War Of The Worlds

[MacGuffin]

Spielberg Says Climate Is Right for 'War'

Steven Spielberg says the days when movie audiences sympathize with a lovable alien such as E.T. may be over.

"It seemed like the time was right for me as a filmmaker to let the audience experience an alien that is a little less pleasant than E.T.," Spielberg said Monday at a post-premiere news conference for his new film, "War of the Worlds."

"Today, in the shadow of 9/11, I think the film has found a place in society," said Spielberg, who directed 1982's "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" and 1977's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."

He noted the panic-causing radio play of H.G. Wells' alien invasion novel was produced in the late 1930s, when many feared the rise of Naziism in Germany, while the 1953 movie, "The War of the Worlds" was made during the Cold War.

"All occurred at a time of great unease in the world," he said.

In "War of the Worlds," Spielberg substitutes space invaders called "tripods" for the Martians of Wells' book. He said the first tripod is killed in Osaka, Japan's second-largest city.

"Osaka has a lot of experience," he said, referring to the many scenes of urban destruction in "Godzilla" and other Japanese monster flicks. "I'm proud of the film, and I'm proud to bring it to Japan."

Tom Cruise, star of the movie, said "War of the Worlds" is more about family values than interplanetary disturbances.

"The idea was always about family," Cruise said. "What would you do for your family? How far would you go? Can you protect your family?"

[MacGuffin]

New Trailer here.

[MacGuffin]

Spielberg's Tribute to Orson Welles

Steven Spielberg wants his War Of The Worlds movie to inspire the same reaction from cinemagoers the original play had on radio listeners when it first aired in 1938. Orson Welles terrified America's eastern seaboard when he read HG Wells' novel on air - many listeners were convinced aliens were actually invading. Although Spielberg's movie borrows little from the HG Wells novel, the Oscar-winning director hopes he can scare audiences just a little - something he sees as a tribute to Welles. He tells British magazine Empire, "If my movie is effective on audiences, hopefully they'll be looking all around the theatre for somewhere to hide! That would be my tribute to Welles, if I was ever that lucky."

[metroshane]

How appropriate.  NASA is going to blow a hole in a comet.  Maybe we'll find out that an unknown unfathomed species lives, er used to live, there.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/06/22/impact.space/index.html

[Stefen]

Has it crossed anyones mind that this movie might actually be really bad? Cause it just crossed mine.

[Finn]

"Hey Tom, ya see dat boat over der? I built it wit me bare hands...Steven da boat builda' day call me."

[mogwai]

steven spielberg is not from jamaica.

[Ultrahip]

That's obviously an IRISH accent.

[Stefen]

aye right.

[cron]

ya tit.

[MacGuffin]

Spielberg's 'War of the Worlds' recalls 9/11 terror

Every generation has its fears, and director Steven Spielberg does not shy away from the source of anxiety that his new science fiction epic, "War of the Worlds," plays on -- the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

"It's certainly about Americans fleeing for their lives, being attacked for no reason, having no idea why they are being attacked and who is attacking them," says Spielberg.

Spielberg's version of the H.G. Wells classic 1898 novel about an alien invasion from Mars, which has inspired other famed treatments over the years, stars Tom Cruise and opens in U.S. theaters on Wednesday.

This summer escape fare is no "E.T." or "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," Spielberg's earlier sci-fi tales about feel-good aliens. These space creatures are up to no good.

"E.T. would be pissed, I think," Tim Robbins, who plays a creepy character bent on revenge against the aliens, told a news conference promoting the picture.

Orson Welles caused panic in the streets with his 1938 radio version of "War of the Worlds" which conveyed a Martian invasion as if it were actual news at a time when the nation was jittery over the threat of fascism and Nazi Germany.

A popular 1953 film version traded on U.S. Cold War worries over the spread of communism in the nuclear age.

The modern-day touchstones of fear are clear in Spielberg's film that bristles with vivid special effects and a pervasively percussive soundtrack sure to rattle your popcorn.

Alien war machines buried underground like sleeper cells are awakened in a storm of lightning. They tear up streets, crumble buildings and send cars flying.

Cruise's character shuffles back home covered in chalky dust, the detritus of destruction, just like the dazed survivors lucky enough to walk away from the real-life collapse of the World Trade Center towers.

"The image that stands out most in my mind is everybody in Manhattan fleeing across the George Washington Bridge in the shadow of 9/11, a searing image that I've never been able to get out of my head," said Spielberg.

The director said he did not aim to turn the movie into a political polemic.

"There are politics underneath some of the scares, and some of the adventure and some of the fear," he admitted, "but I really wanted to make it suggestive enough so everybody could have their own opinion."

STORY OF A FAMILY

Fear, however, is just the backdrop for a character study about survival, values and the coming of age -- for both an irresponsible father and his rebellious, adolescent son.

Rather than depict generals in drawing rooms and high-tech battles against the alien force, Spielberg tells an intimate story about love and family set against the chaos and desperation of a world under siege.

"I love how Steven Spielberg deals with families in his movies," said Cruise. "I find them to be very real, unique. When we started talking about the story, about a father and a family, I couldn't wait to play this character."

Cruise, who plays a self-indulgent misfit divorced from his wife and disengaged from his two children, is thrust into the role of protector on a weekend where he is left with the kids. He rises to the occasion, down to a touching lullaby to his young daughter, played by precocious Dakota Fanning, using a Beach Boys ode to drag racing.

There are preposterous moments, cartoonish escapes and heaps of hokey charm, but also a dark edge to the film and a serious treatment of violence that does not descend to gore.

Spielberg said the movie also represents his own coming of age, contrasting the choices of the lead character in "Close Encounters," played by Richard Dreyfus, who left his family to join the aliens, with Cruise's mission.

The Oscar-winning director of "Saving Private Ryan" (1999) and "Schindler's List" (1994) noted that "Close Encounters" was made in 1977, before he had children of his own.

"Today I would never have a guy leave his family to go on the mother ship. I would have him do everything to protect his family. In a sense 'War of The Worlds' reflects my own maturity in my own life, growing up and now having seven children."

Spielberg, whose three other best-directing Oscar nominations included "E.T." and "Close Encounters," said he loves to swing between sci-fi projects and historical movies, which bring constraints of realism and accuracy.

"Science fiction for me is a vacation, a vacation away from all the rules of narrative logic, a vacation away from physics and physical science.

"It just let's you leave all the rules behind and just kind of fly."

[Ghostboy]

This movie is pretty damn intense. And...

NO FOURTH-ACT SYNDROME! When it fades out, it fades out for good.

I predict that, come Wednesday, this will be the new Best Movie in themodernage's signature.

UPDATE: Full Review Here (spoiler free, unless you aren't familiar with the original story already).

[Pozer]

I went to the premier last night. Won red carpet passes on the radio. Saw a grip of stars, the highlight- meeting Anthony Hopkins. He was so cool and that dude Pedro from Napoleon explained to him who he was and asked him to wear a Vote for Pedro button on his jacket for a picture and Hopkins went with it. And then he kept the button on the rest of the night, he was way more anitmated then I imagined he'd be. No Spielberg though =(

Anyways, the movie is damn intense. A strong PG-13 I'd say. Completely exciting from start to end. Such a satisfying big summer popcorn movie. Spielberg does the greatest job with sound in his movies. He really brings the suspense... reminded me of when I first saw Jurassic Park. The Chinese theater was an amazing place to see this at, especially with the big crowd cheering, no kids and everybody shuts their mouths when the movie starts.

Good things.

[Ghostboy]

A strong PG-13 I'd say.

If anyone but Spielberg had made this, I'll bet it would have been an R.

[w/o horse]

What should my frame of mind be when I go see this movie?  As in, what's the mood like, the tone?  Should I turn off my brain, is it a horror movie, a thriller, etc.