What would you expect when Steven Spielberg ,Tom Cruise ,John WIlliams join ? a Block buster ? Yes - that is what they have delivered in this movie .
The basic story is clear : Aliens attack Earth ,Tom Cruise and his kids are caught in that .How they escape from these attacks and what happens to them is the crux of ths story as such .
The basic rule in screen play is that you have to get the viewer's attention in the first 20 minutes .Nobody can beat Spielberg in expressing the characters visually .The first 20 minutes creates the set up of the movie - tells about who Tom Cruise ,what is he doing ,what is his relationship with his kids ,his relation ship with his Ex-Wife .Beautiful !
Also ,the characterisation is something very very beautiful in this movie .You can see Tom Cruise as an irresponsible but loving father .This kind of sudden alien attacks brings out the responsbility inside him and it gradually increases as the film opens out .
Some peopel downplay the importance of a screenplay if it is adapted from a novel .In this case ,the screenplay is adapted from H G Well s' War of the Worlds that was published in the 19 th Century End ! But Screen play differs lot from Novel .Screenplay is a story written as visual pictures .Novel is a narration .Writing a screenplay requires different kind of skill .
Ok .Tom Cruise plays Ray Ferrier ,who works in a ship yard operating cranes - he is akind of not - so rich ,not -so responsible who leads teh life as it comes .He gets divorced from his wife Mary (Miranda Otto) .He meets his kid once in a week . Two kids Robbie ,Rachel ( played excellently by Dakota Fanning) .Robbie is a adventurous teen and Rachel is a quiet ,intelligent younger sister of him .So far so good .
Relationship between Robbie and Ray ( Tom Cruise ) is not good and is shown in few dialogues in the start of the film - Robbie as a rebellion who feels his father is a selfish ,worthless person .Rachel too understands that but she is more subtle in that .One fine day ,when these kids come to Tom Cruise's house - the plot starts here .The scene of the first lightning is taken so wonderfully .Instead of just graphically annoying ,spieblberg focusses more on how it is perceived than what it is actually ! - Splendid Direction .
The plot unfolds with Robbie stealing Dad's car ( Tom' cruise's ) and Tom going in search of him ,finds the gigantic machines that burn literally any thing .After this plot unfolds with these three going to search Mary and escaping from these aliens at different places .The story ends quite surprisingly ,but I felt spielberg was quite focusses in what he wanted to tell .
Few other things .No scientic fundas given .You will not see some white dressed men discussing some bizzare scientifc facts in clos eup shots with a blue -filter camera shots ! Spieblberg narrates the entry of aliens in a very subtle way through a voice over by narration by Morgan Freeman and ends it again through teh Morgan Freeman - Screenplay ,direction at its best -The best way to end teh screenplay is having the same shots ,but different situations !
NO President Address - No TV Cameras ,No Presidental Address before white House ,no frantic police men ,no un necessary patriotism - If you compare Godzilla ,Independence Day ,you can feel the difference .The screen play is pretty much tight in showing only TOm Cruise and his family,how they feel at different points ,how they react to different situations .
About the kids . Robbie Ferrier played by Justin ChatWIn ( difficult to remember ,visit imdb for this ) is real cool .He depitcs a typical teen ager of America ,Energetic ,rebellious ,always want to eb adventurous coupled with the fact that he does'nt respect his father .This one is fairly consistent and there is no jerk in teh screen play to show that he suddenly changes his character . This holoocaust event gives him a chance to understand his father better that though he is irresponsible ,he love shis kids .Spielberg reveals his adventurous character when he wants tojoin the army band and when he attempts to save the guys in ship .
Rachel Ferrier -played by Dakkotta Fanning is just superb - I wld give an Oscar to her for this . Equal credit should got to the Camera man for the lightings ,filter that he uses for this kid . She expresses any kind of emotions with ease and maturity .Spielberg again maintains the characterisation of this kid ina beautiful way . She is a kid ,intelligent ,mature ..but she is akid .The initial dialogues between Tom Cruise and the Kid reveals the character of this kid and her relationship with her father .
Tom Cruise - Amazing , No overdoing of Scenes . No Hang Over of previous Movies .Its amazing that the same guy who acted in Minority Report as a cop acts here as an irresponsible father with ease .Spielberg reveals his character in different incidents .His body language is quite powerful .No heroism ,he behaves like a normal father who is devasted by this incident ( except for the climax ) and wants to save his children .His expressions when he comes out of the Basement and in the ship are a treat to watch !
There are some scenes which needs mention - Don't worry ,i won't give the details here .But there is one scene where Tom Cruise asks his daughter not to see anything ,close her eyes .He asks her to stand near by and she walks to the river shore ( right word ? ).The scene after that - is the best example of screen play and direction - I belive many peopel mistake that idea is by Spielberg - No it is by the screen play writers ,but how u show it VISUALLY is by spielberg ! Its just perfect visual of how to bringin and show fear !
Another scene is where Tom Cruise gets trapped with his daughter along with a psycho .How teh situation changes him to do .....teh suspense is less here and characterisation comes up beautifully !
The whole movie has SIGNS feel to it ,where you don't show aliens much ,focus on the characters ,their expereinces ,their feelings .But it has one big difference .The visual effects is very very strong in this movie .Around 600 Visual Effects in this movie ! You will see machines ,but very less of aliens !
Editing - These days there is so much planning involved in direction ,shooting that editing will have very less .So unless we know teh details of the movie ,we can't say much .But normally the movie is shot in a random way ( and not as u see ) and it is areally tough job for the editor to choose the right camera angles ,cut ways and avoid jerks .
Sound ENgineering by Richard King ( WHo did for Thiruvasagam In symphony ) - I never felt any kind of sound Irritation here ,esp when u have aliens ,they tend to over do things .ESP ,not the scene in the basement where they hide for the first time .The sound effects is just amazing .
Music by John WIlliams - U can call him Brass WIlliams after this movie .Mostly he has used brass instruments which is quite quite apt for the situation .Look for the End Title Score .Lot of scenes are underscored and wher ever the visuals are bit weak ,he adds the punch .
These days we are yet to see a holywood where the cinematography is bad .Nowadays most of the movies have high quality cinematography ...The lightings are apt for the scenes and approrpriate filters used for different locations .There is always a continuity in the lightings .
Spieblberg - You have won this time ,ALTHOUGH MORE ENTERTAINMENT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER !
What are u waiting ,Rush to Theaters !
