H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

A complete turd, 2008-04-14
Wow, that's about all I can say. Well aparently it isn't all I can say because I am still typing. The two positive reviews for this film are obviously investors in the film, and can't be believed. It's apparent that both Jake Busey and Peter Greene have mortgage payments to be made, and the rest of the class reminds me of the acting you'd find on some bad SciFi channel original movie. Well maybe you should buy this movie, just to see how bad it is. Three or four times I actually laughed out loud at the special effects. The "special" effects are more special = retarded, than special = unique. More RTD than CGI. Whatever you get the idea, if you like to watch really very bad predictable movies, this one is for you.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

A Real Stinker, 2008-03-22
I purchased this to "showcase" the George Pal version from 1953 because for certain classic films I like having differing versions for comparison to the original. This version makes almost *any* film look good. Even "Plan 9 from Outer Space"! br / br /The scriptwriters appear to have used only the most basic premise and enough plot points to keep the title of the book. The script is pedestrian, full of trite dialog and lots of moments with horrible pacing and extremely flawed logic. It tries to be sophisticated, but simply flounders under the weight of it's own pretensions. The acting, if you can call it that, is wooden, stilted, simply terrible. However, in all fairness it could be the poor script and/or direction that caused the acting to suffer. The few special effects are passable for a "made for TV" type production but overall unremarkable and lackluster. The Martian ships look like rejects from "Starship Troopers" bug population walking around on 6, not 3, legs. Overall this direct-to-video film looks and plays like an incredibly poor "made for TV" type movie. Worse than the worst "made for Sci-Fi Channel" movie you could imagine. Even worse than the worst high school play you've ever seen. I knew I was in trouble after the first 5 minutes and it just went downhill after that. I normally watch everything I purchase, but this one was so bad I was compelled to skip 5-10 minute segments several times just to get through a single viewing. br / br /Productions like this are what give the direct-to-video market a bad rap. 0 stars really.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

A must for a War of the worlds fan., 2008-02-07
Great actors, good solid screen play based on a great novel, OK visible effects without over using them. C. Thomas Howell, Peter Greene, Jake Busey and Andy Lauer are good actors who WANT these parts. Tinarie Van Wyk-Loots looks good topless and Rhett Giles makes a good priest. The decision to allow us to meet the priest while he still has his faith is a good one and I feel the movie does a good job of following the novel while also giving a nod to the first 50s War of the Worlds. A must. Buy it!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Rare Miss, 2007-12-15
The studio that produced this. the asylum, has made a rare miss of a film. instead of being horrible it is complemented by strong acting, a good story and average special effects. a sweet suprise.