Escaping the heat: @ the movies - War of the Worlds

Its been rather warm here in LA. I hear it is warm in Kansas too!

My 1920s style apartment has an old electrical system; thus, air-conditioning units aren't allowed.

To escape the heat, I wondered off to the movie house to see ...



which is a re-make of this ...



I can't remember when I saw the original. It was simply too long ago to remember specifics. It was probably on some lazy Summer day or night when I was a grade schooler idly passing time in front of the tube. Anyway, I do remember the aliens rampaged all over Los Angeles!

Anyway, on this recent lazy summer night, I saw the re-make.

I have to say I'm finding Tom Cruise's schtick of the slightly crazed obnoxious guy routine is getting a little old. Actually, it got old to me quite a few films ago.

The original was shot from the point of view of the scientist and the military fighting the aliens. Thus, I liked the re-make's idea of the film from the perspective of individuals fleeing from the calamity. This allowed for quite a few "peril and destruction" special effects set pieces.

John Williams' sound track was nothing special but serviceable and not as intrusive as he can be at times. Maybe as a composer he is learning to be less bombastic.

To read more about the new version of the film, check out this FAQ over at IMDB.

Three stars out of four. If you are in the mood for action adventure with great visual effects then this fits the bill. It won't be in the top tier of the Spielberg canon but it is yet another solid effort.