Post #169439 by Chip and Andy on Sun, Jul 3, 2005 7:20 AM

"The best Spielberg movie you don't want to go see!"

or

"The worst Sci Fi film staring Tom Cruise that you can't help but to go see."

The story more closely follows the great 1958 film version, minus the love interest. That has been replaced by a 'Father saving his family and isn't that what every father wants nothing more than to do than to save his family from huge machines from another world' thread that lays down some heavy moral values and lots of heart-tugging scenes and 'oh my god are they going to make it?' moments and the like. Bleah!

Get to the monsters! Amazing! The entrance is a bit effect heavy, but man when they fire up that death-ray thing it gets really exciting! The sounds of the machine really make your short hairs stand up. They bring in the red-weed from the book, and it makes for an interesting moment between Tim Robbins and Tom Cruise. Not saying any more on that one other than the red-weed is some really neat CGI!

Now, Tom Cruise: He plays, well, Tom Cruise. His singular vacant stare and disconnect from every other actor in the scene with him seems to be why they keep hiring him. He acted just like he did in the previous 5 movies, just different costuming.

Dakota Fanning: Well, she is going to grow up as some kind of crack-ho messed up child star, a la Drew Barrymore. She seems to have one good talent and that is the ability to freak-out and then go into some kind of zombie like state and stare into the distance. That is, she can stare into the distance and manage to block out everything around here except that tiny spec of the universe in front of her that she seems to be willing herself to transport to. Creepy, but that is about all she has done in her short movie and TV career.

Everyone else: The Machines were amazing, a wonderful mixture of something futuristic and something old-school mechanical. Like industrial-age meets space-age and done very well.

Now, it may seem like I am totally ragging on this film, and your right! I had so much fun with it, a hot Saturday afternoon, a cool theater, some pop-corn and my wahine. What is not to love. But, would I recommend this film, probably not. Well, probably. I highly recommend afternoon matinee, or double feature at the drive-in. I wouldn't shell out the bucks to see this one full price. But, the effects are impressive enough to want the big screen.

So, you decide:

"The best Spielberg film you don't want to see" or "the worst Tom Cruise package you can't help but go see."

Oh, and one more thing for those of you that play these kinds of games at movies:

Count the number of Cafe Bustello coffee cans you see in the film. This is one of the best played and most entertaining (and odd) Conspicuous Product Placements I have seen in some time!