War of the Worlds - Goliath

[Bako]

Though obviously a few of the die-hards here aren't too excited about the movie, I don't see why not. I personally am a great fan of the book having my own ancient copy of it, but I also look forward to seeing this.

And for the record, I do not want to ever see a movie extremely faithful to the book because even if it does reach this level it still isn't close to on par with the book IMHO. Part of what makes books special is how they allow us to visualize what we comprehend from chicken-scratch on bits of compressed wood particles. Do we really want something like the once perfect stories and poems reduced to a state comparable with those featured in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451? Pah I say. They may look good as movies but they'll never live up to the quality of a good book.

That note aside. The idea for this movie's plot is that it takes place after the first invasion in which those fine British chaps have reverse-engineered the technology from the martians' walkers, giving them an enormous technological boost in certain areas. So I see no reason for the notion of 'too advanced for WWI era' when it's the spoils of war.

Though obviously so, I believe the visible heat-ray is either a designer blunder or something meant to draw the lesser-knowing in with some kind of laser effects show.

I think it will be an interesting sci-fi show if anything. The dog-fights in that preview have this very 'Independence Day' feel about them.

[OSHIROmodels]

chicken-scratch on bits of compressed wood particles.

I think I'm right in thinking that you mean books, yes? 

I must agree with everypoint you put forward there (similar to mine but in a damn sight better fasion  )

I think the visable heat-ray is a 'quick-fix' for explaining what it is (if that makes sense  )

cheers

James

[rjandron]

Well, I'll certainly be looking forward to this one. Looks really cool and it fits with the retro-SF that I find appealing (though I might argue it's more "pulp" than steampunk/VSF--but that's just me).

 

[Bako]

I think I'm right in thinking that you mean books, yes? 

Well yes, quite.

[Dewbakuk]

The heat ray being visible will be for the same reason sci-fi shows let you hear lasers and explosions in space. It gives a simple and obvious visual (for the ray) link between the weapon and it's target that doesn't require lengthy explanations etc.

[Gluteus Maximus]

Looks pretty good to me. The start of the clip showing the original WOTW tripods etc looked fairly "accurate" and something set 15 years further on would be far beyond WW1 tech, if they managed to acquire all the Martians' secrets. The graphic novel "Scarlet Traces" was set in a post WOTW world and that was very good indeed, with the tech being very advanced, so I'm hoping this will be good too. Whatever, I'll probably get the DVD when it's released.

And yes, floating aircraft carriers are mega-cool 

[Predatorpt]

If anyone is interested, the movie is now available 

I'm seeing it right now - I'll post a review later.

[OSHIROmodels]

Interested to know what it's like but I'll probably get it anyway 

cheers

James

[Predatorpt]

Ok, just finished it.

I can say it made me want to play "All Quiet on the Martian Front" or something similar...but...the movie isn't really that good 

Yes, we get to see some rather impressive retro-futuristic cities and equipment but the character's animation is awful and most of the Tripods/airplanes/fighters are CGI-animated so they don't really blend with the surroundings (95% of the explosions are just ridiculous, with the vehicles breaking apart in neat little blocks - and no, this is the final version of the movie not some WIP version).

The characters are walking cliches (the Irish are all IRA; the Germans are all warmongers, the only Japanese is a Samurai, etc.), there's lots of "inspiration" taken from the movie Independence Day - the Martian fighters; the canyon chase; the mothership. And did I mention the weak animation? 99% of the male characters look Superman from 90's Animated Adventures:



The story isn't that good - they start by showing that the Human Alliance is breaking apart due to the imminence of WW1 (yes, the Martians invaded in 1895, we reversed-engineered some of their tech and took a civilizational leap, but in 1914 the Great War will happen...for the same damn reasons that in OTL!) but then the Martians invade again! And that's just in the first minutes of the movie... then we unite again and fight the Martians. There's also a subplot with some IRA guys who want to use Martian tech to liberate Ireland from the UK, but then the Martians invade...

And did I mention the reversed-engineered tech? Ok, we get:

a)these neat Human heavy tripods (who get destroyed by 1 measly heat-ray hit, except when the story demands otherwise - in those cases they just loose a leg);

b) scout tripods (who don't do much, are armed with machine-guns/light cannons and are destroyed with 1 shot! Again! But if the story needs it, they'll just catch fire);

c) propeller airplanes armed with missiles and heat guns but also with the old machine-guns in front of the pilot  and jet engines that give them a boost when needed (which is really stupid - if the airframe of that type of propeller airplane can withstand a jet engine in the back, why not go for a full jet airframe?  )

d) flying aircraft carriers/battleships (I guess the Martians had anti-grav devices during the first invasion? These ships are gigantic but can fly between the streets of New York if the plot needs it).

One piece of Human tech that seems to be widespread is automatic rifle (they look like some advanced Maxim guns). Everyone uses one...and I mean everyone! They all seem to be masters of the "spray and pray" doctrine and do that even if the weapons do no harm to the Martian tripods. Of course I'm mentioning this for a reason other than bash the tactics of fictional army in a fiction war in an animated movie. I do it because some of the heroes suffer from this well-known syndrome:



Humans have all these neat Heavy tripods, that can destroy/damage Martian Tripods when the plot needs it, but most of the time they prefer to get on top of their turrets and spray and pray with their weapons (being them portable heat-rays or heavy machine guns) 

I give it a 3 out of 10. It could be wayyyyyy better and now I understand why it took 2 years to be released!

And here's the most recent trailer, where you can see almost all of the things I mentioned

[Amalric]

The trailer doesn't look that bad and there are worse things than copying Bruce Tim's style but Netflix doesn't have it.
Amazon does, but I don't know if I want to drop $13 when I could use that for minis.

Thanks for letting us know it was released.

[OSHIROmodels]

Probably still get it 

Cheers for the review 

cheers

James

[VSF Gamer]

I rented this through Amazon Prime for $3.99. I agree with everything said. If this would have been set between the wars say 1935 it would have been better and easier to accept, but building this kind of equipment, this much equipment was a bit much for me. Although I do agree that I'm ready to play a major engagement of some sort using the walkers and flyers I have. Worth owning questionable, worth watching, at least once.

[Vonkluge]

The tech mismatch is a bit to much for me....looks like someone surfed the internet and just copped the cool stuff they saw put it in "their" movie version with out any "real" knowledge or thought as to the technology line. Bi-planes on one hand with deathray walkers on the other....pass