[Ham Salad]

Minority Report was a  really good movie. It seems like some people here moved from bashing Lucas to bashing other great directors. Do you think it is easy to make movies? It is only easy to criticize.

And I hope WOTW is much better than Signs or Independence Day, right?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, of course it's not easy. However, it doesn't have to be extremely difficult and expensive either. A very promising, young and enterprising director (what GL and SS used to be) could have made this movie into something if given the chance. People are in demand for character driven films, not just CGI, the awe derived from Jurassic Park style effects is gone, move on!

Hollywood = redundancy

[darth_newmacer]

Basically People, in my opinion, GO SEE "SIGNS", it's way better!!!!

[Ham Salad]

Basically People, in my opinion, GO SEE "SIGNS", it's way better!!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My opinion as well. Shamalyandingdong's homage to Wells is so much better than SS's remake.
That being said, I don't know why SS had to do a remake of Signs so soon.

[barend]

it reminded my James Earl Jones at the end of that simpsons episode where all the kids end up on the island...

"...and then the children were killed by... oh... let's say mo."

(which is exactly what i quoted when i got up)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

er... 'saved'

SAVED by Moe...

not killed by Moe

[Revan-47]

the CGI in the jurrassic park movies looks so damn real tho.

[barend]

yeah... ealy 90s: Stargate, Jurasic Park, the crow etc.

CGI was flawless back then.

by the late 90s: Annaconda, TPM, etc.

CGI really went to shit.

[julie123]

People are always saying they were in the theatre and the audience laughed at the film, well they really did in screen 6, when I was watching Cruise and his son's reunion in WOTW. The shots back from father and son were absolutely ridiculous and overly long, it seemed to cry out for a "Robbie!" yell from Cruise, a run from both to each other and then an overly emotional manly Hollywood type hug, instead you got this anti-climax kind of hey dad what's been keeping you type thing. Thankfully, a member of the audience stepped in and shouted out "Robbie" and another person shouted out "dad!", hence the laughter.

Another dud moment was when the Martians came out to play with Tim Robbins, Cruise and his daughter. Not only was this scene totally unnecessary it undermined the climatic scene of the original WOTW - it was seeing a Martians hand hanging outside of the tripod that made you realise that there were living creatures inside them and although you didn’t sympathise with the Martians, there was a kind of connection. However, here Spielberg totally does away with any kind of mystery. CGI overkill.

[civilian_number_two]

In this thread I agree almost completely with Ham Salad (and a lot of you others). This movie was pretty silly, and that whole bit in the house with the probe and the aliens was just a two-part homage to JURASSIC PARK and SCHINDLER'S LIST.

Where I disagree with HS: BATMAN BEGINS, ultimately, sucked as well. It takes longer to sink in, but yeah. It sucked (Anyone curious about my opinion, or wishing to rebut, please see here).

[Mnesymone]

If anyone is still reading this thread

War of the Worlds isn't the worst movie around. It's got the whole stupid moments of the digital camcorder and everyone going "Quickly, pack together on a brightly lit bridge (while introducing a completely pointless character who dies) because that will protect us from the death ray robot tripods"

I thought Tim Robbins was going to be a paedophile because he went to Dakota and asked her if she was alright before going to Cruise. Still - while running from aliens, what kind of sane person runs towards a guy holding up a shotgun. Performances were nicely human - much better then the american superheroes in Independence Day. Why Robbie wasn't reduced to smouldering boots is beyond me. I think if I was a malevolent alien power I would burn a planet to glass using orbital battlecruisers, but Tripods have that nice retro-chic look from Pool of Fire and, of course, War of the Worlds.
It's a three-star kind of movie - formulaic, with good performances but narrative goofs.