> 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.