Reviews

Aztec women were no that scantily clad; they wore a sleeveless blouse and knee length skirts, not the scanty loincloths and halter tops shown in the movie, Aztec men usually wore a cloak or cape in addition to the loincloth. They got the sandals wrong too.. Aztec sandals had a closed heel counter--what we would call ankle wrap sandals.

The plot was somewhat unlikely but the move kept me at the edge of my seat. Aliens get a bad rap from Hollywood--War of the Worlds (all 4 versions of it; the 1953 original and the three remakes in 2005), Independence Day, Invaders from Mars, Earth vs the Flying Saucers, etc. All are based on a novel written in 1898--that's right, in the 19th century. And then there was the (in) famous 1938 broadcast by Orson Wells which created a panic on the East Coast--and which inspired the movies.

"Nuff said. But why was the mold alien that came to visit her so well dressed?

Towards the end the plot got a little thick, e.g. who were those "primitives" they encountered on the ice planet. and who was the black skilled alien woman who dematerialized at the end after saving the crew? I liked the idea of an interracial cast--white, black, oriental and !!! Native American not in a stereotypical role.

I felt the plot was only for half of a movie. There was no "closure" at the end. The plot also borrowed many ideas from Star Trek. The beam transporter; the Engineers who seemed to be a combination of the Vulcans and the Borg.

Apart from a few extra scenes at the beginning--including an extra death--this was a shot by shot remake of the original--same plot, same characters, and with only a few minor changes, same script. The movie would have been more effective if someone had not seen the original, but if they had, they would have known exactly what was going to happen and when it was going to happen: the first nanny hanging hereslf at Damien's birthday party; the priest getting impaled on the Church steeple, the photographer getting beheaded. The only major change was how Ms. Baylock killed the wife of the diplomat--injecting air into her I.V. line rather than throwing her out the window--which was probably more believable. This robbed the movie of some of the element of suspense and shock value. On a positive note, Mia Farrow did a fine job as the sinister Ms. Baylock, the nanny from Hell.

There were three remakes of War of the Worlds in 2005 (and several more since then): Spielberg's; this one and the one by Pendragon which I have not seen I would rate the acting and special effects as average, but I will give this film credit for one thing: it followed the book--written 1n 1898--more closely than either the 1953 original (by George Pal) or Spielberg's. There was no "skeleton beam" weapon used by the Martians but there was the use of poison gas just like in the book, although the gas appeared to be chlorine. The protagonist was trapped in the ruined house with a preacher, not his girlfriend or a half crazed ambulance driver. There was no use of nuclear weapons against the Martians. This film was a legitimate remake, not a "mockbuster" something with a similar title but a different or derivative plot. All four (plus) versions of War of the world seem to have been inspired by the (in)famous 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Wells (no relation to HG. Wells) which created a panic on the East Coast of the U.S.