Love it. Bobcat Goldthwait is a flippin’ genius.
Worth mentioning as well that TV’s Frank Conniff has a small role as Rush Limbaugh type fire breathing radical talking head…
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I like this too, it was well done and unique. Also it was nice to see Anna Chlumsky return to acting after taking a pretty long break following her childhood fame…
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Did you ever see the BBC mini-series version? It’s really good. Made around the same time as The Tripods, I think.
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I think portrayals of religions have become more complex and nuanced, as is proper. It’s a complex topic that is too often reduced to dualistic simplicity by some. I think the way religion was shown in this particular era is very Hays Code, the same way that patriotism is reduced to Americans being unambiguous square-jawed good guys and everyone else being foreign stereotypes. That period sucked a lot of subtlety out of Hollywood films.
It is, I’d say it’s the best of the lot so far for that novel. Still amazes me that his book The Kraken Wakes hasn’t been adapted, it’s crazy-good cinematic material.
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The best War of the Worlds adaptations seem to be all audio and much altered. Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version is a long time favorite. Also is Orson Welles’s 1938 radio broadcast based on the original (assuming it wasn’t reporting an actual invasion via the 8th dimension).
Closest to the book, maybe, is The Coming of the Martians: A faithful audio adaptation of H. G. Wells’ ‘The War of the Worlds’ from the 2018 Kickstarter. (It is unable to use WotW as the main title due to threats of legal action by Jeff Wayne’s group to defend their EU trademark.) It has a great 5.1 soundscape and good acting. It’s apparently quite faithful to the scenes of the book, but avoids most narration, which is the bulk of the book’s style and character.
But maybe I’m not the best judge of “best”. After all, I did watch the War of the Worlds 1988 TV series and I kind of liked it. (“To Life Immortal!”) 
… which, I guess, can serve as this post’s addition to the “Anyone Else Ever See…” topic.
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Yes, I watched that too. Enjoyed it at the time, though it hasn’t quite held up over the years. The second season where it plunged into near-future dystopianism was awful, however.
The series was actually intended as a direct sequel to the earlier movie. There was even an appearance by the manta-ray ships and heat ray.
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I liked Spielberg’s WOTW, saw it in theaters and on the big screen those tripods were terrifying Sure, he’s taking a page from himself (Jaws, you hear the music, uh, oh) Here, you hear that awful sound, and then see them towering on the horizon as you’re trying to get on a ferry.
I don’t really care if it follows the book at that point (though I get wanting that from someone, somewhere - see my rant on Thor: Ragnarok… mother crabbers, you had Hela, you had a great actress, you had the look… but you f—up the character!!!). So I get that, but on a visceral level, it had me riveted and shook up.
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Always thought this movie deserved more love. I’m a bit of a sucker for the whole idea of interconnectedness beyond knowing. This and Cloud Atlas always give me that, " I’m not crying, I just have allergies. " moment.
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Great Aimee Mann soundtrack too
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I’d be hard-pressed to name a mainstream American film from the past 10 years that portrays religion at all. (I didn’t see the Ben Hur remake or Aronofsky’s Noah, so I don’t know what they do.)
I’ve heard that, but then when I go back and look at the films of the '40s and '50s, I don’t see that at all. Much like how Westerns of that era were much more sophisticated than they are given credit for. A huge caveat, of course, is that I’m watching the best stuff, by-and-large, with the benefit of hindsight, so I’m probably missing the biggest offenders.
Like, William Wyler’s Friendly Persuasion (1956), I would say is a more nuanced and mature look at religion and what it means to have beliefs when your feet are held to the fire. I cannot think of a mainstream American analog made in my lifetime.
While I can definitely point to some things that Hays required that strike me as downright criminal (at least artistically 
), I don’t see a lot of the unambiguousness of which you speak. Like, I expected a lot of it in Westerns, but the Indians are seldom just bad guys. For every Fu Manchu, you’ll find a Charlie Chan.
I’m not sure how much subtlety—well, there’s the old saw of “Will it play in Peoria?” and the answer there always was, “Well, is it that they’re that parochial in Peoria, or do you guys in Hollywood just think that?”
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That ending…that last shot…I’m totally with you.
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Has anyone ever seen the pseudodocumentary films of Peter Watkins? I’ve seen three of them and they’re all brutal, but amazing. There’s Culloden, about the 18th century battle as if a TV crew were there, The War Game, about Britain before, during and after a nuclear war, and Punishment Park, a dystopian film about dissident youth being sent through a course in the desert as training for soldiers and police. Highly recommended if you have the stomach for them.
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I’ve heard of The War Game, but never seen it. Will have to check it out. Growing up during the cold war I’ve seen most of the nuke scare films from then, but that one slipped by. The other two certainly look interesting.
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It’s the one he’s most famous for, but I actually like Punishment Park the most.
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Just watched it, that was fun! Even if it was edited on an Osterizer. Also great seeing Elaine Giftos in this. And I love that the leader of the respectful golf bikers was Marshal McLuhan. 
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Ok, now can you explain the ending? Because I still haven’t figured it out.
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I’ll spoiler tag my take, in case anyone is still waiting to see the movie and doesn’t want to know the ending. Also spoiler-tagging some additional comments on the film.
The return of all the “dead” characters and other primary characters was in keeping with the “playful apocalypse” feel of the film. Nobody was taking anything too seriously, and thus there were no serious consequences for their actions. The appearance of all the masked figures from the truck were avatars of peace (Lincoln, Gandhi, MLK, etc), reifying the idea that “peace is the way”. And the final appearance of Alfred E. Newman was a coda saying “don’t worry, enjoy being silly”. At least that’s my take.
A couple other really clever bits in the film were the part at the beginning where the cop is looking for a “long haired man in weird clothes” who came into the church and caused trouble, with the camera work pointing out the description also matches Christ. And the shootout using the names of cowboy actors was great.
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The shootout is definitely my favorite part. I also love that they’re driving an Edsel.
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Dang, just noticed it’s on Prime. Now I have to watch it to see what all the fuss (Fus-s-s?) is about. Thanks. LOL
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Admittedly I am starting this at the end of a long day, after a few drinks, and a good round of naval gazing, but this sure is lining up to be my kind of film. That said, please no spoilers as I probably have about 20 minutes of consciousness left due to last nights bout of insomnia, and will most likely have to finish it tomorrow. Honest opinion to follow. LOL
Edit: Yep, that was twisted. If you like low budget yet extremely cerebral movies that make you think this is a great one. Kind of feels like Flatliners and Pi had a strange love child. Definitely worth a watch.
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