The War of the Worlds (2005)

User Rating:

2.8/10   

Director:

Timothy Hines

Writers:

H.G. Wells (novel)
Timothy Hines (screenplay) ...

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Action | Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

We can't stop them

Plot:

Martians launch a deadly attack on Earth.

Plot Keywords:

English | 1900s | Battle | Mars | Destruction

Cast

Anthony Piana	...	The Writer
Jack Clay	...	Ogilvy
James Lathrop	...	The Artilleryman
Darlene Sellers	...	Mrs. Elphinstone
John Kaufmann	...	The Curate
Jamie Lynn Sease	...	Miss Elphinstone
Susan Goforth	...	The Writer's Wife
W. Bernard Bauman	...	Henderson

Also Known As:

Classic War of the Worlds (International: English title) (recut version)
H.G. Wells' 'The War of the Worlds' (USA) (complete title)
The Great Boer War (USA) (fake working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sci-fi violence/gore, language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

179 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

USA:Unrated (unrated)

Filming Locations:

Seattle, Washington, USA

Company:

Pendragon Pictures

Trivia:

The copyright notice, despite being wrong in conventional Roman numerals, is actually correct in a more obscure (and disused) version of the system.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Modern shop fronts, litter bins and chrome outdoor seating outside a coffee shop can be seen in 1890's "London" (actually Seattle).

Movie Connections:

Version of "War of the Worlds" (1988)

Like Lord of the Rings - only with more walking. A LOT more walking. And then some.

I must admit I burst out laughing when I saw one reviewer compare this to LOTR. Well yes, if you exclude the dwarfs, the cast of thousands, the great special effects, the big battles, the strong characterization, the decent plot, the good acting, the classy direction and everything else. Which leaves you with the walking. And boy, does this film do walking! If Mr Piano had his way, this would probably be an uninterrupted three hours of hardcore walking through the Wisconsin countryside, but every 40 minutes or so these pesky Martians pop up for a few seconds to interrupt him before he goes for another bit of a ramble. You've never seen so much walking in a movie. If this really had a $20m budget, most of it must have gone on Mr Piano's shoes, because he had to get through plenty of pairs with all the walking he does. Which explains why there's no money left for decent effects, a decent video camera or proper actors. Honestly, it's like watching some bizarre fetish video for people with a thing about going for long walks in period costumes. Even on fast-forward, this is a looonnnggg walk.

As for the sci-fi stuff, I think it was a mistake to put Martians in the film: they only get in the way of the walking, which is clearly much more interesting to the director than the story.

I wonder how much Mr Piano charges to walk dogs?