I have seen this film a number of times. I love it and was very happy to see it last night yet again (as it was on one of the BBC channels - without the adverts! Wow!). The alien invasion - aliens exterminating people, extracting their blood and tissue out of them - story of one man and his children struggling to survive and trying to get to Boston to reunite the children with their mother. Anyway, is there anybody out there who does not know the story more or less? The novel by H.G. Wells written at the end of the 19th century has inspired many radio and film producers. There were some radio adaptations - with the most famous of all: Orson Welles' adaptation in 1938, which caused panic among the public (as they thought the invasion was actually happening) - this event was then depicted in films ("The Night that Panicked America" made in the 70s was the one I saw years ago). Then there were films for the big screen and even TV series. Well, I love this one - (2005) 'War of the Worlds' directed by no other than famous Steven Spielberg. As it is based in modern times it is more interesting and believable, in my opinion. I take it, special effects have also something to do with it. Not to mention the leading actor - Tom Cruise, and a little Dakota Fanning as his daughter. To sum up, great story, great movie!
Now, after I have made it clear that I love the film, I would like to comment, or more like ask questions in regards to certain things that I noticed while watching it last night. First of all, what really stroke me this time was the fact that while the lightning storm disabled all electronic equipment (everything including cars, electric/lights in the houses even watches), there was someone taking photos and even recording with a video camera the first tripod emerging from underground just after the lightning storm! Figure that! Since everything electronic/electrical went dead - how come the video camera was working?
Secondly, surely Roy (the main character) wouldn't be able to get water from the tab in his house if all power equipment was not functioning. As far as I know, you need power to pump water into the pipes and up to the tabs.
Thirdly, they were able to start a car and travel sticking to normal roads, and out of the city almost uninterrupted. Yes, sides of the roads were full of dead cars, and there was enough space for them to pass. As if all the drivers suspected: no cars are working but never mind, someone will be driving this way anyway so we need to clear the road by moving all the cars out of the way to the side of the road. ??? A bit unbelievable. At least this is what it looked like to me. Though, on the other hand, roads in US are so much more spacious than in Europe, so who knows.
Also, I was observing that lovely leather jacket of Roy's and noticed that, when they were sleeping in the basement when the plane fell down near the house, Roy was not wearing the jacket and only managed to pick up his gun from the armchair before he run to another lower level cellar/boiler room to escape the explosion. The jacket, like everything else that was left in that basement, must have burnt. But then it suddenly appeared later on - Roy was wearing it again (in perfect condition) when they were leaving the place.
Moreover, the aliens, even though they were so much more advanced than people, as the movie suggests they had planned the invasion for thousands if not millions of years by firstly burying the machines underground before humans arrived, yet now when searching houses for hidden humans they used optical 'cameras' and not infrared cameras. Hello! infrared vision has been known for a long time. Were the aliens a bit slow in that respect or may be since the machines had been underground for thousands of years they were simply not equipped with the night vision? Anyway, may be it was just because the producers wanted to add some more drama to already dramatic situation (when they had to hide from the searching eye-look-alike camera). And add they did. It was really nerve-wrecking to see the characters moving around the basement in silence hiding from the evil eye, and I was almost shaking inside with anxiety even though I knew the outcome, having seen the movie a few times before. Silly me!
All in all, film is very entertaining and if one watches it carefully there is always something to think about/wonder about afterwards.
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