Anyway, I've not seen the movie yet and have only listened to WotW once and I must say it's a tough listen. There are some nice passages which might point towards hope for Cruise's family or mankind, but otherwise it's pure symphonic horror.

I recommend you to read the Soundtrack.net review. I felt the same while listening.

War of the Worlds ***/*****

iTunes has released the entire album as of today.

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Originally posted by Camillu:
If you're putting WotW n the same category as ROTS, Kingdom and Batman then I'm quite eager to hear it...

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Originally posted by zimmerito:
I hope zimmer score soon spielberg movies

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Good God No!!!

-Erik-

Guess I'll eventually see it on DVD via Netflix.

James

I just had to add this link:
http://files.redvsblue.com/Tom_Cruise_Kills_Oprah.mov

Who knew Scientology was really a cover for the Dark Side of the Force?

;-)

I find Williams Orchestrations for this album far superior to some of his other work, especially in his action cues.

Very dark and aggressive. I'm really interested to see how the music fits the film. So far it's similar to CE3K and Minority Report minus any themes.

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Originally posted by Mark Olivarez:
I tried to sit down and enjoy this CD last night but thanks to my wife and kids constantly bugging me I couldn't really get a good listen.

Very dark and aggressive. I'm really interested to see how the music fits the film. So far it's similar to CE3K and Minority Report minus any themes.

I believe this has to be the first Williams score that doesn't have any themes, although I don't remember too much about Altman's Images that he scored. There may be some motifs in the score but I'll have to give it further listens.

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I've spent a lot of time trying to crack thisw score and it is indeed hard. There is some continuity, but it's very unconventional. One thing that helps is to arrange the CD in a different order with the more melodic material mixed with the atonal and coming first. This does help tremendously, as theres enough going on to keep you interested.

As to complaints about this, the 1950s version of this film is "classic" in the way fond memories of any earlier movie can be classic. This version moves rather quickly and staying somewhat faithful to the novel.

There are plenty of scenes that are informed by 9/11 coverage and a few references to terrorism.
Other than a couple of generically tame (by modern standards) expletives, it is a film that shocks through its imagery.

The movie was good, apart from the end, where everything went too fast. I guess they didn't have much time to think about everything because of the tight schedule.

* SPOILER * SPOILER * SPOILER *

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Originally posted by Bond1965:
Any interest I had in seeing this has totally evaporated with the non stop barrage of Tom Cruise on TV being an idiot and spouting off about his love life and his religion and fear of being melted by the water from a squirt gun.

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Don't forget his rant against anti-depressants. Depression is a life-threatening illness, and I wonder how many lifes will be lost because of that idiot's crusade against life-safing medicine. Perhaps Xenu made him do it; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenu

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Originally posted by Kris:
Just saw the movie yesterday. The music did fit well. I'll defintely appreciate it more than before.

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On the other hand, the music was mixed very low in the film. I never actually heard The Intersection Scene and that's one of my favourite bits (the Goldsmith-like moment I mentioned above).

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[b]The movie was good, apart from the end, where everything went too fast. I guess they didn't have much time to think about everything because of the tight schedule.

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I kinda agree. However, (not knowing any previous WOTW versions), I found the virus idea very good. It just doesn't translate well to a movie.

* SPOILER * SPOILER * SPOILER *

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The end of the movie, the bit where the whole family is reunited, really sucked big time.

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Quite well done, I thought. Especially for Spielberg. The whole "family theme" was handled mostly very well. I couldn't quite grasp the son's behaviour, but other than that, the movie was utterly believable.

The most tense scenes were suspenseful because I felt like I was there with the main characters, but when the music made itself noticeable, it tended to drag me out of the illusion; those rising strings as the tentacle leaves the basement seemed a bit much.

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Originally posted by Al:

The most tense scenes were suspenseful because I felt like I was there with the main characters, but when the music made itself noticeable, it tended to drag me out of the illusion; those rising strings as the tentacle leaves the basement seemed a bit much.

When Williams had the chance to deliver during that final scene, it barely seems linked to the sparse family music he established before. I admire that he didn't get mushy and that his music echoes the horror that has happened, but with the understated music that Williams did use, I experienced very little emotional impact for what was obviously quite important for these characters. I suppose I just expected more from him.

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I agree 100%. I felt that most of the action scenes were intense and scary enough that they didn't need music. There were really only a couple spots where the music stood out to me (and not always in a good way). The part that stood out the most was the music at the end. It was so bland and unemotional. I maybe would've used like a solo violin and a better theme than just kind of random piano music.

Clayton

This is an abysmally boring film. And the score is an atonal (and banal) version of Close Encounters meets Aliens.

Williams worst score in a long long time, and Spielberg's worst film since Lost World (which is saying a lot since that's the worst film he's ever made).

Warning: Spoilers!

This movie is a mind**** of blasé filmmaking. I could go into lengthy paragraph after lengthy paragraph on the matter, but let's get to the heart of the matter instead. The big problems include:

1) The humans are never able to mount an offensive against the aliens, essentially rendering the entire film a chase movie until blind luck finds its way to the human side.
2) Dakota Fanning screams throughout the entire film. In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say she was the definite lovechild of Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, as she pretty much acts like Capshaw's character in Temple of Doom.
3) The music blows -- a lackluster performance from John Williams all around (and it's not often you can say that about the man.)
4) This film attempts to be a drama/horror film, something that Spielberg is much less adept at than, say, adventure. This film could've been a great adventure film, but Spielberg really went the Signs route here (except it's much much more boring and banal.)
5) The aliens are lame and they aren't scary at all. What kind of retro nonsense is that Tripod design, anyway?
6) There are literally three lines of humorous material. And since the action/adventure isn't there, this one is a total snooze because of it. Oh, and the line about the terrorists from Fanning is groan-inducing.
7) Kaminski, the cinematographer, really needs to get out in the sun a bit more. His blue motif is wearing thin for me these days and it's really bogging down Spielberg as a director in my opinion as well (this is the guy who Spielberg has used ever since Schindler's List, and it shows. Spielberg used to bounce back and forth between many cinematographers because he wanted his own vision moreso than someone else's. But Kaminski has changed that and it's a shame to see the majority of Spielberg's films these days feel so cold and heartless.)
8) The action pieces are crappy at best.
9) The decision to stay with just Cruise for the entire film doesn't work at all. Whereas in Signs, at least the characters were semi-interesting, but we don't have that here. Cruise, his daughter, and his son are paper-thin in terms of character development.
10) The biggest problem lies in #1, and the result is a very lackluster ending. The aliens don't get beat by humans, but rather by a derivative plot device. Then Spielberg tries to turn on the tears, and the result is uncharacteristically flat and empty.

This is Spielberg's worst movie since The Lost World. And it feels very much the same in terms of shoddy character development, lame plot, and poor characterization. Just like I asked when I reviewed that film, where is the wonder and excitement from earlier in Spielberg's career? I'm very disappointed in the direction that Spielberg is taking his filmmaking these days, and frankly, I'm starting to look forward to other directors' projects (like King Kong by Peter Jackson, for example) much moreso than his at this point. I grew up with the kind and wonderful aliens of Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind and E.T. and now I'm given a very jaded opposition to those films in War of the Worlds. At least A.I. made me think. This film doesn't even allow me to turn on my brain. This film is Signs gone bad. And considering Signs wasn't much more than a decent popcorn flick, that's pretty telling. Whereas Signs had decent humor, decent character development, and decent scares all wrapped up in a very War of the Worlds-like script, this version of the real thing is a woeful depiction of all those facets of filmmaking.

I'm sorry you've become so disenchanted with your films and the world itself, but there's no reason to take it out on the rest of us, Steven.

Sincerely,
An Old Fan

Visually it was superb, the sound was great and the score had an even mix to my ears. I thought Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning were great and I thought it was a nice touch to see Gene Barry and Ann Robinson at the end.
I like the fact that Spielberg left alot to the viewer's imagination.

I actually enjoyed listening to Williams score outside of the film and thought it worked great in the movie.

That being said, looking back on it, I do have some serious issues. I understand the goal to keep us with the main character and see this cataclysm develop from his point of view. While this did create a sense of tension (ala Signs) I really think it served to limit the story. This WAR OF THE WORLDS after all, not War of the Let's Flee Thru Backwoods New England. I was not expecting a ID4 style spectacle, but the film lacked a sense of global scope and missed the enormity of it all (other than vague references and TV broadcasts.) Again, I know this is what Spielberg and crew were going for -- just not the path I would have liked. Case in point would be the army's attack near the farmhouse...since we only get to view the story from Cruise's point of view we pretty much miss the truly compelling visuals. (The hilltop explosions were also a little clunky, and not up to Spielberg standards IMHO.)

That all being said, even a mediocre Spielberg film is above par and I did enjoy many elements:

-Alien Creature & Tech SGI were handled very well -- not gee-whiz type, but plausible and frightening.
-Link between the Alien physiology and their technology (nice touch.)
-Action pieces...of course, he is the master.
-Acting...yes, Cruise was actually pretty good (but he is still Tom Cruise in everything he does (except maybe Collateral))

All in all, entertaining but not all I was hoping for. Spielberg seems to have lost a sense of space and time in his more recent films...they feel disjointed to me. The pacing was a tad off, and the first half of the film was far superior than the second half. Still worth seeing in the theatre and I'm glad I did.

quote:

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Originally posted by Bodhizefa:
Let me reiterate.

This is an abysmally boring film. And the score is an atonal (and banal) version of Close Encounters meets Aliens.

Williams worst score in a long long time, and Spielberg's worst film since Lost World (which is saying a lot since that's the worst film he's ever made).

Warning: Spoilers!

This movie is a mind**** of blasé filmmaking. I could go into lengthy paragraph after lengthy paragraph on the matter, but let's get to the heart of the matter instead. The big problems include:

1) The humans are never able to mount an offensive against the aliens, essentially rendering the entire film a chase movie until blind luck finds its way to the human side.
2) Dakota Fanning screams throughout the entire film. In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say she was the definite lovechild of Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, as she pretty much acts like Capshaw's character in Temple of Doom.
3) The music blows -- a lackluster performance from John Williams all around (and it's not often you can say that about the man.)
4) This film attempts to be a drama/horror film, something that Spielberg is much less adept at than, say, adventure. This film could've been a great adventure film, but Spielberg really went the Signs route here (except it's much much more boring and banal.)
5) The aliens are lame and they aren't scary at all. What kind of retro nonsense is that Tripod design, anyway?
6) There are literally three lines of humorous material. And since the action/adventure isn't there, this one is a total snooze because of it. Oh, and the line about the terrorists from Fanning is groan-inducing.
7) Kaminski, the cinematographer, really needs to get out in the sun a bit more. His blue motif is wearing thin for me these days and it's really bogging down Spielberg as a director in my opinion as well (this is the guy who Spielberg has used ever since Schindler's List, and it shows. Spielberg used to bounce back and forth between many cinematographers because he wanted his own vision moreso than someone else's. But Kaminski has changed that and it's a shame to see the majority of Spielberg's films these days feel so cold and heartless.)
8) The action pieces are crappy at best.
9) The decision to stay with just Cruise for the entire film doesn't work at all. Whereas in Signs, at least the characters were semi-interesting, but we don't have that here. Cruise, his daughter, and his son are paper-thin in terms of character development.
10) The biggest problem lies in #1, and the result is a very lackluster ending. The aliens don't get beat by humans, but rather by a derivative plot device. Then Spielberg tries to turn on the tears, and the result is uncharacteristically flat and empty.

This is Spielberg's worst movie since The Lost World. And it feels very much the same in terms of shoddy character development, lame plot, and poor characterization. Just like I asked when I reviewed that film, where is the wonder and excitement from earlier in Spielberg's career? I'm very disappointed in the direction that Spielberg is taking his filmmaking these days, and frankly, I'm starting to look forward to other directors' projects (like King Kong by Peter Jackson, for example) much moreso than his at this point. I grew up with the kind and wonderful aliens of Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind and E.T. and now I'm given a very jaded opposition to those films in War of the Worlds. At least A.I. made me think. This film doesn't even allow me to turn on my brain. This film is Signs gone bad. And considering Signs wasn't much more than a decent popcorn flick, that's pretty telling. Whereas Signs had decent humor, decent character development, and decent scares all wrapped up in a very War of the Worlds-like script, this version of the real thing is a woeful depiction of all those facets of filmmaking.

I'm sorry you've become so disenchanted with your films and the world itself, but there's no reason to take it out on the rest of us, Steven.

Sincerely,
An Old Fan

P.S. Independence Day blew your film away by miles, sir.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Jeron:
ID4 and WOTW are two completely different films, focusing on an totally different aspects of the same genre. The point however is they are different, they're not even in the same camp with each other. ID4 is over at Chucky Cheese's bouncing around and putting all its quarters into fun, dazzling, but completely pointless arcade games. That's fine, ID4 holds a special place in my heart in a lot of ways. WOTW however is out to dinner in formal attire, discussing serious issues with colleagues while doing a delicate balancing act between the fictionally plausible and the outlandishly implausible. WOTW is hands down a killer sci-fi action film. It's heavy handed though, and its not out to satisfy the criteria checklist for sure-fire popcorn entertainment. Spielberg went out of his way to deliberately do everything in that film, and what he's ended up with is nothing short of awe inspiring. People who are unhappy with the film like Bodhizefa, who have obviously chosen the ignoramus route by forgetting this is based on a literary work, need to step back and re-evaluate their brains. Read the work it's based on, then criticize it. That's like watching The Passion of the Christ, and blowing Mel Gibson to shambles for not including enough firework explosions, Aston Martin hotrods, beautiful women, and espionage. I mean, seriously... get a grip.

[Message edited by Jeron on 07-06-2005]

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Ignoramus? Step back, son. You may be walking into a realm you're not prepared to go.

Why is it that you seem to think I have no appreciation of the material? I love the Orson Welles radio broadcast. For its time, it was an amazing piece of fiction that scared the heebie jeebies out of of its listeners.

That being said, this isn't 1938. Using a story arc conceived to be scary and realistic to the public then doesn't always work these days. And this film is a glaring example. This film is nothing more than Spielberg getting a hard-on for manipulation of his audience, and it's not even all that good at that. Much less the fact that the characters are listless, the cinematography boring, the ideas for action pieces dried up and tired, and the story shite, especially the way the film deals with the aliens and their demise. Seriously, if you think this is a good story or a "riveting experience," you're just not getting out enough, pal. Just because you think a lame plot device from the novel should remain in the film doesn't make it a good decision. You have to recognize what works for film and what doesn't. And a lame ending like that simply doesn't work. Period.

As far as the comparisons go between War of the Worlds and Independence Day, there really ARE no comparisons. Independence Day is a much better popcorn flick AND a much better film. Hell, if you want a direct comp, Signs is a better film as well. Signs is the War of the Worlds story that Spielberg wanted to tell (from one man's point of view) except it has decent character development (seriously, was there one character in WotW that could hold a candle to anyone from Signs), well-constructed scares (I haven't found anyone who was scared in WotW despite the fact that it's called a sci-fi horror film), an excellent pace that continues to swell throughout the film (unlike the very uneven pacing of Spielberg's film), and a good score. And that's just a superficial run through. If you want more, I'd be glad to get into the nitty gritty. I don't think Signs is a great film by any means, but dude, it KILLS Spielberg's film. Belittle the comp to ID4 all you want, but if you think WotW is anything more than a dumbed down version of Signs, you're just not paying attention.

I'm honestly in the camp that believes Spielberg needs to go back to cycling through cinematographers. I can't stand Kaminski's cold camera work. No matter how frenetic or artistic the man can be behind the lense, he can't capture a warm moment or character interaction to save his life. And he's not all that great at action either. This film is simply an excellent example.

And the fact that this film takes advantage of post/9-11 fears doesn't mean that it really deals with serious issues within the story itself--I mean, aside from not being like Tom Cruise's character when you grow up. This film may be in formal attire, but it's still a horror movie first and foremost, and it still has Tom Cruise being swallowed by a rectum. It acts heavy-handed, but it doesn't really carry anything that heavy at all.