The Reel Rejects - WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005) MOVIE REVIEW - Spielberg's Most Tense And Visceral Blockbuster?!

Episode Date: June 10, 2026

THEY'RE ALREADY HERE...War of the Worlds Full Length Watch Alongs & Early Access:   / thereelrejects   Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial today at https://www.SHOPIFY.com/rejects Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ John Humphrey & Jackie Bonsignore react to War of the Worlds (2005), Steven Spielberg's terrifying alien invasion epic starring Tom Cruise as Ray Ferrier, Dakota Fanning as Rachel Ferrier, and Justin Chatwin as Robbie Ferrier. From the unforgettable lightning storm that signals the beginning of the invasion to the first emergence of the towering alien Tripods, Spielberg crafts one of the most intense disaster films ever made. We react to the iconic Tripod horn, the ferry attack, the plane crash sequence, the devastating destruction of humanity, Ray's struggle to protect his children, and the terrifying basement scenes with Tim Robbins' paranoid Harlan Ogilvy. The film stars Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible, Top Gun: Maverick) as Ray Ferrier, Dakota Fanning (Man on Fire, The Equalizer 3) as Rachel Ferrier, Justin Chatwin (Shameless, Dragonball Evolution) as Robbie Ferrier, Tim Robbins (The Shawshank Redemption, Mystic River) as Harlan Ogilvy, and Miranda Otto (The Lord of the Rings, 24) as Mary Ann. Based on H.G. Wells' classic science fiction novel and directed by Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park, Jaws, Saving Private Ryan), War of the Worlds blends blockbuster spectacle with genuine sci-fi horror, delivering some of the most memorable alien invasion imagery ever put on screen. Follow Jackie Bonsignore: https://www.instagram.com/jackiebonsignore/ Intense Suspense by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Follow Us On Socials:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/  Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reelrejects?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/reelrejects Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ Music Used In Ad:  Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Happy Alley by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM:  FB:  https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Thank you to Shopify for sponsoring this video. More on them in just a bit. Let's watch the movie and see how it compares to the Ice Cube masterpiece. Hey guys, if you want to get the full and complete experience of War of the World's 2000, whatever this was, alongside Jackie and myself. You

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Yeah, that's how we do it for everybody here. Yeah, if you want to know what you're shooting, then you're going to have to join the Patreon. Andrew Aaron, Tara Roxy, Jackie, page. Everybody joins the Patreon. Will John, I joined the Patreon. But anyway, if you have, thanks. You can also save yourself a discount on some teas such as these.

I wore a space-related one. Yeah, it's teas like this one. ruin my rhyme. Anyhow. Jacqueline. Is that your actual full name? What is Jackie short for? Or is it long?

Rob. And your name is just Jack. It's long. My name's just Jack. I just wanted to elongate my name. It's like John becomes Johnny. Yeah. You know what I'm very surprised about?

Is the peanut allergy never came back. I thought they were going to conquer the aliens with peanut butter. But, yeah. That was just another hard hit on how he doesn't. Clearly he doesn't know what's going on with his kids. He's not a dad. And that was very soupy peanut butter too. That was like, that was the like natural kind where you're going to fricking stir the oil back in every time and got to get an arm work out.

Anyway, how are you, you, you seemed quite affected by this movie. How are you feeling in the aftermath now that we have conquered, we have prevailed in the war of the world? this I don't know obviously it was a Spielberg film I expected it to be great but I don't even think a five out of a out of five is enough of a rating it's just it's an incredible

so this one goes to 11 I would say okay yeah okay this is just the cinematography was incredible the drama was incredible it really tugged on my heartstrings in a way that frankly most action movies just for me personally don't really get there and obviously I mean

edge of my seat yeah so would you say this is one of your favorite Spielbergs I oh God honestly yes okay

maybe there are more than I need to watch okay I mean yeah there's certainly but of the ones that are coming to the top of my mind which they'll need Is it better than Schindler's list okay that's a different kind of movie that's like a different movie Hero weed and live action crashed tripod effects by Stan Winston Studios.

Stan Winston, an icon of effects. Fake bodies by Steve Johnson. Let's go Steve Johnson with the fake bodies. That was disturbing. Thanks. I'm going to have nightmare, Steve. Okay, so better than Schindler's list. I did not say that.

Those are different films. Okay, okay. So you would put this toward the top of your like Stevie doing a fun one movies. Was this fun? I looked like I was having fun. Well, I mean, I feel like... Sailor Moon? Where was there?

Where was Sailor Moon? Oh, well. Well, these aliens came. They were Sailor Jupiter. The sailors all look really different in a live action. They don't look like hot anime girls. They look like this. So that was a bit of an artist liberty they took when they made the manga of Sailor Moon and the subsequent anime experience for people.

Statistic. Ooh, and then you zoom out of the moon for Amlin Entertainment. Yeah, this was very intense. I haven't seen E.T. This was an interesting movie because this is, of all the Spielbergs, I have seen, you haven't seen E. No. I haven't seen it since I was a child, a small child.

So like, it would be essentially a first time watch for me. Oh, wow. But I do remember it being way back in the annals of my memory. Yeah, one of those, like everybody knows E.T. kind of movies growing up. But yeah, this was like super immediate in a way that I'm not used to from Steven Spielberg. Like I think the thing that struck me the most is sort of like the onslaught of chaos that he's going for. I really did think it was going to be a bit, I guess, slower.

I don't know why I would think that. But I just didn't. I mean, there was not like a moment where I felt like I could catch my breath. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because even the moments where things slow down are like tense and uneasy. Or they're very high dramatic moments where then I was like scrimed,

sobbing, crying, trying not to. Yeah, absolutely. It's interesting because, yeah, like this is an interesting one because on the directorial side, I thought this was fantastic. Like it's so, again, immediate and visceral. And again, the amount of production they had to go through to get all these people and these, you know, some of it, I'm sure is back lots. but some of it

some of those wide shots of highways or city streets some of that has to be real and how long did it take to shoot this film I have no idea I feel like there's some fun

some fun trivia I have some things that I'd like to Google yes yeah that's the trivia bell let's see I was going to say 2005 so not sadly the Ice Cube version let's see

let's see production They started developing this after Minority Report Filming took place in Virginia, Connecticut, New Jersey, California, and New York The shooting lasted and estimated 73 days So a little over two months Yeah Golly

Well like two and a half months This was my longest schedule in about 12 years we took our time You would have to I mean because this is such an action and a I don't know yeah this is such a vis like a what am i trying to say this is such a high production kind of thing that i feel like you would absolutely have to take your time especially with the amount of effects you're working with in 2005 when obviously effects are getting to the point where they can drive much of a movie but

they're not enough they're not there enough to drive an entire movie of this magnitude quite yet so i have to imagine they would have had to have mapped out so many locations so many Yeah. We're, again, wherever they're comping, miniatures and other things in the frame and then the CG. 73 days for a film of this scope feels sort of really fast. It feels sort of small. Yeah.

It feels really fast. Also, wait, we took that quotation out of context on accident. When he says, we took our time, I think they're speaking about the pre-pro, which was three months. Oh, okay. I mean, let's see.

If it took place or something, this is the part of the review. Half the amount of time normally allotted for a film of similar size and scope. Oh. But yeah, I guess the pre-pro was kind of truncated. Then what is he saying they took their time on? I feel like they didn't take their time. I think the point is that the pre-production was fast,

but production they did not rush through. Yeah. And it shows. I mean, like this is an interesting movie to me because I think this, this thrives on the experience and on the way he's able to really put you in the moment, puts you in the chaos. There's so much cross-talk. It's weird.

There are a lot of scenes and it did on occasion. It's weird. Like shrillness is a tool and there are certain movies where like I always think of evil dead. Like especially the original movie is like so shrill and there's so many people just shrieking and moaning and it's like it's oppressive in a way. And this has a versions of that. But it never feels for too long, I think. It's weird. I would teeter sometimes because I'm like the point is it's you're supposed to be.

overwhelmed. She does scream a lot, but also she's... Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like the circumstances make sense and like half the scenes with Tom Cruise and Robbie, there's super bellowing in each other. So like, it did push me to an edge, but at the same time, I'm like, well, given the circumstance, this would be super fraught and super heavy. And, you know, everybody putting it all out there certainly adds an amount of oomph because

this is like an economical movie and that it's not taking a lot of time. time for character scenes. I feel like the actors brought a lot, I would say, if I had to be a little bit critical, like I think the actors bridge a lot of the dramatic gaps where the scripting is a little boilerplatey in terms of like the character drama. I'm estranged from my wife. I have problems with my kids because I'm not good at being a dad. I'm going to have friction with my son and I'm going to have to bond with my daughter.

And I got to get back to my wife across the sci-fi thing and hopefully find some kind of redemption. And I like that they just kind of leave you on that note. We don't really get some kind of like, oh, Tom, come on in. You can live with us now. And you and Tim will both be my husband because you're both great. You know, like it kind of wraps up. And it is interesting because you start in. You have this narration. And then they kind of solve the tripod thing. And then we're done. We are out. We get back to mom. And then we're like, hey, it was the germs. Peace. You know. I do fully agree, though, that it really does rely on the talent of the three central characters. And it's definitely not a script that is actor-proof, if that makes sense.

Sure. And so, yeah. Because it's just boom, boom, intense, intense. All the characters are constantly in this state of fight or flight. And luckily, all three of them could really carry that load. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And so, yeah, then, you know, you can get those moments of emotion that I think, especially for you, were very much permeating. I'm really wondering how much of,

my response, to be fair, like, was because I bear, like, some of my earliest memories are of seeing this in the theater with my dad, you know, so maybe a lot of my, I mean, I still think it's a phenomenal movie, but I will, you know, I'll admit maybe my bias coming into it. Because, yeah, that ties to, like, I imagine that must be a, I hope that was, like, a special, a good experience. I mean, I was really afraid. Apart from whatever terror that you've blocked out since then. No, yeah.

No, I loved going to the movies with, you know, that was the thing that we always did together. Yeah, yeah. And I mean, those are those are things that, yeah, when you have the right actors then who can bridge the gap, you know, that that then is the human experience you bring into it. And it's cool to be in a situation where, like, I don't resonate as much with, like, the experience that they are finding themselves in as a family on screen at the start of things. But they're really good at selling that. They are. And also just the, their family. family structure and it being an East Coast-based story.

I mean, I was coached personally because I just really related to them, like immediately related to Dakota Fanning's character. So I was done. I was done from the beginning. I was going to cry that hard. Who else? Friggin. Tim Robbins.

I thought that was a fun turn for him. And I feel like he and Spielberg have a good amount of like history together. But yeah, like a fun chapter like, oh, surprise guest star in a movie that has. What was the secrecy part? I want to see. Oh, Spielberg kept most of the parts secret in the filmmaking as the cast and crew were left confused about how the aliens looked. When asked about the secrecy of the screenplay, David Kep answered that Spielberg wouldn't

give the screenplay to anybody. He would email it to Spielberg and he would give a section of the script that was relating to whatever somebody was doing. Miranda Otto thought of not even discussing the story with her family and friends. Otto said, I know some people who always say, oh, everything's so secret. I think it's good. In the old days, people didn't get to know much about the movies before they came out, and nowadays

there's just so much information. They would never be able to do that today. I think a bit of mystery is always really good. You don't want to blow all your cards beforehand. And especially with, like, such an iconic thing, you know, the War of the Worlds is an enduring movie. It's like Spielberg's coming in.

Tom Cruise is coming in. you know what's this going to be this is a reinvention for the modern time i get why you want to kind of whip up some intrigues surrounding that um and apparently uh uh there was some picketing by Scientologists

yes yes there was drama but uh yeah i mean like I think this movie really thrives on and what helps to drive everything is the fact that it is like viscerally immediate it's really easy to be like what would this actually feel like I feel like that's kind of what this movie serves to do

We take the old school one. We've had that. And now we have the technology to go, what would it be like to be there? You know? And then the Ice Cube one takes it one step further. One step further get even. Yeah.

What would it be like to be on your computer and to be there? You know, is what the Ice Cube one asks. It's funny because there's that moment where somebody drops their video camera and you're looking through the frame. And I'm like, this would make a legit like actual found footage movie. Essentially, Calderfield is that. But yeah, like in terms of, it's weird. I thought I thought I would have more things to say thematically. But like as just a visceral straightforward experience, I think this was like really sharp for Steven Spielberg.

Like it's weird. It's not his most in depth in terms of the dramatic elements, the scripting elements. But, you know, Steven Spielberg also has the blockbuster action dog in him. I think there's some stuff about like, especially with Robbie, that was one plot line where I was like, this is a post 9-11 thing. Oh, absolutely. And I was like, I kind of wish there was more to that than him just being like, oh, right, dad, let me go.

Just want to go fight the aliens, dad. I thought there's a little bit more for him to do to flesh that out. But again, given the freaking immediacy of everything, like, oh, we don't have like time for a 10-minute discussion about this necessarily. Well, I am normally, I feel like someone who, when I watch films, like I would if it were a different sort of film, I'd be like, what the heck? Like, how did Robbie get home? How did this happen?

How are they just in their Boston, like, Brownstone and their fun? Like, they all look clean. Like, what's going on? I would normally, like, want that to be much more explained. You know, why it's kind of like... They're just in the last perfectly maintained little apartment in Boston. But I feel like, because you spend so much of the film, like, either... kind of feeling like you are Tom Cruise are feeling like you are Dakota Fanning.

It's kind of like, no, by the time that you get to the end and they're dead, you're, I, for me, personally, I'm exhausted. I'm just, yeah. Because truthfully, like, at that moment, it's, because we've been through so much along with him, sure, they're dead. That's great. I don't know. That's how I left feeling it.

Yeah. Like, it didn't, I didn't feel bothered that we didn't know more about it. No, me neither. I'm sure that I'll be annoyed later when I'm out of the experience. I mean, I think there's more they could do to like earn the whole germs thing because if you're not familiar. The germs thing was really fast. Yeah. And I mean, it's it's one of those things where it's like if you're familiar with War of the Worlds, you know that idea.

It's kind of like a famous thing about War of the Worlds. And it's been interpolated. So here I was like, oh, maybe they'll change it up or they'll kind of adjust it somehow. There are other movies, and I won't name them just in case, but there are other movies that do this kind of thing. They're alien movies. I did not know anything. I didn't know the germ thing before because, again, I don't like aliens, so I do not look. I don't.

I was going to say, you blocked that experience out seeing this originally. I do not want to know. Yeah. Yeah. It's none of my business. That's a thing. And then they brought up the whole peanut allergy thing. And I thought that was going to tie into that somehow.

Like I thought the whole back, the trouble is like without that knowledge, I feel like maybe you could have done more to thread that through the plot. Yeah. do drop to the leaf to the earth to the you know society blah blah you know like it's a great it's a really strong opening image from you know the the microscopic organic world to the human world but yeah like it's it makes for bookends and then you have this narration but the narration kind of felt to me like it was out of a different movie or something and it's weird I'm saying these things that are sort of critical but suffice it to say I do agree like once you get to the end I think the point and the way this movie thrives the most is on the immediate experience and the chaos and the visceral feeling of it all

and the fact that it feels like you're right there and the fact that what they've orchestrated is so breathtaking and sinister and so yeah once you get to the end it's weird it's like because they're not really trying to make the drama very deep at all I'm like that's fine they made it back I am same thing like okay so she's just fine and you just found her and Robbie's there and everything's Bob's your uncle. We killed the aliens. They're all dying out. I mean, she was so ready to pop.

Don't you think that she would have been so stressed out that, like, baby would have come out? If she was a character in the movie. Yeah, yeah, 100%. Well, that almost makes me want to say, like, viewing experiments. Okay. Viewing experience. This is a viewing experiment. We are on the satellite of love.

It's mystery science theater. Viewing experience in real time, five out of five. But now that I'm a little more out of it and more calm. and I'm I am thinking actually more about them just being fine I'm like huh script

yeah it's it's it's it's so much of a traditional it's 3.5 it's serviceable yeah it's like but again it really did rely on their ability

as actors you know yeah yeah like they it's I'm surprised by that to be honest if anything if you're gonna rate a script by on its own.

For me, it really does need to be sort of actor proof. Yeah. I love that term. Actor proof is great. Actor proof is a great term. And I guess in Steven Spielberg, you know, you expect that, I suppose. Yeah.

Whereas, and I totally, I wouldn't ever begrudge a filmmaker from wanting to do a fun one between other projects. I feel like he said he wanted to make this after Munich or something and then something else happened or whatever. But like, I can imagine, uh, uh, let's see, we postpone. the former while he would do mission impossible. So, you know,

I, yeah, Stephen Spielberg puts you into this mindset where you're expecting more on the script side, but I don't begrudge him for wanting to make something that is a pure blockbuster that is very immediate, that is very, because again, it's really well directed, and, you know, he's good at orchestrating the tone and the actors are good at filling in the drama, but it is an experience where choices like that at the end,

it's like, once we turn the tides on the aliens, shit wraps up quick. You know, and there's not really time to sit and contemplate. This isn't the kind of sci-fi movie coming from an H.G. Wells. I guess that's the thing is like, it's not the most thoughtful sci-fi movie for a story that is kind of thoughtful. Because it's about giant things being felt by a common denominator that you would never imagine. That's like such a naturey kind of theme, you know. And yeah, this is very much all up in the physical experience, more so.

And then, yeah, like the actors, it's like, it's good that Dakota fanning from such a young age, but such an incredible actor and Tom Cruise stays committed. And I did like seeing Tom Cruise a little out of his element. Yeah. You know, being a little bit, especially the beginning, he's so overwhelmed. My kids don't like me. I'm going to drive this amazing car that Robbie just lost. But yeah, but as an actual, again, blockbuster filmmaking experience, top notch, top notch.

like very much and that's the thing like the experience can get you past the script you need to put the Wikipedia away right now because I'm I can't stop looking at it now let's let's see what I learned what'd you learn what'd you learn before we're I learned that um the shot of Dakota fanning looking at the bodies it was a stand in from behind and then the footage of her face was put in later and then also I learned that the use of blue screen and um computer generated imagery was very limited, actually. They used a lot of miniatures. Hell yeah, I thought so.

Like, it really actually... Because you wanted to keep the movie more realistic. Yeah. Like, it felt like they really married a lot of different kinds of movie magic together, and that was really cool to see. Like, I do appreciate going back to movies of the 2000s, especially, because they allow you this weird opportunity to kind of go, okay, I can tell effects are happening, except we're too early to, again, be reliance.

lying entirely on CGI. So like I'm, I like that feeling when you're like, I know there are a ton of effects and I'm not sure what they all are, you know, and I'm kind of still, even though you're thinking about it, you're still in the movie magic and you're still in the ingenuity. Yeah. Also, you pulled the wiki back up. Because Steven Spielberg said for the first time in my life, I'm making an alien picture where there is no love and no attempted communication. That's so sad. A little bit. A little bit.

That's so sad. but it's all so strained. It's all, it's, yeah. This makes me really miss Rocky. Ladies and gentlemen, starting your own business sounds exciting, doesn't it? Until you realize in this day and age, you have to become the website person, the inventory person, the checkout person, the marketing person, the shipping person, basically an entire company overnight.

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trial today at Shopify.com slash rejects. Go to Shopify.com slash rejects. Thank you Shopify for sponsoring today's video. Yeah. The alien Project Hail Mary. That was a good ass motion picture. We just saw it for the first time. Ass motion picture.

A good ass movie from idiocracy. We'll pull this trivia for a little bit later. But Captain Fernandez wants to know oh, you beat me to it, all right.

A common complaint with adaptations as they often veer too far from the source material. However, in this case, I think Spielberg and company should have modified the ending a bit as the Deus Ex Machina resolution was abrupt and anticlimactic. What do you think? I think the way it's handled is that it comes across that way. Because again, if you know, like I am aware of that. I'm not aware of the source material. I'm aware of at least, yeah, the old story and the old HG, the old Orson Wells broadcast, the old movie, that stuff. So with that in mind, I wasn't 100% sure if the movie was going to modify it in any way, shape, or form.

I think they could have a little bit. It's weird. I don't know what I would suggest for that, but I am sort of like, again, we do just get to the end and they're like, little did we know the germs. It felt a bit abrupt to me. And they didn't, they don't make it a theme. So, yeah, it does feel like a day's ex machina. It does feel like, oh, this thing took care of itself. Yeah.

And nothing we did was. That important except for fighting to survive and fighting for family and all those classic themes. Yeah, we touched a lot on that in our earlier discussion. But I mean, I do stand by what I said about like, at least it did feel like a sigh of relief. Because I mean, in some ways, the entire movie was the climax of the movie. Yeah, yeah. I think that he can kind of get away with it. But I still do agree.

It was abrupt. I don't think it's dramatic. strong the way they do it here but I think it I agree very much with you is like because again all of this is predicated on like the visceral your thereness of the experience yeah by that time you're just like whew and if you are aware of the thing then you're kind of looking out for it and then it's kind of like oh cool check so like I almost imagine it might be worse if you aren't aware of that but then again if your experience is like your experience then it seems like it's just enough. It's weird. It's like any complaints I have, I'm like, but the movie that they

presented, I'm like, yeah, it's like, I'm not that I'm concerned about these things. I can just see easy opportunities where like for everyone involved, this could amount to more. But like, as an exercise, well done. Very fun. Very engaging. I mean, you said it within the first five minutes of the movie. Like, it's already worth the price of admission. Yeah. I mean, that's the thing is like, once the tides turn, once we do all the basic setup, uh, then it's like, oh my God. Like, this normal day really does feel like something crazy has happened and that everything does feel like you're in somewhat of a real time and the scenery keeps changing and it's one of those yeah desperate one place to the next kind of movies yeah and in that way yeah it whisks by you in a way that doesn't allow you much time to be like hang on a minute thematically what um oh oh i want to read this one get it all right i was going to do it happen janus b c phths asks There's not a whole lot of movies where things just stick with me for years after watching them.

However, this movie is one that does. I can still hear the sound. The tripods make when they are harvesting. That shizzles nightmare fuel. It is. I mean, again, I saw this when I was maybe like seven or eight in theaters. Let's go. I only just realized that it was this movie.

Besides that, it has been a movie that it's haunted me for years. And it's one that at parties, I'm like, do you guys know? know what this movie? I think there's like a blonde girl and a dad and I think they're divorced and then these things come down from the sky and that's all that I could remember. And then people are like, it's half the alien movies, which one? No, literally. I have thought about this movie for a decade. Full circle. Yes. A piece of the puzzle returned. I agree with you. What do you think? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I would agree with that. Like this, this is not one that I would put necessarily towards the top of the Spielberg pile in terms of all around quality, but I do think that this is

one that, yeah, absolutely will stick with me. And, and yeah, like, again, the realization of some the alien stuff, the blood mist and the, and they're, like, sucking them up and they're making these vines and, like, the viscerality of it is, is memorable. And then, yeah, even the wackier things are the more sort of, like, you know, buggy eyed Tim Robbins and all sorts of stuff. And, Yeah, like that is something that viscerally to me, just the concept of that of like something giant that makes some kind of awful rumbling noise. They credited D. Bradley Baker here as alien vocals. And I don't know if that counts as like the big bha-thing thing that they would let out. That sounded like David Herber is in this movie.

Is apparently a deleted scene as a dock worker. Yeah. Amy Ryan making just a quick-ass cameo. Channing Tatum. Uncredited cameo. He's a boy in the church. A little Channing to Tomb. Oh, damn.

I don't, we didn't catch him. We got to go back for Channing. But, uh, but yeah, 100%. I can absolutely see as this is one of those ones that would stick with you and that, yeah, has a lot of virtues beyond the sort of nuts and bolts of like, well, this group could be better. There could be better dramatic beats or they could do the threading of the needle of the germs. Yeah.

If you want to get pretentious, yes. Yeah. But if you want to talk long lasting, I mean. Yeah. Holy mother. Yeah, if you want to talk about like a, again, a reinvention for the modern times of a classic, you know, I feel like for whatever might be missing,

they nailed the right amount of things. And again, it's War of the Worlds. This is something that captivated the minds and the terror of people back in the day. It's something that has personally haunted me. Yeah, so then to take that and to transcribe the experience of like, people heard the radio broadcast and thought they were there or thought it was really happening.

So then to make the movie be like, you're there and it's happening. Well done. So yeah, I would say this, I could see why this would stick with you and I bet it would stick with me. And yeah, the sound of the harvesting, ick.

So, yeah, in terms of intensity and icitude, and that's some of the stuff that sticks the most, they got it. Jay Rushden. Question, do you believe in aliens and do you think the aliens would attack us? Yes. I obviously believe in aliens.

I think this is no offense, but it is an insanely, I think, narcissistic and small-minded view to think in all of the extent of all of the universe that goes on and on and on, we don't even know how... To think that we're the only intelligent life forms is just so small-minded.

And it's just what makes us superior to all other things. things on earth and beyond. I mean, part of me, I think that aliens have already been here. I'd like to believe that they wouldn't just attack us like this. I mean, I'd like, in my perfect world,

we're the most small-minded, frankly, with how much war that we have on our planet. But I would hope that the other creatures and beings are much more intelligent than us and don't waste their time with war. But I don't know, what do you think? More based aliens. Would they attack us?

I don't know. I mean, if aliens, if it was like a starship troopers universe and they're just like, I don't know, going from place to place, muncheon or whatever. I don't know if I would expect like... Muncheon or whatever. You know, they're like bugs in that movie for reals. Whereas, you know, I don't know if...

I don't know. Because if they haven't met us, I don't know what you could do to observe. But, you know, I guess I'm not putting my money on attack first and foremost. No. I think they're going to observe first. Yeah. What I put our money on when we discover an alien planet that we're going to attack?

Yes. I mean, yeah, we show up. We just like, you just go watch Starship Troopers. Like, frankly, like, we'll probably do something and then they'll try to retaliate. And that's how we're going to get screwed. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I think. We will be led to believe that they're attacking us when really we attacked them first.

And then whoever did the attacking just didn't tell us. But yeah, I would agree. feel like there's got to be other life out there. It's a vast and wide and unknowable universe and you know consciousness varies and organisms vary and there's so much potential. So there's got to be something. Do what they attack? I don't know. Roll the dice. It all depends on how the, you know, cosmic wheel shook out and what their consciousness consists of, what their needs are, what resources they thrive on. I don't know. If you just listen to Neil deGrasse Tyson for five seconds, he's like, well, they're not going to

going to be humanoid or anything familiar to us. So like, who knows? How do we know that, though? We don't. That's the thing is like, what if you put, uh, if you, if you turn on like random or shuffle or whatever and sometimes like the same song plays twice or like two sequential songs will play one after the other, something predictable

happens in the unpredictable algorithm. I feel like that would be so funny if aliens showed up and they were like kind of similar actually just because of like the genetic roll of the dice was like, ah, you know, highly unlikely, but you know, you're not that different. You just have your nose on top of your head instead of on the front. Wait. You know?

So, I think they're aliens, but we got, is there any cool trivia here from IMDB? When the aliens are investigating the junk in the basement, one of them plays with a bicycle wheel. This is a reference to the original book. The main character observes that with all the technological, the advanced technology the animals possessed. They do not use any wheels and wonders of alien life forms and skip the invention of the wheel. Uh, goodness. Let's see. The one scene shows Ray running out the house to find Robbie while dozens of people are right outside his house photographing the lightning storm to film

the scene. Producers hired people on the street to come to the street at the same time of shooting with a camera and film so they could get pictures of Tom Cruise for free. That's funny. That is a way to get extras, baby. Pay everyone with a cruise pig. I like this one. During the filming of the underwater scenes where the ferry capsizes director, Steven Spielberg, played a prank on Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning by playing the dramatic music from Jogs in 1975 through the massive underwater speakers on the soundstage. Oh my god. While filming nearby, Tom Cruise, along with a 20-member entourage, including Spielberg, visited a Lexington, Virginia Dairy Queen. Crew saw a jar on the counter with a photo of Ashley Flint and her story. Flint had been a go-kart

accident in a go-car accident a few months earlier, leaving her family with a mountain of hospital bills, crews put $5,000 cash on the jar. That's a nice. That's intense. Filmed... Why do you have $5,000 cash on him? They filmed this seven months ahead of release. That's insane. Pre-production lasted a mere three months, almost half the normal schedule. Oh, spread out. Spread out over four months. Four months. And in order to finish all 500 plus CGI FX and Times Spielberg did all the big action scenes in the early stages of shooting from start to released the movie was basically finished in 10 months and unusually

short time for such a big special effects different see this all makes more sense given what some of the missing pieces that we talked about I feel like he was just itching to make something and it's like fuck it give me a script together what we got where all the world's ass the bones are there David Kemp you're a working writer

put it together you know but yeah the tripod design for the alien machines is based on HG Wells' original description of the Martians fighting machines from his book including the heat rays at the ends of the arms. The aliens quote, need for humans

is also from the novel where Martians have no digestive organs and rely on blood from other species for nourishment, as is the red weed implied to be the reason

why the surface of Mars appears red. And there's also a note about how these aliens are strikingly similar to those in Independence Day. Apparently they must be based on similar

ideas from the HG Wells. But yeah, goodness. Any more thoughts? No, did we have any final questions? Or did we catch all of them? We got them all, man. Scrolls, people know about World of the World.

We could answer the other Toy Story questions. Okay, yeah, let's do that. Or we can go back up and answer these Harry Potter questions. We could do some Dexter questions. Yeah. War of the Worlds, though. A fun one, I would say, for Steven Spielberg. But even a fun one for this guy has some elements that are, you know,

top notch and above the board. This was absolutely my, the most intense reaction that I have had thus far on the channel. I am good luck to the editors picking, what's it called again? My thumbnail. Oh, yeah, picking your thumbnail. There's so many options in this one. I was going to say.

I'm crying. I'm about to throw up. I think at one point I had my knee. I wish you threw up. If we could get someone throwing up in the thumbnail, that would be maybe the wrong reason for that. No. When we've, when, when, you know, they, they tapped out of human centipede. They didn't make it.

Wait, really? Yes. Wait, they gave up? Yes. Wait, seriously? Yes. Are they allowed to do that? It doesn't happen often.

They gave up. This, I think, was the one time. I didn't know they were allowed to do that. You shouldn't have told me that they can do that. Well, you can't do that. you're not allowed to do that. You're in a torture chamber of cinema. But yes, that movie was a bit on the extreme side.

So they were like, we're not doing two and three. But they finished the first one. Oh, they finished the first movie. I thought you were saying that they like, they were, to skip the traumatic ritual that would be watching human centipedes two and three. Because neither of them is me. But, but yeah, did you catch Channing, Tatum in the movie, you know.

Somebody find a screenshot. Yeah. Yeah. Goodness. Yeah. Any other stray thoughts or feelings? You're going to go buy this on steel, steel box, steel book, Blu-ray 4K 3D. Physical media. Keeping it is important. That's good. Buy this on physical media. Guys, leave us your thoughts on Thomas the Cruz, World of Worlds. Where would you rank it against the old radio?

play orson wells or against the hg wells book or against the freaking movie from the thirties or whatever or the ice cube masterpiece of 2025 either way we want to know and we'll catch you next time for something alienie that you're going to love happy disclosure day bye