General / Off-Topic The BBC's war of the worlds is pants

[VR] Mad Mike · Dec 9, 2019

Stigbob said:
Totally unnecessary relationship issue backstory, tripods too big and made of crystal, Martians tripod shaped, best bits of the story missing and replaced with heavy handed environmentally aware flash forwards.

They took a run up and managed to make a total mess of one of the best stories ever told.

You can see how good it could have been if they'd just skipped the extra's they crammed in and stuck rigidly to the book. Its like the Hobbit movies when it could have been like LOTR.

GRRR and other angry noises.

Got around to watching the 1st part last night. Given the universal slating it seems to have gotten................... I was pleasantly surprised.

Perhaps it is about to go down hill (i wont read too much of this thread as "spoilers" etc until i am done with it). Whilst it had a few flash forwards which are new, over all the story seems unmistakably WOTW to me, more so than the Tom Cruise Hollywood version of it at any rate.

episode 1 6.5/10 Not too bad and better than I expected.

again... no spoilers please but i really hope the scene with Thunder child is in there.

edit... ok just have to update my score to 7/10... purely because it was partly filmed at my home forest... how did i not know that? (Delamere)

[VR] Mad Mike · Dec 9, 2019

Watching part 2 now. The scene where the 2nd ball comes out of a pit in a forest (they shoot ball out of the sky). That is about 2 miles from my parents house.

(Sad pointless comment for the evening

)

Para Handy · Dec 9, 2019

Coincidentally, the yootoob threw this at me tonight:

[VR] Mad Mike · Dec 10, 2019

i have tried to do some googling but dont want spoilers so it is difficult.
Does anyone know what are the air dates for the Fox/Canal+ contemporary take on the WOTW?

i found a short official trailer which states november but i cant find anything else. Surely if i had missed it there would be all sorts of reports and reviews about it.

thanks

Para Handy · Dec 10, 2019

Mad Mike said:
i have tried to do some googling but dont want spoilers so it is difficult.
Does anyone know what are the air dates for the Fox/Canal+ contemporary take on the WOTW?

i found a short official trailer which states november but i cant find anything else. Surely if i had missed it there would be all sorts of reports and reviews about it.

thanks

Post #30 above @Rubbernuke mentions having seen it:

General / Off-Topic - The BBC's war of the worlds is pants

"Seen nearer,......... The preceding text though says: "And this Thing I saw! How can I describe it? A monstrous tripod, higher than many houses, striding over the young pine trees, and smashing them aside in its career; a walking engine of glittering metal, striding now across the heather...

forums.frontier.co.uk

Rubbernuke · Dec 10, 2019

Mad Mike said:
i have tried to do some googling but dont want spoilers so it is difficult.
Does anyone know what are the air dates for the Fox/Canal+ contemporary take on the WOTW?

i found a short official trailer which states november but i cant find anything else. Surely if i had missed it there would be all sorts of reports and reviews about it.

thanks

Trust me, the title is the only similarity. The rest is an open ended mish mash of not much- only watch the first two episodes and the last to save time. And this is just series 1! By episode four I was wanting to believe a story was hiding in there but its just pap.

Siobhan · Dec 10, 2019

Rubbernuke said:
Trust me, the title is the only similarity. The rest is an open ended mish mash of not much- only watch the first two episodes and the last to save time. And this is just series 1! By episode four I was wanting to believe a story was hiding in there but its just pap.

I just looked at the Wiki article for the Fox version and it was enough... "A signal from another galaxy..." and later... "signal from Ross 123".

Rubbernuke · Dec 10, 2019

Siobhan said:
I just looked at the Wiki article for the Fox version and it was enough... "A signal from another galaxy..." and later... "signal from Ross 123".

And thats the 'exciting' part. In all honesty the BBC adaption is a country mile better than the Fox / Canal co production- its like comparing the original novel to an Argos catalogue.

[VR] Mad Mike · Dec 10, 2019

Rubbernuke said:
its like comparing the original novel to an Argos catalogue.

To be fair a month or so ago i did spend at least an hr looking through old Argos catalogues on the book of dreams website so maybe i will like it

-VR- Max Factor · Dec 10, 2019

jasonbarron said:
Tom Cruise's version was the best version.

I have to disagree. I much prefer the 1953 movie to be honest.

[VR] Mad Mike · Dec 10, 2019

jasonbarron said:
Tom Cruise's version was the best version.

No chance.....
Definitely the original one imo.

The Tom Cruise one is ok as a general scifi flick but it changes too much imo and what is with moving it to America? (not as bad as U571 tho which changed actual real events but I digress)

Stigbob · Dec 11, 2019

I re-watched the BBC version for a second time and I've mellowed towards it somewhat. Its a good adaptation but a lost opportunity.

Personally I'd much prefer a book faithful version.

[VR] Mad Mike · Dec 11, 2019

Stigbob said:
I re-watched the BBC version for a second time and I've mellowed towards it somewhat. Its a good adaptation but a lost opportunity.

Personally I'd much prefer a book faithful version.

I still have the last episode to go so my pitchfork is still at the ready with points sharpened... but so far - thanks mostly to the amount of people who told me in advance it is crap, i am happy with it. I would say they make a bit too much out of the frowned upon relationship (I genuinely expected some weird shocker that they were brother or sister or something given the "oh that is who you are" kind of reaction at the start of episode 1 - perhaps i have watched too much League of gentlemen

).. and I know some didnt like the environmental issues aftermath part............ but (and going from distant memory) i am pretty sure the terraforming in all the old versions had an effect on people, and besides.... so long as not too in your face i do not think it is a bad thing tbh.

hell, next up maybe i need to watch ghostbusters 2016. The amount of hate that one got, my expectations are less than zero so perhaps i will like it too.. (huge segue btw but the trailer for the 2020 ghostbusters looks interesting)

metatheurgist · Dec 11, 2019

Like I said, it's OK but a bit meh.

Gully Foyle · Dec 12, 2019

Cobblers are those edgelord engineers now.

Gramps toiled for Harland and Wolff in Belfast, then Sherwin Williams for life in Montreal
I threw away the unintelligible 's flute away when I read Trinity by Uris

ONTOPIC

I like it when W of TW is done in victorian times.