Face-Off: Independence Day vs. War of the Worlds

Two actors carried this film beautifully, Tom Cruise and a way younger Dakota Fanning. Cruise came and did what he did best and sold the desperation to survive the hellish scenario they found themselves in, while being an emotional wreck in having to find a way to gain a middle ground with his children, who weren’t giving him a snowballs chance in hell. Later on, another great actor in Tim Robbins came in and gave a truly menacing performance as a nutcase survivalist who well…ultimately didn’t see eye to eye with our hero. Cruise and Fanning were a great team and complimented each other well, which was crucial in a film that ended up having this small of a central cast.

Now while both films alien visitors had the element of surprise in their own way, these bastards had it even more so. When the tripods emerged they didn’t just stand there for a while so we could admire their design, they got straight down to the disintegration business and we scurried like cockroaches. Not to mention the rapture-like horn blaring that emanated from the tripods and their funny little habit of harvesting human blood and tissue. They went along causing devastation for a good long while, but death from natural causes didn’t lead to a conclusion as cinematically satisfying as that of Independence Day, but they were menacing and a formidable force indeed.

I have to be careful not to let myself get carried away with John Williams praise because next thing I know I’ll carry on the subject of him into the next category. Williams didn’t let Spielberg down with his work on War of the Worlds I’ll tell you that much, with a score that was more unsettling than that of Independence Day. Despite the destruction going on in Independence Day, there was a fun tone to the film via the comedic relief…none of that was present here, and that was reinforced through Williams’ score. Nothing more so than the subtle cue when young Fanning sees those bodies floating in the water, that bit alone earns Williams the victory in this particular battle.

War of the Worlds was another film that blended CGI effects with that of practical effects. The tripods were designed by ILM to resemble aquatic life forms, namely jellyfish. Plenty of CGI and practical blends occured including live action “dust” mixed with the CGI ray assimilation . As well as the digital birds that had a tendency to hover around the tripods. The use of great lighting came in during the scene in which Ray’s family is attacked in the minivan…Coleman lamps, oil lanterns, flashlights, and Maglights were among those used. Reportedly the hardest scene for ILM to construct was the Bayonne Bridge sequence that required the most blend of CGI and live action elements, the film required a total of 500 CGI effects. It all definitely looked beautiful.

I liked War of the Worlds fine the first time I saw it, but it’s a film I grow more fond of with each viewing. Spielberg knocked it out of the park once again with this if you ask me. The gut wrenching performances from the liked of Cruise, Fanning, and Robbins. The unbelievable menace of the tripods (up until their goofy demise) and the terrific score once again from John Williams. We get a different breed of storytelling here that I’m in the mood to watch on certain days, dreary and dreadful with a sense of hopelessness. It was an impressive job from all involved, and while not my favorite Spielberg or alien themed film, it holds it’s own and I believe H.G Wells may have been a proud papa.