Post by phantomparticle on Jun 21, 2021 0:53:10 GMT
I'll give the 1953 movie a slim edge.
I really like Spielberg's version but its faults come close to wrecking the whole film. Most egregious is the relationship between Cruise and his son. There is the father doing everything he can to save his family and all he gets is attitude from the kid. I wish Spielberg had had the guts to kill the insufferable bastard and not bring him back for the last scene. Most fans feel the same way about Dakota Fanning and her incessant crying, but how else would a little girl act under such conditions.
The scene in the basement is another major problem. For crying out loud, isn't there enough mayhem going on without adding a madman to the mix? Neither the 2005 nor the original measures up to the chilling description in the novel, but Pal's version is quicker, works up some real suspense, then tops the moment off with a great monster.
What I think really works in the Spielberg movie is that we don't know anything more than the characters. There are no cuts to military and political planning, nothing but the unending rush to escape. There is no release from the tension from the moment the Martian machines are revealed to their destruction.
I wasn't sure that moving the story from 19th Century England to 20th Century America was the right choice, but was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the result.
I really like Spielberg's version but its faults come close to wrecking the whole film. Most egregious is the relationship between Cruise and his son. There is the father doing everything he can to save his family and all he gets is attitude from the kid. I wish Spielberg had had the guts to kill the insufferable bastard and not bring him back for the last scene. Most fans feel the same way about Dakota Fanning and her incessant crying, but how else would a little girl act under such conditions.
The scene in the basement is another major problem. For crying out loud, isn't there enough mayhem going on without adding a madman to the mix? Neither the 2005 nor the original measures up to the chilling description in the novel, but Pal's version is quicker, works up some real suspense, then tops the moment off with a great monster.
What I think really works in the Spielberg movie is that we don't know anything more than the characters. There are no cuts to military and political planning, nothing but the unending rush to escape. There is no release from the tension from the moment the Martian machines are revealed to their destruction.
I wasn't sure that moving the story from 19th Century England to 20th Century America was the right choice, but was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the result.