War of the Worlds

In 2005 Spielberg decided to reteam with Tom Cruise for another sci-fi movie, a remake of the H.G. Wells story, War of the Worlds. The original film from the 1950’s became a minor classic, and generally regarded as better than some of the B-movie sci-fi schlock that came out during the same era. Spielberg’s film would take a different approach, one that was more personal by following a single family and their struggle to survive during the alien attack.
Cruise once again plays a compelling lead, an absentee divorced father forced to get his kids to safety. Dakota Fanning, of the most popular child actresses in the early 2000’s, plays his daughter and brings emotional honesty and innocence to the film. It’s impressive how well she can convey being terrified in this film, which goes along way to sell the scary scenes. We even get everyone’s favorite film narrator, Morgan Freeman, to bookend the film.

The set pieces and special effects are equally impressive. This film is more sci-fi horror than any of Spielberg’s previous works in the genre, and everything from the large ships, probes, or aliens themselves bring the creepiness to life. Stylistically it’s probably the closest Spielberg got to something similar to his Jurassic Park films, but it also works as an interesting dichotomy of his previous sci-fi films, particularly Close Encounters of the Third Kind, with a focus on hostile aliens.

The sound design is a huge factor in this film. I still recall seeing it in theaters and how much those “fog-horn” alien sounds would literally shake the walls. I think Spielberg really wanted the sound effects to be a major component for this film, so much so that the score by Williams usually gets forced into the background for many scenes. It’s the right call for the film, but it results in a Spielberg film that is less influenced by the music than normal.

The score by Williams is interesting, and recalls a lot of his other music from the same period. Some mystery elements similar to A.I., some dense dramatic moments not unlike Revenge of the Sith, and some frantic action cues the bear resemblance to his work on The Lost World and Minority Report. There are even a few suspenseful cues that resemble the music of Herrmann. Although these ideas are intriguing, Williams never really gets a chance to develop a strong central thematic identity for the score.

As a result, it remains my least favorite Williams score for a Spielberg film. It’s certainly adequate, and works better in film than on album, but hey, some score had to be last on my list. At least the film is a real winner. It’s an intense and powerful action/horror hybrid that is very exciting, with the only weakness being a somewhat forced happy ending (also, that’s my same review for Godzilla Minus-1 too). I’d say it’s probably a top-10 alien invasion film and a unique but no less compelling entry into Spielberg’s filmography.

Film: ****
Score: ***

P.S. Coincidently there’s a new “War of the Worlds” movie on Prime. Last I checked, it had a 0% Rotten Tomatoes rating. I have no plans to watch or review it.

Easily one of the scariest films I've seen, and what sticks with me is its unyielding, oppressive atmosphere of anxiety. You *never* feel at ease, much like how the characters are never truly safe. In fact, I saw this in theaters as a kid, and it scarred me with how scary it was! Spent a solid year worried about tripods popping out of the ground! Still a top-10 Spielberg film for me.

The score, I basically agree with you on, though I think I'm a teensy bit higher on it. I've seen it compared to Rite of Spring, and yeah, that atonal propulsive nature of the atmosphere strongly reminds of it. One of the few Williams scores where it's more effective than enjoyable, yet when the weather and mood is right, it's a fun listen, in its own way lol. Great review!

> Easily one of the scariest films I've seen, and what sticks with me is its
> unyielding, oppressive atmosphere of anxiety. You *never* feel at ease,
> much like how the characters are never truly safe. In fact, I saw this in
> theaters as a kid, and it scarred me with how scary it was! Spent a solid
> year worried about tripods popping out of the ground! Still a top-10
> Spielberg film for me.

You're exactly right about the anxiety aspect of the film. Fortunately the small character moments between those more intense scenes keeps the film well paced.

> The score, I basically agree with you on, though I think I'm a teensy bit
> higher on it. I've seen it compared to Rite of Spring, and yeah, that
> atonal propulsive nature of the atmosphere strongly reminds of it. One of
> the few Williams scores where it's more effective than enjoyable, yet when
> the weather and mood is right, it's a fun listen, in its own way lol.
> Great review!

Thanks!

> War of the Worlds

> In 2005 Spielberg decided to reteam with Tom Cruise for another sci-fi
> movie, a remake of the H.G. Wells story, War of the Worlds. The original
> film from the 1950’s became a minor classic, and generally regarded as
> better than some of the B-movie sci-fi schlock that came out during the
> same era. Spielberg’s film would take a different approach, one that was
> more personal by following a single family and their struggle to survive
> during the alien attack.
> Cruise once again plays a compelling lead, an absentee divorced father
> forced to get his kids to safety. Dakota Fanning, of the most popular
> child actresses in the early 2000’s, plays his daughter and brings
> emotional honesty and innocence to the film. It’s impressive how well she
> can convey being terrified in this film, which goes along way to sell the
> scary scenes. We even get everyone’s favorite film narrator, Morgan
> Freeman, to bookend the film.

> The set pieces and special effects are equally impressive. This film is
> more sci-fi horror than any of Spielberg’s previous works in the genre,
> and everything from the large ships, probes, or aliens themselves bring
> the creepiness to life. Stylistically it’s probably the closest Spielberg
> got to something similar to his Jurassic Park films, but it also works as
> an interesting dichotomy of his previous sci-fi films, particularly Close
> Encounters of the Third Kind, with a focus on hostile aliens.

> The sound design is a huge factor in this film. I still recall seeing it
> in theaters and how much those “fog-horn” alien sounds would literally
> shake the walls. I think Spielberg really wanted the sound effects to be a
> major component for this film, so much so that the score by Williams
> usually gets forced into the background for many scenes. It’s the right
> call for the film, but it results in a Spielberg film that is less
> influenced by the music than normal.

> The score by Williams is interesting, and recalls a lot of his other music
> from the same period. Some mystery elements similar to A.I., some dense
> dramatic moments not unlike Revenge of the Sith, and some frantic action
> cues the bear resemblance to his work on The Lost World and Minority
> Report. There are even a few suspenseful cues that resemble the music of
> Herrmann. Although these ideas are intriguing, Williams never really gets
> a chance to develop a strong central thematic identity for the score.

> As a result, it remains my least favorite Williams score for a Spielberg
> film. It’s certainly adequate, and works better in film than on album, but
> hey, some score had to be last on my list. At least the film is a real
> winner. It’s an intense and powerful action/horror hybrid that is very
> exciting, with the only weakness being a somewhat forced happy ending
> (also, that’s my same review for Godzilla Minus-1 too). I’d say it’s
> probably a top-10 alien invasion film and a unique but no less compelling
> entry into Spielberg’s filmography.

> Film: ****
> Score: ***

I'm a fairly ardent defender of both movie and score. Yes, the flick has it's problems - the teenage son is a shithead, the plot is repetitive, and the "happy" ending is dumb. But also, like, I mean...the ending isn't any dumber than, say, Dark Knight Rises (remember when the police chief was in hiding...in his house...wearing a nice turtleneck with the family around the supper table? How is that any more realistic than Cruise's family all being alive and smiling at the end of Worlds?).

Plus, the action/suspense setpieces are almost all fantastic. I don't get disturbed or scare easily but something about that movie gets me a bit. It's a lot spookier than it's ever gotten credit for.

And so is the score, dang it! I think it's one of Williams' most freaky and angry works and I kinda love that about it. I'd give both movie and music 4/5.

> I'm a fairly ardent defender of both movie and score. Yes, the flick has
> it's problems - the teenage son is a shithead, the plot is repetitive, and
> the 'happy' ending is dumb. But also, like, I mean...the ending isn't any
> dumber than, say, Dark Knight Rises (remember when the police chief was in
> hiding...in his house...wearing a nice turtleneck with the family around
> the supper table? How is that any more realistic than Cruise's family all
> being alive and smiling at the end of Worlds?).

> Plus, the action/suspense setpieces are almost all fantastic. I don't get
> disturbed or scare easily but something about that movie gets me a bit.
> It's a lot spookier than it's ever gotten credit for.

I agree with all of this.

> And so is the score, dang it! I think it's one of Williams' most freaky
> and angry works and I kinda love that about it. I'd give both movie and
> music 4/5.

It's certainly a unique score from Williams, it's just one I appreciate more than enjoy.

> War of the Worlds

I think the first two-thirds of the movie is utterly riveting, Spielberg delivering some very scary sequences while also delving head on into the paranoia of post-9/11 America. It’s only in the last third that things trip up a bit.

It’s a pity that the Cruise and Spielberg relationship broke down. They were great together.

> Although these ideas are intriguing, Williams never really gets a chance to develop a strong central thematic identity for the score.

I wonder if the film not being locked down and having a ton of unfinished effects - both rather new things for the composer - threw off his working process a bit.

> As a result, it remains my least favorite Williams score for a Spielberg film.

It’s better than Always for me. And maybe 1941 which I haven’t heard in over 15 years. But otherwise I agree.

> It’s better than Always for me. And maybe 1941 which I
> haven’t heard in over 15 years. But otherwise I agree.

Williams in 2005: https://youtu.be/YZWn6NBXPOw?feature=shared&t=38

Williams in 2008: https://youtu.be/d050eoxInrg?feature=shared&t=202

> Williams in 2005: https://youtu.be/YZWn6NBXPOw?feature=shared&t=38

> Williams in 2008: https://youtu.be/d050eoxInrg?feature=shared&t=202

>

I saw that movie at a late night showing in undergrad and might’ve been the only person in the theater who noticed that.

> I think the first two-thirds of the movie is utterly riveting, Spielberg
> delivering some very scary sequences while also delving head on into the
> paranoia of post-9/11 America. It’s only in the last third that things
> trip up a bit.

> It’s a pity that the Cruise and Spielberg relationship broke down. They
> were great together.

True. I was just thinking the other day about how many great directors Cruise has worked with in his career, and even within that group his 2 films with Spielberg still stand out.

> I wonder if the film not being locked down and having a ton of unfinished
> effects - both rather new things for the composer - threw off his working
> process a bit.

I sort of assumed it was just another situation of Williams being very busy during this year/period.

> It’s better than Always for me. And maybe 1941 which I
> haven’t heard in over 15 years. But otherwise I agree.

I think both of those still have highlights that lead me to rank them higher, especially the march from 1941.

> War of the Worlds

This movie was so fucking good it had me wearing a Boston Red Sox Hat like tom cruise...in New York.

I watched it again and noticed the kid had a Yankees hat on.

> This movie was so fucking good it had me wearing a Boston Red Sox Hat like
> tom cruise...in New York.

> I watched it again and noticed the kid had a Yankees hat on.

It's the other way around; Cruise in a Yankees hat and the kid in a Red Sox hat.

The nice little detail I noticed on my last re-watch is how this became my second favorite movie with Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman.