Tuesday, August 24, 2004

War of the Weird

Word comes from out tinseltown that Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise are hot-hot-hot to do a remake of H.G. Wells' seminal SF novel "War of the Worlds".
I call it a re-make as this version will be have contemporary setting as did the 1953 George Pal production.
Pardon me if I wax blunt but this is a perfectly awful idea...no doubt Tom Cruise and that toothy mongoloid rictus the press calls a smile will be careening around the countryside evading the martian tripod machines whilst two billion gigabytes of CGI effects flail around ineffectually.
What is worse, Spielberg that self effacing cinemapath will be directing...sure he has handed in some quality work (Notably "Saving Private Ryan" and it's Wellesian battle scenes) but as a science fiction auteur the man is played out.
Anyone else out there recall a certain multi-million dollar anesthetic called A.I.?
I do...cars were peeling out of the Tri Town Drive In all night long and believe me it was a long night indeed as Steven Spielberg contemplated the liine between humanity and household appliances...or something.
No if you want to do "War of the Worlds" right, keep the turn of the century English setting and play it like an old Merchant-Ivoey production but with malevolent martians. Get Anthony Hopkins to play the narrator...believe me this will work.
However for ghod sakes leave Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg out of it!

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