War of the Worlds: The Attack

Well, imagine my surprising stumbling upon this 2023 movie titled "War of the Worlds: The Attack" and never having heard about it. And while I am not overly much of a sci-fi buff, of course I've seen the 1953 movie "The War of the Worlds" and also the 2005 remake with Tom Cruise. And the concept idea behind this H. G. Well story is interesting, and thus I opted to sit down and watch "War of the Worlds: The Attack" as well.

Writers Junaid Syed and Tom Jolliffe based their 2023 movie on the H. G. Wells story, of course, but they opted to do their own take on it. Was it good? No, not really. Why? Because, "War of the Worlds: The Attack" was not an entertaining movie, and it was essentially just a pointless and redudant remake that I suppose no one has been asking for or craving for.

Sure, I managed to sit through all 85 minutes of the ordeal, only to see if there was anything worthwhile watching in the narrative. There wasn't, I can tell you that. While there are elements of the original story in "War of the Worlds: The Attack", then this was mostly a drama following three teenagers during the brief time of the invasion of the Martians.

Visually then I will say that the special effects were adequate. I mean, I weren't impressed, nor were I laughing either. It wasn't top pier special effects and CGI, I will say that, but the effects functioned well enough as intended.

I doubt even the fans of the H. G. Wells story will find much to cheer about in director Junaid Syed's 2023 attempt to reinvent the classic sci-fi tale.

My rating of "War of the Worlds: The Attack" lands on a very generous three out of ten stars.

No name actors, with a no name script. The only saving grace of this film is the fact that it keeps some of the elements of the original novel. The good, the beginning and ending of the movie is lifted almost directly from the original HG Wells novel, the Martians are depicted almost exactly like Wells describe them and the tripod walking machines are almost exactly as described in the 1898 novel.

The bad, most of the movie focuses on three youths and their typical teen angst. Most of the movie is simply the young characters simply traveling from place to place boringly, very boringly. There is nothing redeemable or captivating enough to make you connect with any of them in any way shape or form. You could have taken the first 15 minutes of the movie and the last 10 minutes of the movie and shoved them together in a 25 minute webisode and had a more enjoyable watching experience, for the hour in the center of a movie nothing happens except walking around and arguing.

Sticking close to the original novel was interesting, but the execution was sorely lacking, I've seen better high school productions.

My rating of three stars breaks down as follows, one star because you can't give any less, one star added for the look of the machines in the aliens matching the original novel, and one star added for keeping the beginning and ending of the novel intact, that's the best I can do.

We've just watched this and can't believe how bad it is. It even makes the Tom Cruise version look fantastic. We were so excited to see a decent modern version but disappointment struck.

Bad acting, bad CGI, bad script, bad everything really. The lead characters do have their good moments, but still look like college production actors. The parson guy should never be allowed to act again for accepting the role.

There is no need to remake something that has been remade a few times (which will have high expectations) and then make a cheap, low budget version that is obviously going to get slated for being crap.

... but I just couldn't stick it out.

The acting was so-so but the story was a no-go, as were the special effects. Some of the special effects were so 1980's - think "War Games" with Matthew Broderick.

The writing and direction were so sub-par that a school production could have done much better.

Early on in the movie there's a scene in one of the lead characters mum's kitchen. It was probably one of the worst acted scenes I've ever seen in a main stream movie. It should have been cut and left on the cutting room floor. Actually it was so "wooden" it could have been cut with an axe.

I've given it a very generous 3/10.

Don't judge the movie based on watching the trailer. It was cleverly put together and I was fooled enough into thinking it would be an exciting new take on a classic sci-fi story. The actual movie is amateurish, slow with bad acting, writing and effects. It feels more like a network TV movie and not worth the rental price.

I wish I could say more about it, but I was bored out of my mind. I couldn't make it through all the way in my first watching. I came back to it later to see if it got better, but it just didn't. It's pure garbage and I would like my 6.99 rental back. I recommend you save your money.