digiboy

Clearly Speilberg's version wins, but has anyone here seen either of the other two 2005 WOTW movies listed at IMDB? Are any of them worth a look? Reviews say they are weak but the one set in H.G. Wells time looks intersting.

Groucho

I saw a preview for the Victorian one. It looks horrific, very amateurish, as if it were shot in somebody's back yard.

I think the other one stars Tom Cruise's old Outsiders co-star, C. Thomas Howell.

TheOne

Yep. I've seen the C Thomas Howell one. The box art seemed to implied an ID4 type movie with the tripods laying waste to Washington D.C. As I surmised, it didn't have any of these scenes.

Definately a B movie (just as I thought). Acting was ok. Special effects wasn't that great but ok for a B movie. You get a few scenes of the tripds (actually they have 6 legs) and a few scenes of people being zapped. A melted face minister scene. And that was about it.

Basic plot is C Thomas Howell character is separated from his wife and son and journeys to Washington DC to search for them.

Not sure if it is worth a rental but for War of the Worlds completists, check out for 90 minutes of "ok, now I've seen all the WotW movies".

V-ism

I vaguely remember watching a TV series about it. Don't remember it too well as I was pretty young. I think the aliens were able to take over human bodies or something. Or maybe I'm thinking of V.

MScottM

No, you are correct. There was a War Of the Worlds TV series. It was kind of cheesy but lasted about a season or two. And there could and did take human form. i think the premise was they were trying to change our world to be more compatible for them.

bboisvert

AVOID AVOID AVOID

You have been warned. I actually sat through this one (well, most of it -- it's 3 hours long). Painful doesn't begin to describe it. Bad acting, boring, terrible pacing, bad effects.

I respect the effort, but I doubt there's anyone who would find anything worth watching here.

MScottM

Agreed. It sucks.

mikehunt

so the other day I'm in Hollywood video. On the wall near the new releases they have a war of the worlds section. multiple copies of the 50s version, and a newer version. Obviously trying to profit off the new release. So I look at the newer one and it has Jake Busey on the cover. I laugh and put it back. Didn't check the date figuring it was direct to video from a few eyars ago.
Turns out it was made this year.
Hollywood is so crappy these days that not only are most movies remakes, they're making remakes of remakes in the same year.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0449040/

jaeufraser

Cept 2 of 3 of the War of the Worlds films aren't really Hollywood Hollywood. I know we love to bitch about Hollywood as some centralized thing, but we're talking about many different people (no doubt Cruise and Spielberg are Hollywood, but the Hines one was made in Oregon and the other one...well, I don't know but low budget indy fare of that sort ain't really Hollywood). But my main point is, you have Hollywood remaking a film, and two little guys making their versions probably largely to bank off the big version.

And it's not like Hollywood is only crappy these days. As if remakes and sequels weren't around 50 years ago...major hits like The Ten Commandments are remakes just as much as anything today, as quite frankly they've always done it. As have books and any medium (ok, they don't remake books but sequelitis no doubt).

Abob Teff

Well, the C. Thomas Howell version is pure crapfest in my opinion. Sure the special effects are pretty good (although re-used many times in the film) and the set design is damn fine for low budget, but the acting is abysmal, the story is so butchered that it is non-existant, and the sound was the worst I've ever encountered . . . could not hear dialogue, but then sound effects knocked you over (and no subtitles to boot). I have been highly discouraging custoemrs from wasting their $3 on this. (And Jake Busey is only in the film for a few moments.)

I had a regular customer recommend the 1898-set version so I picked it up the other day for $8 and some change at Wally World . . . after seeing the review on here, I'm not so sure now!

riley_dude

I remember seeing production art before 9/11 for a War of the Worlds movie but I think they shelved it after the attack. I dont think it is the same one that got made.

Legolas

They killed the two most popular characters to kick off the second season, brought in Adrian Paul and changed things over to a quasi-apocalypse setting.