# War of The Worlds (Thread contains SPOILERS!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 27, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990 "2005-06-27T03:39:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/1 "2005-06-27T03:39:08Z")
In summary: it’s about an invasion of the Earth by Martians ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/2 "2005-06-27T03:54:13Z")
I’m not sure how the latest version ends. It depends on how faithful it is to the original HG Wells novel. It may be worth seeing. The Australian actress Miranda Otto is always worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/3 "2005-06-27T04:28:55Z")
It may be worth seeing, and it may suck donkey balls. The fact that Spielberg is doing it…Well, we know he can do good movies like “Saving Private Ryan” and “Schilder’s List:”, but he can also do smaltzy crap like “The Terminal” and his part of “AI”. Not to mention Pussifying ET. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/4 "2005-06-27T04:53:44Z")
The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/5 "2005-06-27T10:50:00Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > The chances of anything coming from Mars are > > a million to one. but still they come ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/6 "2005-06-27T12:17:06Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > The chances of anything coming from Mars are > > a million to one. Of course, as Terry Pratchett would say, million-to-one chances come to pass nine times out of ten in movies and literature. Spielberg might have changed the origin of the invaders, they needn’t be from Mars, after all, if that’s no longer plausible. I haven’t heard any scuttle on that. ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/7 "2005-06-27T12:22:36Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > I haven’t heard any scuttle on that. I have. They aren’t from Mars. Not that I think it matters one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/8 "2005-06-27T12:39:36Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > The chances of anything coming from Mars are > > a million to one. In the series, we found out that the aliens didn’t come from Mars nor anywhere else in the solar system. I believe the planet was named Moltax. That doesn’t mean the new movie will follow the series though. It’s not like they knew for sure where the aliens came from in the first movie anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/9 "2005-06-27T13:24:03Z")
Well, I’ve seen it. And I also work for the company that is releasing it. Basically, the film rocked. Rocked hard. Think of a combo of Saving Pvt. Ryan and Jurassic Park. Intense, great special efx, nothing too cutesy, like a kid using her hacker skills and the tripods are totally friggin awesome. There is very little explaination about the aliens or their motives or even their methods. There is no Dr. Clayton Forrestor explaining how they might be doing this or that to the army. There are also some nice ‘references’ to the earlier film version. It wouldn’t hurt to watch that soon befor or after seeing the new one. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/10 "2005-06-27T13:31:11Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > There is no Dr. Clayton Forrestor explaining how they might be doing this or that to the army. NB: WotW is where MST3K got the name. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/11 "2005-06-27T14:18:51Z")
I’ll go see it, and Spielberg definitely knows how to make an entertaining picture… but I can’t help wishing he’d simply filmed the book, made it a period piece set c. 1900. (There’s supposedly a low-budget independent movie that does just that, but it may or may not have actually been filmed; there are allegations that the director is a scam artist.) ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/12 "2005-06-27T14:29:37Z")
I don’t know how representative the trailers are, but there is very little Miranda in them. Zebra: Does she get much screen time? Does she hack at an alien tentacle with a sword? 😉 Brian ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/13 "2005-06-27T14:42:41Z")
No, her part is pretty much confined to the first ten minutes, (setting up the dynamics of the family relationships) no fighting for her. and she is there at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/14 "2005-06-27T18:08:32Z")
I saw a trailer for the movie when we went to see Batman Begins. Until then, I’d thought Tom Cruise only had a daughter (Dakota Fanning). Turns out he has a son too. Maybe it’s just scarier when you think a little girl is threatened. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/15 "2005-06-27T18:55:36Z")
There’s two seperate reviews on Ain’tItCoolNews and they both thought it was great. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/16 "2005-06-27T19:11:23Z")
> [@Good Egg](#): > > Sounds like it could be good. So…how does it end? The butler did it. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/17 "2005-06-27T19:44:15Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > The butler did it. So…communism was a red herring? Count me in the group who wishes that Spielberg had filmed it as a period piece. Then again, I’m still waiting for someone to do _The First Men On The Moon_ and _Tono Bungay_. (I think _The Food of the Gods_ would be fun, too, but only as a B-film…the 1976 version was a miserable attempt to cash in on the animal monster mania.\* Based exclusively on the trailers, I give it a solid “meh” so far. A lot of FX, a lot of Cruise close-ups, a lot of Dakota Fanning (who is coming to be the child actress version of Jude Law, in the gap left by Joel Haley Osment). We’ll see if there’s any plot, tension, or novelty. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/18 "2005-06-27T19:51:06Z")
> [@Good Egg](#): > > Sounds like it could be good. So…how does it end? …I’m kidding. Rosebud is his sled. Oz was all a dream. Rhett walks out on Scarlett. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/19 "2005-06-27T19:51:20Z")
Yeah, ya just never know. Bad: it’s from Speilberg. Good: it’s got tripods. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990/20 "2005-06-27T20:00:49Z")
It’s been awhile since I saw the George Pal version, but I don’t recall a character like the one Tim Robbins is playing. Did I just forget? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-thread-contains-spoilers/309990.md?page=2)