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WAR OF THE WORLDS
Produced by David Rimawi
Directed and Edited by David Michael Latt
Written by Carlos De Los Rios and David Michael Latt
Director of Photography - Steven ParkerGeorge Herbert - C. Thomas Howell
Alex Herbert - Dashiell Howell
Felicity Herbert - Tinarie Van Wyk-Loots
Sgt. Williams - Andy Lauer
Pastor Victor - Rhett Giles
Chances are anyone reading this is already familiar with H.G. Wells 100 year old story, or at least some version of it. Aliens descend on Earth and destroy everything in their path. Not being immune to our environment, they soon die off thanks to the common cold. During the last century the story has become part of the pop-culture language where the very phrase "war of the worlds" reflects an "us against them, to the death" mentality.
What makes each incarnation different is the approach to the material. You can hear the Halloween radio broadcast of Orson Wells' version here. It highlights the action and horror elements. The 1950's George Pal version is a stiff and stodgy reflection of the times reflecting post-war invasion paranoia. My favorite spin was the late 1980's television program to which there were no redeeming qualities other than the belief that humans were good and the aliens were bad.
In this take on Wells' classic tale, director David Michael Latt places C. Thomas Howell in a road movie about holding on to one's personal faith. I'm not talking so much about religious faith, but something just as spiritual. It's faith in those things that keep us going every day: family, friends, formality, and fear of what might become if we ever grow forgetful of those things or take them for granted. If the audience isn't able to identify with Howell early on, then the journey and his struggles will be for nothing.
Howell has come a long way since his days of black face shtick in SOUL MAN. That wry gleam in his eyes that said "Tom Cruise has nothing on me" doesn't sparkle as brightly as it once did, but the grey in his once black hair reveals his longevity. Other than the noted exception of playing Thomas D. Chamberlain in GETTYSBURG and GODS AND GENERALS, his 60+ roles since 1990 have almost all been b-movie fare. Sadly, Director David Latt's new take on H.G. WELL'S WAR OF THE WORLDS is the first movie I've screened that Howell has stared in nearly 20 years, since about the time he popped those tanning pills in SOUL MAN. Watching him again after all these years, I was reminded why he was so great in films like THE OUTSIDERS and SECRET ADMIRER, he possesses that sort of charming demeanor that's equal parts vulnerability and comfortability. He's an everyman that puts people at ease, and an actor I never realized I missed until now.
Howell's George Herbert is a family man, and the movie opens is a scene of intimacy between he and his wife, Felicity. Anyone who had ever been in a long-term seriously relationship should be able to draw upon similar moments. Howell is in his bedroom, fully dressed, while his wife is getting out of the shower, and the two talk comfortably about the day's upcoming events. The moment, and the nudity, is casual due the character's familiarity. Why be shy, or seductive, after you've seen each other naked for at least as long as you've been married? The scene serves two purposes, on one level it quickly establishes the family dynamics that comprise the core relationships, and two, it provides the requisite exploitation that exhibitors require before they'll acquire a film project.
Bringing the exploitation element of Latt's film to the forefront isn't doing the movie a disservice, as some would believe. Instead it illustrates to the audience the difference between this and the other major version of Wells' classic released this year from director Steven Spielberg, and the differences between Hollywood cinema and independent cinema in general. Economy is the key to Latt's success, where excess is key to Spielberg's. Latt and co-writer Carlos De Los Rios achieve in a scene what it takes Spielberg 30 minutes to do. It also illustrates that a beautiful set of natural breasts are a special effect that can't be equaled, even with 100 million dollars behind the production.
Pages could be written on the differences and similarities of the two films, but a comparison isn't warranted. All one really needs to know is that a mega-budget equal mega-spectacle. Spielberg creates tension through the action. Latt's version can't afford the spectacle so he creates tension through drama. There are scenes in both films that are identical in setting and purpose, but the execution and focus are different. Consider a scene in Latt's version where Herbert hides out in a basement with Pastor Victor, a minister Herbert has met while on his travels. During 30 pages of dialogue we see the layers peal away and gradually notice Victor's descent into madness. This directly parallels Olgilvy's basement sequence where Spielberg uses the madness as a point of tension and action. The approach creates a greater sense of urgency, but Latt's take on the sequence allows the unease to creep up on you gradually.
If Pastor Victor represents Herbert's spiritual side, Sgt. Williams represents his masculine side. Williams in the first person Herbert spends any time with while on the road. As with Victor, 30 minutes of the movie is spent with this character, and that's more time than we spend with the wife and child. Williams is lost and his men are long sense dead. He agrees to travel with Herbert, more so to give himself a sense of purpose rather than anything else. Along the way both men learn about honoring their covenants, Herbert's to his family, and Williams' to his country.
Metaphorically speaking, the invasion illustrates the conflict between Herbert and his wife. The WAR OF THE WORLDS is Herbert's battle to put his work and his family in their proper places. Victor and Williams help show Herbert who he is and remind him why he started a family in the first place. Once the family unit is made whole again, the WAR OF THE WORLDS ends. If you can't match Spielberg on budget, you've got to try to match him on heart.
For an Asylum release, Latt's production and distribution company, the dvd presentation is amazingly complete, probably due to the fact that this is The Asylum's highest profile release of the year. There are two commentaries, one with Latt and the actors that comes across friendly and jovial, and a second, more technical commentary, with the producers and director of photography. There's also a trailer vault of upcoming Asylum releases, deleted scenes, outtakes, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and visual effects featurette. Not a bad package for David Latt's most ambitious project, and C. Thomas Howell's return to my viewing stable.