War of the Worlds (2005)

War of the Worlds is a remake of a 1953 film The War of the Worlds, which in turn was a film based off a novel by H. G. Wells of the same name.

The overall plot that remains in both films from the book is that aliens (martians) attack earth, many additions and edits have been made to the two films concerning the appearance on the aliens and where the story is viewed from.

The 2005 film which is directed by Steven Spielberg whilst written by Josh Friedman and David Koeep, is an adaptation of the novel that follows a man named Ray Ferrier, played by Tom Cruise, and his two children, played by Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin. The aliens that invade are similar to the ones H. G. Wells created as they drive strange tripod-like machines.

The screenplay:

Cinematography:

Editing:

Costume: Costume designer Joanna Johnston created sixty different versions of Ray Ferrier's, Tom Cruise's, leather jacket to show how worn and tattered it becomes from beginning and end. The one piece of Dakota Fanning's costume is quite important to Joanna Johnston and she said, "I wanted her to have something that made her feel safe, some little thing that she could sleep with and put over her face." Joanna notes. "That was the lavender horse purse. We tied it up on a ribbon and Dakota hung it on her body, so it was with her at all times."

Visual effects: Industrial Light & Magic was the main special effects company for the film. Steven Spielbreg was documented to have said, "This is the first film I really tackled using the computer to animate all the storyboards." Apparently he thought to look further into the technique after a long visit to his friend George Lucas. Computer-generated imagery shots and bluescreen were blended with miniature and live-action footage.

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Acting performance:

Sound design: John Williams composed the music score of the film and considered it "a very serious piece," which then had to add "necessary frightening atmosphere" with "propulsively rhythmic drive for the actions scenes." John Williams added 'scariness' by adding a female chorus with a crescendo resembling a shriek, which would apparently humanise the track and represent "victims that go out without saying an 'ouch'."
An album was released by Decca Records and it featured the films music and Morgan Freeman's opening and closing narration. There are also songs called "Little Deuce Coupe" and "Hushabye Mountain" that are featured within the film, the former sung by Tom Cruise and the latter by Dakota Fanning.

- The music and sound achieved a great deal in the film, it set the atmosphere and

Production design: