I’d be delighted to - but I was commenting on something I have heard lots of other people say, not something I personally adhere to.
I think it was only a couple of days. Oh and the ‘in-laws’ were played the main actors from the 50’s version.
My problem with the end was Tom standing out in the street and his ex mouthing the words thank you to him. If I had just hauld that little girl from Jersey to Boston keeping her safe from aliens, her stupid big brother, riots and a crazy Tim Robbins, she had better becoming out and giving me head, right there in the undestroyed street.
The 9/11 imagery was pretty pathetic and capitalized on the real victims. Speilberg seems to have a hardon for 9/11.
Forgot to add, Spielberg himself put in a sly dig at ID4’s craptacular-ness in the scene at the beginning when Cruise & Fanning are watching the pre-invasion lightning storm. Cruise says, “Its like fourth of July!” and Fanning replies, “No, its not. Its nothing like fourth of July…”
Nicely put. 
As far as the ending goes, it didn’t really bother me at all. The tripods were obviously ‘seeded’ on Earth a very long time ago. So maybe the virus wasn’t deadly then. Maybe it had to react with the aliens physiology and mutate to become deadly. The aliens obviously had done this sort of thing to other planets before, maybe they just relied on their super advanced technology to much and got complacent about it. Not only can I accept any of these things occurring off-camera, they all tie into Wells’ original ‘message’ about western imperialism, but via a modern setting.
But most of all, I liked it because, rather than being similar to average sci-fi films, it had more in common with dark, depressing, descent-into-hopelessness films like Blair Witch or Requiem for a Dream.
ID4 tried to be nothing more than a cartoon action movie and succeeded admirebly.
Thank you.
We don’t know how they got there, we don’t know their plans, we don’t know a goddamn thing about them except that they’re kicking our ass. Hell, these guys might not even be the “military aliens” - they could just be harvesters/terraformers with self-defense mechanisms (a heat gun is nice for localized destruction, great for getting rid of bugs, but I wouldn’t plan on taking over a planet with them).
The big problem with the film is it didn’t meet audience expectations: audiences largely demand the hero to be informed as to What Is Really Happening sometime in the film, so he can Take Charge and kick Ass, but that doesn’t happen in WotW. The one time we seem to be getting some good ol’ fashioned exposition, the guy spouting theories is just as ignorant as Tom Cruise’s character was (but that didn’t prevent audiences from taking Tim Robbins word as Gospel Truth. I apparently missed the scenes where the Alien Commander was in consultation with NYC ambulance drivers). 
Any complaints about “How?” and “Why?” are missing the point of the film. The lack of knowing is the point.
Fanning: “Skreeeeeeeeeeeeeem!!”
Repeat over and over and over and over and over until your ears bleed and you beg for earplugs or death.
I don’t think so. My problem with it is that it completely lacks an arc. The protagonist is expected to do something during the course of the story that changes the outcome of the events to come, or makes the characters change. Tom Cruise doesn’t do anything, and I’m not talking about grabbing a ray gun or uploading a virus. Tom and his kids just run around while we’re treated to some eye candy. The only time he took charge was when he killed the Evil Basement Guy, but that was a stupid plot point. He starts out as an aloof dad and he ends an aloof dad. The ending is the ultimate deus ex machina. The aliens come, kill a lot of people then drop dead. Yay? It reminds me of the Lord of the Flies Simpsons episode that ends with “and they rescued by… let’s say… Moe.” Maybe it works in the book but it doesn’t work in a film, at least not this version.
Signs, while not a great movie, does the whole clausterphobic aliens attack and we don’t know why angle a lot better. At least the protagonist went through a change and did something besides run around.
Yes, but in WotW, he’s not supposed to do anything. He can’t - the aliens are too powerful. That’s the point of the movie - that sometimes your world is destroyed and there’s not a damn thing to be done about it except flee.
The reason it works in the book is that the protagonist has been worn down to the point that he’s actually given up all hope of survival and is about to commit suicide-by-martians, only to find that they’re all dead.
Yeah I get it, but that’s just the setting of the movie. You can do many actions while you’re fleeing. You can go through a character arc while you’re fleeing. For example, instead of vanishing for half of the movie and magically reappearing at the end, Tom and his son could have bonded during their trials. That’s just one example of a possible character development off the top of my head. The point is, during the entire movie I didn’t see any change in anything besides some crap getting vaporized. Why should I care about the protagonist’s journey if he essentially stays in one place? He moved around physically, yes, but the entire film lacked emotional movement.
I brought up the film Signs earlier. (Spoilers ahead). They’re actually quite similar - some foreign visitors come down and start killing people for an unknown reason as we follow the vantage point of a Joe Everyman. At the end the aliens are killed by a similar deus ex machina. But in Signs, Mel Gibson actually does some stuff instead of just have stuff happen to him. He helps kill an alien, he protects his family, he accepts his wife’s death, and he regains his faith. See the difference?
I was rather disappointed that the kids didn’t get killed. Both of them were annoying beyond belief.
Yeah, Carnick, I understand but that’s one of the things I liked about WotW: there was no moral redemption, there was no standard character arc , no attempt whatsoever at making this film a Very Special Episode where the protagonist Learned One Of Life’s Valuable Lessons. Too many movies are hindered by the conception that the protagonist has to improve themselves, that they have to fix the familial, moral, financial problems that they’ve allowed to develop. I mean, you can’t even have a goofy film about some guy who discovers a time-controlling remote control (a great concept, if done right) without it turning into some treacly barf-fest.
Personally, my favored ending to this WotW would’ve had Dakota Fanning dying, but that’s just me: I like unredemptive tragedies. Given what you said about the need for the character to learn something in the end, you probably wouldn’t care for my “fix” either. 
A movie doesn’t have to have a happy ending for their to be an arc. A journey can end sadly. WOTW isn’t a tragedy; if it was the older son wouldn’t have returned, for one. I’m all for a good tragedy, but Speilberg was too afraid to commit to it. Like I said, no emotion, no journey, just stasis.
Well, my ending would’ve made it a tragedy. As it is, it’s just a rarin’ good sci-fi flick.