novel has backtracked in popular perception to 'the movie of the musical album'.
All of which leaves some viewers ill-prepared to handle WAR OF THE WORLDS' changes of direction, abrupt ending, and hokey closing declaration, all of which have already been laid out in the original story. Bringing together two of his long-running leitmotifs - War and Aliens - Spielberg has delivered exactly what he set out to make: a kick-ass space invader movie. Surprisingly, Wells' retro-looking alien machines make effective marauders in this update. You don't think a walking tripod can be scary? Compare them to the gliding manta rays in the Pal version and then see who gets your vote. It makes sense that an airborne assault would be a much more practical way to invade a planet, as the flying saucers and spacecraft from other movies would testify, but practicality is not a major concern in WAR OF THE WORLDS, which is a visceral movie, not cerebral. There is a primal fear in being stalked, and it's this that Spielberg taps into. The tripod machines manage to be both mechanical and biological, marching along the countryside like armor-plated jellyfish while tiny figures scatter for their lives. It brings back our worst childhood nightmares - is it any wonder that one of the central characters is a terrified child? - of being chased by something we cannot comprehend. Doubly scary when that incomprehensible horror has erupted from the ground where it has been lurking beneath our feet.
Spielberg cranks up the energy level early on, and creates persuasive scenes of panic by keeping the perspective at ground zero - comparisons with the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center are inevitable - but then the story makes the bold (but realistic) decision to have its characters go to ground. From this point the movie becomes a different nightmare (dread, rather than terror), winning no favors from viewers expecting more scenes of chaos and destruction. But this is one of the best things about WAR OF THE WORLDS: that the story shift is in accordance with the behavior of its protagonist. As everyman Ray Ferrier, Tom Cruise is no hero, nor should he be. He doesn't know exactly what to do when he's running, and is just as lost when he's hiding - a personality trait that draws criticism from not only his kids but also a total stranger that strikes up an alliance with him. It's entirely fitting that he doesn't try to take on the Martians and lead some rag-tag rebel force against the machines - as readers of the novel knows, the aliens are defeated not by humans but by a major oversight in their invasion plan, rendering any action by Cruise's character irrelevant anyway. His is a much simpler mission, for a simpler man - to reach Boston and reunite his kids with their mother.
Cruise and Dakota Fanning (as his daughter) create convincing, believable characters and achieve the remarkable feat of not being dwarfed by the special effects, but being a part of them. As would be expected from a Spielberg production, these effects are sensational, and if his other films promote the idea of watching movies in cinemas then WAR OF THE WORLDS makes a strong case for hearing them in cinemas too - we've all seen death rays before, but you can almost sense the air ionizing around every harsh discharge of these fearsome weapons. The ear-blasting soundtrack of thunder and lightning, buildings splintering apart, and ground violently upheaving is just as startling as the visuals. This is light years apart from Spielberg's other alien visitations in E.T. and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, and there's an irony in the fact that those feel-good space visitors were inspired somewhat by the director's reaction to the timid-looking Martian creature that was briefly glimpsed in the Pal version of the story. At the time, he thought it was vulnerable and sorta cute. Since then he'd obviously decided it was time for the Martians to have a makeover and do what space invaders do best: scare people and blow stuff up real good.
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