MovieChat Forums > War of the Worlds (2005) Discussion > is this the worst spielberg movie?

is this the worst spielberg movie?

posted 3 years ago by e3e34ifj (1789)
17 replies | jump to latest

i just finished watching it on tv and wow it was really bad. good cgi and good music, some cool shots here and there but everything else was awful.

the characters are all terrible, stupid, or unlikable. tom cruise is a lazy piece of shit who openly neglects his kids and goes on a journey to dump them off so he can be alone. wow, what a great guy. i really want to see him succeed!!! not. he is always right and he literally dodges lazers like he's in mission impossible. that one edgy teen is so stupid with his "i wanna fight back!" crap like really? the kid literally runs off into a blazing battlefield! so stupid. dakoda fanning is ungodly annoying, all she does is scream. tim ribbins plays the worst character of all time. what were the writers thinking with him? and who was that random woman they meet on the boat, acting like they were buddies? the funniest part is when tom cruise's boss would rather argue about their job while there is a giant alien tripod blowing up stuff behind theim! he even gets blasted away and he doesn't even care!!! HOW DO THESE GINORMOUS TRIPODS KEEP SNEAKING UP ON PEOPLE??? THEY ARE 50 STORIES TALL! YET in 90% of the scenes they just appear out of nowhere. people seriously cant hear or see these things the size of skyscrapers walking towards them???

sorry i rambled on but yeah this movie sucks. i remember it being awesome but i was shocked at how much i disliked it, besides a few cool explosion scenes. i cant think of a worse spielberg flick. maybe always? even indy 4 is better.

[–] degray9 (1126) 3 years ago

No way is this the worst Spielberg movie, this was made when he was still at least somewhat motivated to make entertaining movies. The opening tripod attack looks great, and there’s a feeling of impending doom throughout the first half of the movie that feels authentic. I would say Spielberg started to suck shorty after this, and soon ended up making boring melodramas (War Horse, Bridge of Spies, The Post) or horrible uncanny valley CGI messes (Ready Player One, Tintin, BFG) for the rest of his career.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8597) 3 years ago

I think you're being a little hard on Spielberg and his later work. While I agree that he seems to have lost a step since his prime, I have enjoyed several of his later films.

Looking at his filmography after War of the Worlds, I can say that I think Munich is a legitimately great movie. Maybe not as great as his very best stuff, but still a very well-made film. And while Lincoln took me two viewings to really appreciate, I think it's also a very solid film as well.

Bridge of Spies is good. The Post, while not as good as the films above, I thought was also a solid watch, like a 7/10. And Ready Player One, yes, is a bit messy in some respects, and I was hoping for more from it, but I still enjoyed it well enough to throw it into the "good" category, even if it's not "very good" or "great."

[–] Drooch (5333) 3 years ago

God no, it’s one of his best, and his second Holocaust movie.

[–] e3e34ifj (1789) 3 years ago

you must be a crack addict if you think this is one of his best...better than jaws, duel, saving private ryan, shcindlers list, munich, the color purple, sugarland express, jurassic park, ET, jeez the list goes on

[–] Drooch (5333) 3 years ago

It’s in his top-tier along with Jurassic, Ryan, Jaws and others not on your list like Indiana Jones and Minority Report.

Munich, A.I. and many others are B tier.

War Horse and a few others are C tier.

[–] e3e34ifj (1789) 3 years ago

minority report is a cool action flick, nothing more or less. it is nearly ruined by the very last minute of the movie but i would not say it is an A+ movie. speilburg has so many excellent movies. this film is not excellent. tom cruise is terrible.

[–] Drooch (5333) 3 years ago

Actually it’s a very good adaptation of a Philip K Dick novel, filtered through Spielberg’s genius filmmaking. The action is excellent but actually very brief for an almost 2 1/2 hour film, which is more of a whodunnit thriller than an ‘action film’.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8597) 3 years ago

I think War of the Worlds is certainly watchable--it's not a bad movie--but I definitely wouldn't say it's "one of his best."

I'm looking at his filmography right now, and of the films I've seen (most of them) I would probably put at least half ahead of War of the Worlds.

I'd definitely say these films are better than WotW: Jaws, Close Encounters, E.T., Indy 1-3, Hook, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, Munich, Lincoln.

These are probably roughly equal with WotW: The Terminal, Bridge of Spies

And I'd put WotW ahead of: Amistad, A.I., Indy IV, Tintin, War Horse, The BFG, The Post, Ready Player One

[–] spurtle467 (1527) 3 years ago

This movie has many flaws such as the annoying kids and the ridiculous survivability of the family but I do find it entertaining. The build up to the tripods appearing is done well and the first half in general has some good set piece moments. It loses steam in the second half when they reach Tim Robbins, and then the final is just a cop out.

It's not Spielberg's worst movie but it wouldn't make my top 10 of his either.

[–] trevorh321 (5495) 3 years ago

No. Minus the son, I enjoyed this film a lot. Then there was that odd sojourn into that mad man's basement.

But Spielberg's worst film for me is still Always.

[–] BillySlater (4192) 3 years ago

I agree about the sojourn but the scene where they are hiding was intense.

[–] BillySlater (4192) 3 years ago

That guy wasn´t Tom Cruise´s boss. He was just a mechanic friend. And they weren´t arguing about their "job". They were arguing because Tom Cruise´s character was about to steal someone else´s car and he did care because he told him to get in the car but got ignored.

[–] e3e34ifj (1789) 3 years ago

but was he deaf or something? did he not hear or feel that giant death machine stomping towards him? and he also calls a minivan a 'truck' so he must be retarded

[–] BillySlater (4192) 3 years ago

Lingo is dependant on where someone lives. Its probably a New Jersey/NY thing to call a van a truck. I give him the benefit of the doubt for having "tunnel vision" because Ray was about to steal one of his vehicles.

[–] Drooch (5333) 2 years ago

The tripods are taller than anything in the area, they could have zapped him from a mile away, plus for their size they’re relatively quiet, with a slender amphibian quality, they’re not roaring tanks.

Plus, Manny was yelling at Ray to get out the car, it’s perfectly plausible that he was too distracted to see what hit him.

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 3 years ago

A.I. is his worst.

Lost World and Indy 4 are also pretty bad.

Ready Player One and Coolr Purple were meh in my book too.

WotW is a decent film.

[–] Druff (1709) 3 years ago

It's certainly not his best, but nowhere near his worst. GTFO with that laughable hot take.