War of the Worlds - Nostalgia Critic

[@ChannelAwesome]

Tom Cruise as an every man. Did you like War of the Worlds? Join our KZbin Members only - kzbin.info/door/iH828EtgQjTyNIMH6YiOSwjoin Watch last weeks NC - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gprFpWiFe558l6c Check out our store - channelawesome.myshopify.com/

[@BLMT-df4on]

Ho

[@TabathaTMartin]

Despite how flawed the third act is, I really liked the movie. True Rachel's screaming is much, but it makes sense, seeing as she's just a little girl. The effects, sound design, acting, and the music are the main reasons I love this movie so much. I put it above the Lost World tbh. Don't even get me started on the Tripods or we will be here all day.

[@anubusx]

I thought it was really good.

[@Myself-yf5do]

Now that you've reviewed this, you should do the other adaptations of this book, like the Asylum, Pendragon, and Goliath ones.

[@zillafilmsstudios854]

Can you review the cloverfield franchise

[@koneheadcokehead4981]

Fun Fact: While filming nearby, Tom Cruise, along with a twenty-member entourage including Steven Spielberg, visited a Lexington, Virginia Dairy Queen. Cruise saw a jar on the counter with a photo of Ashley Flint and her story. Flint had been in a go-cart accident a few months earlier, leaving her family with a mountain of hospital bills. Cruise put $5,000 cash into the jar.

[@HAL-st4ll]

Did he go to the nearest bank in between or did he just happen to have that much with him in his wallet?

[@ChrisWolff2013]

That's pure class right there

[@twofacetoo75]

@@HAL-st4ll Yeah I make sure to always carry $5,000 cash on me at all times, just in case I get mugged.

[@Tsupek]

@@HAL-st4llits cruise some my moneys on him just carry that much cash around for the hell of it

[@mrcritical6751]

Say what you will about Cruise’s background and beliefs, he is apparently super nice

[@jannik471]

Another Fun Fact: The grandparents shown in the last scene in Boston are actually the two main actors from the 1950s version of war of the worlds.

[@questworldiangreenknight7455]

AWESOME

[@Mildlyinsanespinelfanboy]

I need to watch this movie already

[@AirQuotes]

Ooo that's cool

[@ClutchCargo001]

How is it I am only now learning this? THANK YOU!

[@jarrefan1990-tr7ki]

I have a theory that the 2005 war of the worlds is a sequel to the 1950s war of the worlds

[@koneheadcokehead4981]

Another Fun Fact: When the aliens are investigating the junk in the basement, one of them plays with a bicycle wheel. This is a reference to the original book; the main character observes that, with all the advanced technology the aliens possess, they do not use any wheels, and wonders if the alien life form had skipped the invention of the wheel.

[@autobotproductions1244]

now that is interesting

[@cracno1125]

Another fun fact: Is that the evacuation in the movie is named "Operation Thunderchild" an obvious nod to the similar scene in the book.

[@James.B.Russell]

So the aliens are like Africans?

[@cracno1125]

@@James.B.Russell Other way around.

[@dannygreen592]

@@autobotproductions1244 Not really, how the hell do you evolve from nothing to being a machine driven world having not invented the wheel makes no sense.

[@kenguyii9108]

Honestly, seeing the Tripod coming out of the ground for the first time, blowing out its haunting horn, and then started turning people into dust, is one of the scariest scenes of the movie! I was utterly terrified of them! 😱

[@TheRezro]

Only good part of the movie

[@Spectra651]

I saw the film in the theater and I can still remember the way that horn rattled your bones whenever it sounded. It really made the tripods seem all the more intimidating and frightening.

[@darkstarmoonshadow]

Every time I hear that wailing horn my stomach drops

[@GrandmasterDevo]

As shocking as it was seeing people get zapped into talcum powder, the fact that their clothes didn't get dusted too took something away from that. Seriously, why didn't the clothes turn to dust too??

[@TheRezro]

@@GrandmasterDevo Because this movie is hilarious.

[@vetarlittorf1807]

The ending with the aliens dying from common cold is not bad. It's actually very elegant. It reflects how real colonization attempts were sometimes foiled by diseases the invaders were unprepared for. And it makes sense for the aliens who, if you've read the book, had basically eliminated all disease on their planet, which meant there was nothing to keep their immune systems in shape.

[@matityaloran9157]

It’s also how the book ends

[@Ishaninja]

The book is about colonialism, the movie is not. So the ending no longer works

[@vincentmarcellino7183]

It was the true original ending. How it was written

[@matityaloran9157]

@@Ishaninja Disease being a major unpredictable force in history and political conflict is a part of the book that aged very well

[@cybercobra2]

@@Ishaninja disagree on it not working just becouse the movie isnt about colonialism. the idea that we coudnt beat the aliens but the aliens lost becouse they simply did not account for our diseases being extremely deadly is a good one and a fun payoff for them being so seemingly invincible. the problem with the ending is just there needed to be a bigger payoff BEFORE that ending. simply going "we stuffed a grenade in one and it blew up" isnt good enough for much the movie is about spectacle.

[@jacobwolf3900]

It always pissed me off that the brother was willing to abandon his sister. It doesn't seem like he wanted to fight to protect her only to prove himself.

[@billjacobs521]

I guess he thought he was by, uh, following the army guys?

[@questworldiangreenknight7455]

Yeah, I can’t stand those kinds of characters 🙄 from apocalyptic movies

[@Backhoe-mafia]

From my view he represents a young generation who witnessed 9/11 in school and wanted to join the military right after to get back at them.

[@SaraRoseVaughan]

@@Backhoe-mafia That makes a lot of sense, considering the film's cinematography was in large part inspired by home footage of the WTC attacks. It's why the film has so few overhead shots.

[@Music-City-Mania]

“Hey, honey. Let me just shower the neighbors off of me.” That was HILARIOUSLY dark! 🤣🤣

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

Very true.

[@Lowkeylie]

That sounded like something straight out of a Rick and Morty episode lol

[@FranciscoSilva-bv9qq]

what's darker is this was a 9/11 reference to people covered in the dust from the WTC debris.

[@trekkieraccoon3343]

I snorted at the addition of "don't run we are your friends" from mars attacks

[@OverlordZephyros]

​​@@FranciscoSilva-bv9qq hi honey, let me dust off my coworkers off of me

[@trytotopthis3152]

The car mob scene is absolutely terrifying on a realistic level. What's chilling to me is that it actually isn't far off at all from how OUR world was reacting in March 2020 when there was uncertainty about the pandemic. People fighting over toilet paper, raiding the shelves at the grocery store until there was nothing left, shopping lines so long that they extended way outside the store. Human civility is thrown out the window in times of crisis. Straight up.

[@RX-12]

The basement murder scene as well. If you’re a parent it really makes you think about how far you’d go to protect your child.

[@thatguyguy3777]

The joker was right in this philosophy "when the chips are down, these uuhhhh these civilized people. They'll EAT eachother"

[@cgh7337]

I agree. If you watch that scene, you can see one guy on the hood of the minivan actually trying to get into the van by ripping open a hole in the glass of the windshield with his bare hands showing how desperate people would be to have access to a working automobile in the situation.

[@williamdixon-gk2sk]

Not to be cynical, but it would be much worse. People lost it over a rampant case of the sniffles with marginally less toilet paper than normal. Now, really picture what they'd do if Alien death machines were popping out of the ground.

[@Alvaro89Rus]

Most people are weak willed cowards, what a discovery.

[@chance_ondriezek99]

In my opinion, one of Spielberg’s most underrated films. Plus, the 9/11-inspired imagery after Tom Cruise survives the first attack is haunting in the best way possible

[@anubusx]

I noticed that myself.

[@Paiste2002Fan]

Yeah, this movie is meant to be more of an experience than anything. The 9-11 imagery, the panic, people fighting amongst themselves and the brutal slaughter of people like they were bugs really makes you feel like you are there. It makes you wonder how you would react in a situation like that and it’s as exciting as it is uncomfortable.

[@EChacon]

@@Paiste2002FanAnd also explains Robbie’s obsession on wanting to join the army.

[@michaelrussell3890]

Also, one of John Williams most underrated soundtracks

[@JoeHawkins-p9d]

and the music and sound desing is so daam good!

[@DangerVille]

The ending does a great job representing how even the biggest of powers can be taken down by sheer ignorance of underestimating your enemy. They thought they were unstoppable, and didn’t even think to check for disease. It’s a representation of how unchecked power led to Britains downfall, but it also applies to every modern superpower. Whilst they could have spent a longer time leading up to it in the movie, I’m glad it stayed true to the novel. It’s infuriating when people say it’s a bad ending because the humans should have made some super weapon to take them down, which misses the point entirely.

[@kazinadbiralamadit6905]

I think the problem with the movie is that in the books it's explained in depth making us the reads understanding things a lot better, while in the movie it's just there. Other adaptations made it bigger and grander, for this it's bigger but the in depth explanation would have also come off as just a long exposition dump so it's a lose lose situation.

[@siobhannoble8545]

Pretty much all adaptations miss the original point of the novel. The Martians are basically us. They take what they need and destroy any race they deem inferior. The whole story is an allegory for colonialism. Humanity couldn't win by their own means because that would undermine the message.

[@MarioBario]

Britain didnt have a fall down since they're still around

[@bradyfitzy]

I remember my dad taking me to see this, and our town's movie theatre had a warning on the poster saying, "this movie is not recommended for very young children, it may contain disturbing imagery and strong violence" or something like that. My dad ignored it and bought us the tickets and i still remember staying for the whole movie while other parents walked out with their kids

[@trekkieraccoon3343]

I remember calling out of work to go see this movie the day it came out

[@ericseitzler81]

You must be young bc in the 80s are parents took us to see robocop and other similar films.

[@bradyfitzy]

@@ericseitzler81 I was either 8 or 9 when this came out

[@dannygreen592]

Lmao man this generation has no intelligence and no spine. What a bad combo that get's passed down to all modern zoomers.

[@TheRezro]

They probably did that because movie is quite bad.

[@DarthBiomech]

I think the ending doesn't work because there's still fighting and hope. In the book, by the time the aliens finally succumb to the diseases, everybody's morale is ground to a fine dust and even the main character himself walks towards one of the tripods with the intention to _finally die._ And only _then_ everybody learns that the aliens are over. In the movie they learn that the aliens are over by shooting a rocket at it and then cheering when it hits.

[@koneheadcokehead4981]

Another Fun Fact: During the filming of the underwater scenes (where the ferry capsizes), director Steven Spielberg played a prank on Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning by playing the dramatic music from Jaws (also one of Spielberg's films) through the massive underwater speakers on the sound stage.

[@cadendicky1855]

Spielberg has a pretty sick sense of humor...I want more of it.

[@LucyLioness100]

I’m not surprised he’d do that 😅

[@Tsupek]

Cruise: “oh no, Shark!!” *Cruise in head*: “Finally!””

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

What a merry prankster.

[@jacechretin4597]

No real danger there since Bruce the mechanical shark always had malfunctions on set.

[@Jarod-vg9wq]

What I love about this film is Tom cruise IS not the action hero he always is dudes out of his element, he’s just a dad trying to keep his family and he plays it great!

[@isaactheworshipwarrior6687]

He still does action, like running away from explosions and punching people, but it's NOT the focus of the movie compared to others.

[@PineapplePineapplePineapplePin]

Something small I appreciate that Doug does that I don't see often is he says who plays the characters as they come up. It shows a respect for the actors themselves

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

Quite true.

[@autobotproductions1244]

that or the characters themselves aren't as memorable as the actors. Just a thought

[@thehorrorhound6575]

I can only think of a few off the top of my head who do that too and that’s Decker shado, Brandon tenold (who is a member of Doug’s channel awesome) cinema snob (doesn’t need to be mentioned but he’s also on channel awesome) and Mike the horror geek. So yeah adding Doug to that list feels like a pretty respectable list of reviewers.

[@jesusromanpadro3853]

Supposedly, when the book was published all other book about England's military was about how unbeatable it was. This book was about the opposite, their military facing something it couldn't beat. Only one of their vehicles were defeated by ramming a boat on it. And the alien just avoided getting in the ocean after that. Oh, and is so old that at the end scientist were studying a flying vehicle the Martians constructed. Yes, the novel is way before airplanes.

[@AlexBadger]

I had quite liked the scene with the boat, as it had only worked because the aliens were expecting to be shot at, it was cool.

[@rapatacush3]

One got beheaded by artillery, and two were beated by the boat. Another one got its leg blown up by a shell.

[@jesusromanpadro3853]

@rapatacush3 oh, thanks. It has been some years since I read it, and I only read it one time.

[@tyronepearce5946]

Fun fact: after Akira Toriyama (the creator of dragon ball) died, Justin chatwick payed his respects to the legend and apologised for the dragon ball movie

[@ThePa1riot]

That movie wasn’t his fault but I’m sure Toriyama Sensei appreciated the gesture in Heaven.

[@Kokorocodon]

Ok, so a few thing's that critic may have missed. - The red weed is a terraforming agent. In the book, it's the explanation as to why mars became red. - The third time the aliens investigated the house is because the crazy dude was screaming his lungs out before being put down. - The loved one being alive and well after being apart trope is also in the book. - Robbie wanting to go to the military out of nowhere is probably a fight or flight response to what's his seeing. During calamities, people tend to either run or face the fear so as to not feel haunted by it. And honestly, that would be my reaction as well lmao; running would be too much of a stressor in the long term for me, might as well recieve a big dosage of fear right now rather than spread it thin.

[@alliestevens5264]

And if I'm remembering correctly, I might not giving how long I had seen the movie. The reason Tom Cruise character killed crazy basement guy was because crazy guy was talking about using Cruise's character daughter as a way to "repopulate" the world.

[@Kokorocodon]

@@alliestevens5264 Think I've missed that. But it's reason enough right there

[@jacechretin4597]

At least this one better represented the book with tripods, red weeds, and a crazy guy in a basement.

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

Quite true.

[@yrenekurtz5268]

Also, the whole "close relative that the MC though was dead happens to be alive and unharmed by the end" is too something that happens in the book.

[@sopcannon]

the musical had that too

[@gambitraider5475]

But i want a thunder child fight!!! OooooooLaaaaaaa!!!

[@matthewmuir8884]

Sure, but that's all superficial. There is one thing very core to the book that the movie discarded and didn't replace with anything: the central theme. The novel was condemnation of colonialism and empires, with the Martians doing to Britain what Britain had done to a quarter of the world and dying to the same thing that was the greatest hinderance to imperial armies: local diseases. The movie having the aliens attack the US in the 21st Century could've preserved the theme, as, well, the sun has set on the British Empire, and the US is the current main superpower. But the movie otherwise completely discards the central theme.

[@jrr2480]

To be fair, H. G. Wells' alien 👾 designs in the novel 📖 was basically an octopus 🐙

[@Myself-yf5do]

They should have stuck with it.

[@Sovreign071]

My first exposure to War of the Worlds was actually a recording of the original radio broadcast. Even though I knew it was a recording, it was downright CHILLING!

[@LucyLioness100]

Yeah that recording is pretty terrifying even after 85 years. It just relied on Welles’ iconic voice and the HG Wells text

[@matityaloran9157]

There were people at the time who mistook it for a genuine news broadcast (but not as many as you think.)

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

It’s very effective and mesmerizing.

[@elder-woodsilverstein7716]

I listened to that too. It was good.

[@8bitdiedie]

It’s like hearing a news reporter informing that everyone, including you, is about to die in the next 5 minutes.

[@CashCurran]

“HERE WE ARE!! PISMO BEACH AND ALL THE CLAMS WE CAN EAT!!” I admittedly laughed too hard at that joke 😂😂😂

[@TarossBlackburn]

Should have taken that left turn...

[@JOSH-lw2jv]

Fun Fact: Steven Spielberg reunited with one of his actors from *"JAWS"* (1975) in the 2005 remake of *"War of the* *Worlds";* and that was Jonathan Filley who played Tom Cassidy, the "luckiest drunk" boyfriend of Chrissie Watkins. However, Jonathan never acted after *"JAWS"* and he's credited in this film as New York's Unit Production Manager.

[@anubusx]

RIP

[@JOSH-lw2jv]

@@anubusx No, he's still alive.

[@anubusx]

@@JOSH-lw2jv The actress who played Chrissie.

[@JOSH-lw2jv]

@@anubusx Darn. I just looked it up.

[@joelnotsure2871]

“You know what H. G. Wells’ classic story of interplanetary invasion needs? Family drama! With really annoying kids!” “Brilliant!!”

[@matthewmuir8884]

"You know what else it needs? For the core theme of anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism to be completely removed and replaced with nothing!" "Even more brilliant!!!"

[@rapatacush3]

You know what it needs? The goddamn thunderchild.

[@TheGoowolf]

At least their weakness wasn't water. It's a little more understanding that an alien race would underestimate the deadliness of the diseases on the planet compared to being weak to water and trying to take over a planet that's mostly water.

[@LegioXXI]

Our planet isn't "mostly water", only our planet surface is. As an astronomical object, our planet is 98% "earth". There are true ocean worlds in space, where almost everything except the planet core is water. Our planet ain't one of them, no matter how deep the oceans seems for us humans, it's still just the planetary surface. Aliens not caring about water or our micro biology really is the least stupid thing about alien invasion stories. The most stupid thing is having those invasions in the first place. Just terraform Venus, fix the toxic atmosphere and you have basically a blank Earth 2.0. And if your goal as an Alien species is to just wipe out humanity, just do orbital bombardments from space. Even just redirecting large asteroids can achieve that. Then you also don't have to bother studying the planetary micro biology.

[@TheGoowolf]

@@LegioXXI true. But if you're an alien species whose weakness is water and you see a planet that looks like it has a lot of water on it, it's still a bad idea to try to invade it. LOL

[@gokuxsephiroth4505]

Wait... was "Signs" just a rip off of war of the worlds?

[@TheGoowolf]

@@gokuxsephiroth4505 perhaps a.... Watered down version? "YEAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!"

[@giuseppeianniello1998]

2005 was truly Tom Cruise’s year. Marrying Katie Holmes, stating that psychiatry is evil, going bat-s**t insane on Oprah, having a war with a 60 Minutes interviewer, etc.

[@koneheadcokehead4981]

Another Fun Fact: Due to Steven Spielberg's last minute post-production work, he had to drop out of a scheduled appearance with Tom Cruise to promote the film on The Oprah Winfrey Show. This was the episode of Cruise's highly publicized "couch jumping" incident.

[@linksbro1]

I feel the thing with Robbie's character is that it's alluding to WHY Spielberg remade War of the Worlds to begin with. The post 9/11 climate. There's a few lines that make it very obvious, like after Robbie asks "WHO'S ATTACKING US?" and Rachel then asks "IS IT THE TERRORISTS?" He's a young man reacting to seeing not just his country, but his WORLD attacked. And like many directionless young men faced with a crisis, his reaction is that he must fight.

[@skyrogue1977]

If I could make a suggestion. I think a Recess Schools Out review would be a good idea. Both to commemorate Summer and also Dabney Coleman.

[@spinlok3943]

The sounds the tripods make is SO FRIGGIN SCARY. Love it so much.

[@thecunninlynguist]

It's cool seeing the set at Universal Hollywood. For one Halloween horror nights we were able to actually get off the tram and walk around the plane

[@justicefool3942]

If you go on the VIP tour, you can walk around the set as well.

[@thecunninlynguist]

​@@justicefool3942I've been meaning to try the vip tour. Have you gone? Is it worth it? Is the lunch/brunch good?

[@thecunninlynguist]

@@justicefool3942 I've been meaning to go on that tour. Is it worth it? Is the brunch/lunch any good?

[@justicefool3942]

@@thecunninlynguist I think it's worth it. You get breakfast and lunch, the expanded backlot tour and express passes for all the rides. If you get all that individually, it would probably run close to the same price as the VIP ticket anyway, so it's worth doing at least once.

[@darkstarmoonshadow]

WOW your lucky; being on the set of a movie, a Steven Spielberg movie at that. 😲

[@Schnaps1990]

Tripod crawling out scene is amazing especially when it dumps soil from horn holes and make this creepy inception sound for the first time. Bridge explosion scene with gas trucks falling on houses was also one of the most memorable action scene i watched in childhood. What movie is really missed is that stating aliens attacked earth because of envy of our emotions it fails to show that emotionality through main characters except few small scenes of empathy

[@metaloverlord7465]

"Not a TON more but about enough to get a twenty minute review out of" Dialogue like this is why I still love Doug even after all these years. That perfect blend of self awareness and honesty.

[@bryanheilman4376]

I love this movie more than the original, and I loved the original! Tom Cruise was terrific!

[@kdusel1991]

Never saw the original but this one is pretty good!

[@xBloodxFangx]

I love this movie a lot too. I saw it as a teenager and thought it was scary. My mom then (of course) said the original was much scarier. I saw it and thought it was more silly and weird but that at least led me to reading the book which I liked a lot.

[@ShenDoodles]

My biggest nitpick with the movie is that for some reason the crazy basement guy says “There’s no war between men and maggots!”, a misquote of the book’s “There’s no war between men and ants!”

[@SpexGuy1118]

So fun story that ties I have to this movie: Back in 7th Grade (2008), my English teacher had a mini-library where you could take a book to read when there's downtime after a Test or if she didn't have anything to teach that day. (Yeah, some days she didn't feel like teaching) And one of the books was the screenplay for this movie. I saw the movie the day it got released with my Grandfather; so I had vivid memories of what was in the movie. One example the TV in the movie is showing SpongeBob, but it the screenplay; it notes The PowerPuff Girls. I never read a screenplay before, only those theatre plays you got in a collection of other acquired reading books. So this was such an eye opener. I visioned the movie how it would be like if I shot it or made it. And it also helped me with my writing. So much so when it came to the end of the year, I asked my teacher if I could have it? Since it meant so much to me. Her response: "No. Put it back." So I went to the mini-library and placed the book in my backpack and left. I still have the book to this day. Worth also noting when this movie came on HBO MAX, I decided to watch it again for the first time. With all the ideas a vision I had with the screenplay, I felt like seeing a screenplay to screen would look... and this movie sucks now because it's not as good as I visioned it with the screenplay. So, fun little story.

[@MASTEROFEVIL]

Hehe, middle school

[@jacksykes4680]

I know it’s a very old story but I forever love the fact that when Orson Welles did a reading of the book live on radio it was so convincing that people believed it was real

[@Ellthom]

I will die on the hill that the best adaptation of War of the Worlds is the Jeff Waynes musical.

[@patrickhayden7206]

Ooooh lahhhh

[@SithBunny1]

TWRP did a beautiful cover of one of the songs from that musical! Thank goodness it's not as obscure as I thought.

[@josephcalamia5586]

One of the cool things about the live show of the Jeff Wayne musical was that at a certain point, a tripod would descend down and take a place among the orchestra and cast and would interact with the story.

[@matthewhecht9257]

Independence Day is the best adaptation.

[@cherzo71]

@@matthewhecht9257 Independence Day is complete trash

[@LordHayabusa85]

14:45 I remember when I first saw this movie, I was 11 years old. When it got to this blood fertilizer scene, I got so scared that I couldn’t stop shaking. So my dad beckoned me over to him & held me close to comfort me.

[@BugsyFoga]

Cool to see Doug finally cover this one

[@drakocarrion]

The only War of the Worlds that matters is Jeff Wayne's musical version. It's honestly amazing that despite how long that stage musical has been running it still hasn't been made into a movie

[@Armageddonsteellegionioneri]

You have good taste

[@Caprioly]

Yep. Thunder Child all the way!

[@theshenpartei]

Yes

[@questworldiangreenknight7455]

That’s a thing?!?!

[@Armageddonsteellegionioneri]

@questworldiangreenknight7455 yes its awesome it's on spitofy, do the original version, not the modern one. The original is a lot better and has great songs like forever autumn and thunder child

[@Kurisutofaa89]

I had read the book before seeing those movie in theaters and I must say the ending was actually the best part! One of the few things that was actually in the book.

[@matityaloran9157]

I’m with you

[@EliasValadez-pu1iq]

The only thing I didn’t like was the son coming back out of nowhere.

[@matthewmuir8884]

As someone who also read the book, I understand, but in the book, it was built up to with the protagonist observing the aliens' anatomy and how they were turning captured humans into an intravenous food source, so it didn't come out of nowhere. It also reflected how the central message of the book was a condemnation of colonial imperialism: the aliens dying from mundane disease reflected how soldiers of the British Empire frequently died from diseases. The movie abandoned the anti-imperialism aspect of the story, making the ending come all the more out of nowhere.

[@rogue7723]

10:25 I _know_ this is supposed to show how the invasion has made everyone so frightened and desperate to the point of uncivility, but when I saw that I was just thinking _“Uh-oh_ George parked in a _handicap_ spot again.”

[@mitra2830]

I just remember the scene from scary movie 4 Robbie: Dad, talk to me! What's happening? Tom Ryan: There's no time to explain. [a man runs past the window, screaming] 'Alien Attack!': Alien attack! Tom Ryan: Well, actually, that about sums it up.

[@JoseMorales-lw5nt]

3 takes: 1) Real fans of the original should have no qualms about the ending of the 2005 remake. Both were anticlimactic... 1955: They couldn't handle our atmosphere. 2005: SAME! 2) The 2005 remake gave us the nice cameo by the original 2 lead actors from the 1955 classic, shot in Brooklyn Heights, no less. 3) Love, love, loooooove that post 9/11 realism of the lady turning into dust, the destruction of the Bayonne Bridge being praised by real world engineers for its accuracy, and the near-perfect CGI ride-along sequence of being inside the family van and outside of it immediately after shit hits the fan!❤

[@mauricionascimento9662]

It's not the atmosphere they can't handle, it's the microorganisms, which makes perfect sense, since they wouldn't know to be vacinated against stuff they never had any contact with.

[@batlrar]

Robbie wanting to join the military suddenly makes a lot more sense than Doug implies, but I'm wondering if he missed that scene or saw a shorter cut of the movie. In the scene directly before it, as they were getting into the car, Robbie stood stunned while looking at the crashed plane on the ground. There's a reason that Tom Cruise's character was asking so many questions about the plane beforehand - this was the plane that their mother was supposed to be on. When Robbie saw the plane wreckage, he immediately put together what was going on and wanted revenge / justice / to protect his remaining family. Now, if they had only done something with that and tied that into later scenes and not just had both him and the mother magically pop up at the end it would have been a whole lot better, but oh well, there's always *next* remake.

[@XenoSpyro]

"Look at the damn birds!" and "The javelin is the key!" is a pretty hype moment in my opinion. It's not a long payoff, but it's a pretty satisfying moment.

[@plucas1]

Aside from th 1953 movie version, the best adaptation of the story was actually Jeff Wayne's 1978 rock album based on War of the Worlds. It's awesomely paced and told with spot-on music. It even has Richard Burton narrating. How can you beat that?

[@thecrazycapn]

Something Tom Cruise does extremely well? He makes a family argument feel legitimately awkward to be around. It's good! You ever third wheel around another family having a real argument? Tom Cruise really captures how uncomfortable it is.

[@Spenceley]

I think you are missing something with Robbie-- he stared into the abyss. His desire to bail and join the military to "get back at them" seems like a manic/psychotic break and he's experiencing a delusion where if he can just hop on a truck and join the army he'll solve the problem.

[@danteastral9665]

8:05 Bummer that he didn't mention that the entire location was 100% practical. And that the set is still there today and can be seen at Universal studio tour. Personally it was a moment where my mind was blown that this was all made for one scene and it paid off completely.

[@Ayden_B]

My take: the best version of The War of the Worlds is the Jeff Wayne concept album from 1975. Perfectly captures every aspect of the story through music and narration alone

[@IAAGAIAS]

God the car scene is my favorite part of the movie, just with everyone panicking and trying to get inside to take it and even when Tom Cruises characters loses the car he manages to break up the fight after he tells everyone “my daughters still inside”, it feels so real.

[@newmedia2862]

"DOOOOOOOD! I thought you weren't gonna cover this since you said you won't do an Old Vs New and said you didn't really like either film!" -Douchy McNitpick

[@elder-woodsilverstein7716]

I miss Douchy.

[@kdusel1991]

​@@elder-woodsilverstein7716 he stopped doing douchey cause it hurt his vocal cords. But I miss him too!

[@ZemeckisTEN]

@@kdusel1991Really? I thought he stopped playing that character because he absolutely despised him.

[@johnnysparkle]

Besides Douchey is in the Plot Hole

[@newmedia2862]

@@johnnysparkle we do not speak of To Boldly Flee

[@lightsabermetrics]

Im surprised you didn't touch on the infamously rushed production schedule. Spielberg filmed all the major action sequences first and all the smaller scenes later so the film was ready for its June 2005 release date. The rushed production was probably why the finished product was so muddled.

[@matthewroth9196]

I’m glad you mentioned rushed productions and Steven Spielberg because Spielberg’s other 2005 movie Munich was a rushed production too. Literally, Spielberg got to work on Munich the day this movie premiered, principal photography ended by September and the movie came out in December. So Munich’s production time to release date was all in 6 months.

[@katherined]

Check out Jeff Wayne's war of the worlds, it is pretty good audio experience

[@117darksonic]

Yes it's the best version

[@CitizenKahne1992]

“HERE WE ARE! PISMO BEACH AND ALL THE CLAMS WE CAN EAT!” I will never not love a Bugs Bunny quote. 😂

[@Markimark151]

It’s about time the critic is reviewing this War of the Worlds movie, this is one lot of people have requested for over a decade!

[@DarkEclipse23]

Moreso an old v New. But your point still stands. 😂

[@kdusel1991]

​@@DarkEclipse23 I miss old vs new! He should do more of those! I also miss the editorials too!

[@Markimark151]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@DarkEclipse23I think doing an old vs new was just too hard for Doug to compare. That format didn’t work for lot of remakes, it’s better to just review one movie at a time!

[@DarkEclipse23]

@@Markimark151it was. He mentioned it in an old “top 11 fuck ups” vid that he couldn’t write anything good when comparing them as both were pretty weak in his opinion.

[@DarkEclipse23]

@@kdusel1991same! I haven’t really seen an old v new from him since the Spider-man movies of Tobey V Andrew, or Willy Wonka vs Charlie and the Chocolate factory.

[@FlipsGTS]

The first attack and the car escape are so underated, the cameraperspective is amazing and well done. Also the horn sound from the tripods HAS to be one if the best Sounds designed in the past decades…

[@deshawnedwards6412]

Review Megamind please.

[@Mildlyinsanespinelfanboy]

Review the Steven Universe movie

[@tad7441]

It would be good to see why it had such a big following and also good timing given how the reception of the sequel went.

[@themagicarcadetma1406]

@@deshawnedwards6412 he did

[@Story2ScreenMovieReviewPodcast]

7:48 great little joke on Orson Welles infamous War of the Worlds radio broadcast that sent an entire nation into panic. Btw, it helped Welles secure a contract with RKO and eventually make Citizen Kane.

[@koneheadcokehead4981]

Another Fun Fact: After her actions in the film, Dakota Fanning's character was voted 'most useless thing to have in an apocalypse' by MTV

[@CTladiesman]

That’s just stupid because she’s just a little girl witnessing an alien invasion happening around her.

[@liamdude5722]

The son is arguably more useless

[@CTladiesman]

@@liamdude5722 why because you want to join the army and fight back against the aliens?

[@Cabamacadaf]

What did they expect a child to do in an apocalypse?

[@CTladiesman]

@@Cabamacadaf ikr! It’s like the people that complain about her are democrats or liberals that a VERY insensitive and ignorant towards a child’s feelings. Idiots!!

[@jenji6658]

As a kid, that movie terrified me.

[@superbowsersilva]

Small fact-2:47 most of the filming place in Bayonne, New Jersey the alien destroying the Bridge is the Bayonne bridge.

[@thomasferraro479]

And Staten Island on the other side of the bridge, where I'm from

[@danielbay4034]

This movie scared the SHIT out of me at 14. That opening scene, the river of bodies, etc. Most people were like "meh" about it but it really freaked me out with the "What if this happened" of it all.

[@QuentrixMovies]

I felt the same when I saw it as an 11 year old. I enjoy it more as an adult after reading the book, but as a kid it felt way too "real" for me to the point that it just gave me bad anxiety about something similar happening in real life. The ferry scene especially felt way too realistic in terms of the panic.

[@koneheadcokehead4981]

Another Fun Fact: The convoy scene military vehicles were real and still had their white greasepencil convoy markings (data similar to license tag info) chalked on the driver's side doors. Either speed or special-effects rendered these markings invisible in the final cuts.

[@retepoteil]

The 53 movie special effects still look pretty good

[@SkunkMantraTechnoSkunk]

Everytime i watch it great film. i try to stare my eyes away from the strings you can see on some shots xd

[@ConaRikan2]

My first introduction to War of the Worlds was listening to the radio music play. Honestly, I think the worst thing any of the movie adaptations could do would be to show what the aliens actually look like. Because they aren't the focus of the story. It's the examination of the various ways humanity would react to such an extreme paradigm shift, that we aren't alone in the universe and could be destroyed by these beings, that makes the story so powerful.

[@koneheadcokehead4981]

Another Fun Fact: The organism seen in the opening sequence is known as a paramecium, being a unicellular pond water protozoan that is a eukaryote, shown complete with cilia, oral groove, macro nucleus and central vacuole.

[@Veirdjil]

My favorite moment in this film is main character getting grenades into alien ship. He gets sucked in, everyone is trying to help him and he spills out grenades rings. I like soldier facial expressions "no, you did not"

[@koneheadcokehead4981]

Another Fun Fact: In the scene where the tripod first emerges from the ground, a street sign in the background says "Van Buren." Sylvia Van Buren was a main character in the 1953 film.

[@aircraftcarrierwo-class]

This movie was heavily influenced by 9/11 and I think suffered a lot for it. Cruise covered in dust, for instance. The girl screaming about terrorists. The boy frothing at the mouth to join the army and "get back at them".

[@koneheadcokehead4981]

Another Fun Fact: In 2005, the plane crash set was featured in Universal Studios Hollywood's public Studio Tour. The wreckage was located only a few feet from the infamous Psycho (1960) house and Bates Motel sets.

[@lShadowdark]

Dude, again? Stop with your BS Spam, just post all in one comment

[@AdamSmith75th]

I’m loving all these fun facts!

[@schattentaenzerin]

No need to copy and paste every single imbd thing individually. Pick your top five and stop flooding the comment section like that.

[@Jarod-vg9wq]

11:35 I still get chills hearing that alien horn! 😮

[@dolphincrescent54]

2011 Doug: I'm not gonna review either of the War of the Worlds film 2024 Doug: A War of the World film review Don't worry Doug, I remembered it so you don't have to! Also, PLEASE review Megamind Vs. The Doom Syndicate and Mondo TV's 2010 Fantasy Island Animated Series.

[@MrGameguyC]

I knew I wasn't the only one who thought of that.

[@abucket14]

"It makes you wonder what you would do in this situation: myself, I'd convert" Tragically underrated one liner, along with "I need to shower off the neighbors"

[@northnick3317]

I love how Robbie runs after the army the same way a three year old would run towards a moving ice cream truck. I laughed hard at his fake out death XD

[@USMC49er]

War of the Worlds feels like a story that benefits from how limited the technology setting is and becomes worse when you modernize it. The book came out late in the 1800s and predated the Spanish Flu, one of the worst pandemic in human history next to the black plague. But the time difference between the two was a good 500 years so no real experience in that current generation. Also in late 1800s, airplanes didn't exist, nuclear energy didn't exist, biochemical warfare didn't exist, heck World War 1 had yet to happen. A lot of knowledge and wisdom couldn't be applied to 1890s, whereas in the 21st century, we have vaccines of extinct diseases and weapons that can put a hole in cement. Aliens would have to be completely ignorant compared to modern human society to fall that quickly.

[@drpseudo]

Back in the day I also figured about the ending: how could a so advanced culture not be aware of bacterial/prokaryotic lifeforms? For colonialists in our history it makes sense, but in this scenario, where it seems that they observed multiple evolutionary cycles on different planets... it felt utterly unprepared of them. Although I found the core of the message cool I also did not think it made any sense

[@ShadyDoorags]

Always loved this movie. Always hated Robbie.

[@liambishop496]

Fun fact: The aliens in this movie had vocal effects provided by Dee Bradley Baker. The same guy who voices Klaus on American Dad and Squilliam on Spongebob did the vocal effects for these aliens.

[@schattentaenzerin]

Every apocalypse needs a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal of action! Of course Agent P would show up.

[@aboxinspace]

The same guy who voices every Star Wars clone?? Nice

[@firelightyear]

And Numbuh 4 from KND.

[@DrRockso1987]

I think if you’ve already watched ‘Scary Movie 4’ then you can easily skip this movie.

[@CrypticCharm]

War of the Worlds, has been remade so many times...nothing can top the Olson Welles Adaptation...that led to widespread panic. class moment, but this version. actually not that bad, there was a recent version in the UK that was a mini-series, and hated

[@TabathaTMartin]

Orson Welles, and it's true. I love both the radio and this movie, despite having its flaws

[@CrypticCharm]

@@TabathaTMartin me too, i heard the radio show, a while back, it's on youtube and since the book came out 37 years earlier, there since it's Science Fiction, a good chance that many people had never heard of the book, and couldn't make the comparison. even though the outrage and panic, wasn't as extreme as was rumoured, you can see how many could have taken it as fact, especially if they missed the beginning. What Welles did was genius, but changing the European cities for USA ones, making the danger feel closer to home, and bringing in the audience. it was true genius, turning a book, into a broadcast for radio.

[@TabathaTMartin]

@@CrypticCharm agreed

[@flyingace1234]

Oh I remember this movie. The disintegration ray always freaked me out as a kid. I also remember the Universal studio tour used to have the airplane set as part of it. It was pretty neat.

[@RobbieManic]

It's funny because my older sister is called Rachel, and my name is Robbie (big surprise!). When this film came out, I was around the same age as Rachel, and my sister was at the same age as Robbie. Weird coincidence.

[@xBloodxFangx]

fun little detail is the Grandparents are actually the actors from the original movie.

[@koneheadcokehead4981]

Another Fun Fact: A segment of a scene early in the film, in which people are seen fleeing from a tripod (panic-stricken crowd running along a street while buildings are being destroyed by a tripod in the background), recreates the subject-matter of the painting "Panic in the Streets" by Geoff Taylor, a print of which was included in the booklet accompanying the 1978 release of "Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of The Worlds".

[@philokrnotch387]

4:58 One of the ideas I got from this story was these characters don't know anything about each other. The audience is thrown into the story as it they are. We learn with images that Dad is into cars, builds engines, works a lot. Daughter absorbs information and is probably autistic. Son is all over the place. He hates his dad and mom, driven by things he doesn't understand. Doesn't know his kids. The kids don't know him. But they have to trust this guy. And this guy needs to get it done. Besides given the time this came out. We didn't actually know if anyone else was going to make it, save Ray.

[@JamesASharp]

War Of The Worlds, like Jurassic Park, is a horror film in disguise. This film has aged very well.

[@EChacon]

Literally the film becomes more horror/psychological thriller as the film progresses especially when Ray and Rachel were hiding in the basement with the schizophrenic deranged Harlan played by Tim Robbins all while hiding from the Tripod’s Probe and Aliens.

[@JamesASharp]

@@EChacon FACTS!

[@santos8468]

It really has. I rewatched it a while back and liked it better than when I originally saw it. I still can't stand the kids, though.

[@jackbassindale4336]

“Peach Schnapps” “How did you know what they called me in my college days?” 😂😂

[@WaLTeRDeFiNiS]

Ok, I bursted out laughing at the Tim Robbins vs Tom Cruise fight

[@ClutchCargo001]

I can no longer watch the '05 WOTW without overlaying it with Scary Movie 4.

[@georgeeastwood6930]

Dakota Fanning hiding from threatening aliens? I’m surprised you didn’t have any “Coraline” jokes, or reference a character she also encountered in the 2000’s to be even scarier than the Other Mother… the Cat from “The Cat In The Hat”!! 😫

[@vrgamer3371]

The 5:57 mars attacks reference was gold

[@klimmr]

3:58 Putin's an alien! I KNEW IT!!!

[@Cherry-bq4oh]

When I went to Universal Studios in 2013 I actually saw the plane crash set from war of the worlds. It looks so good because they actually bought an old decommissioned airliner and ripped it to shreds. They had the smoke generators/flame effects running and it really did look like a plane that just crashed a few hours before. Honestly I have no idea how they stop it from getting damaged by weather.

[@DimitarKolarov-hy2ex]

2:27 Happy 25th Anniversary, SpongeBob

[@Happymali10]

6:35 I REALLY recommend watching the making of. An absurd amount of the chaos and destruction during the initial attack was done in-camera.

[@koneheadcokehead4981]

Another Fun Fact: Had a 72-day shooting schedule. This was the same amount of time used for Steven Spielberg's previous movies, "Schindler's List" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark."