War of the Worlds
Short description
Ray Ferrier, a divorced dockworker and flawed father, is spending a rare weekend with his teenage son and young daughter. Their visit is interrupted by a powerful electrical storm that signals an alien invasion. As massive machines emerge from the ground to destroy everything in their path, Ray must fight to keep his children safe while navigating a world under attack by an advanced extraterrestrial force.
Directed by Steven Spielberg, this film is the 29th of 40 directed works, following Munich and preceding Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The movie stars Tom Cruise as Ray, alongside Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto, Justin Chatwin, Tim Robbins, and Rick Gonzalez. Produced by Amblin Entertainment, Paramount, DreamWorks Pictures, and Cruise/Wagner Productions, the project had a budget of 132 million USD and earned 604 million USD worldwide.
The film holds a 6.6 rating on IMDb based on 505,000 votes and a matching 6.6 on TMDB from 9,544 votes. Film critics gave the movie a higher rating of 7.3 based on 264 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film was originally planned for release only in 2007. Unexpected news arrived in August 2004 when the release date of July 1, 2005, was announced (the premiere date was later moved to June 29).
- Filming began just 7 months before the release. To incorporate over 500 special effects into the film, Steven Spielberg filmed all the most complex scenes in the first days of shooting.
- The entire filming process took exactly 72 days.
- The voice of Morgan Freeman, heard at the very beginning of the film, almost verbatim copies the beginning of Herbert Wells' novel. Some details were adapted for our time, in particular, the 19th century was changed to the 21st.
- During filming in Howell (New Jersey), a long line formed for autographs from Tom Cruise. The actor warned that if those wanting to get the coveted signature started pushing, shoving, and behaving rudely towards others, he would immediately stop signing autographs. Cruise kept his word, and when one of the women in line decided to push closer to the star, he announced that everyone was free to leave.
- Spielberg was going to film his movie back in the 90s. However, 'Independence Day' (1996) was released at that time, and Spielberg did not want his film to be compared to Roland Emmerich's film.
- The action in the film has been moved from England in the early 20th century to America in the early 21st century.
- A real Boeing 747 was dismantled for the filming of the movie.
- Tom Cruise's character's car is a 1966 Shelby Mustang GT-350H. Only 1001 were made, and it's too expensive a car for a simple crane operator.
- The film is based on Herbert Wells' novel "The War of the Worlds" (1897).
- During the filming of a scene with Dakota Fanning on the riverbank, life-sized mannequins were put into the water. After filming, it turned out that two mannequins had disappeared without a trace. The police were alerted, but they also failed to find the missing ones. The film crew was most worried that someone would find these mannequins and mistake them for real corpses.
- When Rachel switches the television, the line "I'm gonna have a little secret..." can be heard – this is from the cartoon "SpongeBob SquarePants" (1999) which is airing on Nickelodeon. The episode is called "The Secret Box," and is from the second season of the cartoon.
- This is the third "War of the Worlds" that Ann Robinson has been involved in. She played Sylvia Van Buren in the original film "The War of the Worlds" (1953), and later reprised the role in three episodes of the television series "War of the Worlds" (1988).
- During the filming of the underwater scene (when the ferry capsizes), Spielberg decided to prank Cruise and Dakota Fanning by playing the dramatic theme from his 1975 film *Jaws* over the underwater speakers.
- Tim Robbins’ character, whose house Ray and his daughter hide in for a while, suggests digging underground tunnels to escape the house and hide from the aliens. Previously, the actor played the lead role in *The Shawshank Redemption* (1994), where his character escapes from prison in a similar manner.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
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