Did the martians use an EMP device in the trailer?

[gatorboy]

Hi, I'm new here by the way! ;D

I noticed while watching the Super Bowl trailer that quite a few of the cars that Cruise races by in the van have their hoods up as if they weren't working properly.

Anyone think the martians used an EMP device to shut everything down? I know...Cruise is driving that van, but I can't help to think that the martians did something to put the other cars out of commission...

Anyway, glad to be here!

Chris

[RustiSwordz]

looks that way.

[Spirit of Man]

Good call, I didnt notice that till now, certainly looks like they are disabled..........either that or they've all gone to the same dodgy garage.

[jeffwaynefan]

This is something that has come up a few times and looking at the trailor - no.

If the Martians released some sort of EMP then I would expect it half way through the film - when the Martians can see us massing on them for war, they release this new weapon that stops us in our tracks. If the Martians release any sort of EMP this early then it would enable ALL vehicles and not just a few as it would be worthless for the invaders. Speilberg is a top class director/producer, he would not let by something as silly as a few vehicles being uneffected by advanced Martian technology that us Humans now nothing about whether or not Cruise's charactor is a mechanic or not.

And as backed up by Speilbergs latest comment

Spielberg: ...the sense of blithe adventure of Independence Day. It's not a wonderful kind of gung-ho...it's not Starship Troopers and it's certainly not Independence Day, you know? We take it much more seriously than that. The film is ultra-realistic, as ultra-realistic as I've ever attempted to make a movie, in terms of its documentary style. But at the same time, it's full of the kind of Hollywood production values that the audience is demanding these days. And I think it's the combination, the blend, of these huge events visually and this kind of documentary story, personal story at the center of it, that gives it this very unique-

Welcome to the board by the way

H_C

[Spirit of Man]

TY Horselll .

However, you can clearly see a healthy amount of vehicles with their hoods up, as if people were checking them before running like hell.

I think it would be fair to assume that not of the Martian technology would be 100% effective to us, there are too many variables for that and for us to be able to put up any fight, we need in some way to fight back, even when the Martians are giving it their best.

I also dont beleive that if the Martians didnt knock out ALL of the vehicles that it would be worthless to them. I mean, you see Cruise driving off in his van, he doesnt seem to be hurting the Martians in any way, plus anything that still moves after EMP could very well just get melted.

Jus my thoughts.

[malfunkshun]

emp is not a selective phenomenon, i would think that the minivan would have been disabled too

[jeffwaynefan]

If the Martians develop the EMP that disables only some vehicles and not others, what purpose does it serve to the Martians, what point are they trying to get across, 'oh, the EMP only works on vehicles built after June of 1997' - not very advanced are they.

The only reason I personally can think of is that IF the film is going to use EMP in the story, Speilberg will incorporate it into the film when the Martians are 'toying' with us, during the early stages of the film then it wears off, or during the latter part of the film when the Martians realise we are fighting back - and this is only based on photographs we have seen as the film may not even have anything in it such as EMP.

H_C

[themotile]

Are humvees afected by EMP? They do have complex electrical systems in the engine and they are in the ET footage tearing accross a field.

[Spirit of Man]

But still (and I keep going back to this point) there are alot of cars along the road with their hoods up. Which means that its either National Car Maintainance day in the US, the Martians have run around and personally disconnected all of the car batteries........or something has disabled the cars and people popped the hoods to check.

It could be that the Martians were just starting to use the EMP/Disableing device (I say disableing device due to the fact that EMP is a human term and we understand it to do certain things, the Martian version would "not" be a human device) and Cruise interupts them, hence why they are chasing him and who not everything is disabled.

A quick question Horsell, how do you know so much about what the Martians will/wont do, how things will/wont be effected if you havnt seen the film?? Surely this is all theory and conjecture, wouldnt it seem feasable that any possibility is.............erm..............possible within the confines of Wells's story?

[jeffwaynefan]

I have a clear head on my shoulders - common sense springs to mind

[Phil Dowson]

I dont know if anyone has touched on this point. But what about if "we" (the humans) used the EMP against the Martians, hoping to disable thier war machines, while trying to protect precious human life by not frying everyone. Could this be a connection to WOTW 1953 and ID4.

MAYBE... maybe the bright flashes in the trailer are EMP explosions continuing in the sky across the US as the armed forced attempt to control the invading force?

[jeffwaynefan]

EMP used by the humans - like the idea.

H_C

[Spirit of Man]

Phil said:

I dont know if anyone has touched on this point. But what about if "we" (the humans) used the EMP against the Martians, hoping to disable thier war machines, while trying to protect precious human life by not frying everyone. Could this be a connection to WOTW 1953 and ID4.

MAYBE... maybe the bright flashes in the trailer are EMP explosions continuing in the sky across the US as the armed forced attempt to control the invading force?

The idea reminds me a little of the the Animatrix's "The Second Renaissance" where the humans blacken the sky to stop the machines, which is about the time we became batteries. The very thing that we use to stop the enemy turns out to be our problem more than theirs.

Horsell, I'll shut up about the EMP, I got too much into the point I wanted to get across and lost my objectivity. I do still beleive that there was some kind of EMP at work and Cruise has a magic people carrier........or something. But to be honest, im just lookin forward to watching it.

Ive been a fan of the musical version since I was about 5 (a terrified fan) and that has never died down. It seems for WotW fans, theres going to be an audio/visual invasion during the next couple of years and I intend to buy a copy of everything thats released........except the SACD's cus i dont have a player.

[Baron of SG-12]

Hey! something I know about, I was in the Army and we where taught to turn off equipment and vehicles if we saw a nuke detonate. This way it would not be effected by a EMP blast and could be started again. Most civilian vehicles would be affected with the new computers that are needed to run them. That’s maybe why you only see some stuff running and something’s not, like a jet as we see in some set pics.


Baron

[themotile]

Phil said:

I dont know if anyone has touched on this point. But what about if "we" (the humans) used the EMP against the Martians, hoping to disable thier war machines, while trying to protect precious human life by not frying everyone. Could this be a connection to WOTW 1953 and ID4.

MAYBE... maybe the bright flashes in the trailer are EMP explosions continuing in the sky across the US as the armed forced attempt to control the invading force?

Now thats thinking outside the box Phil good idea, it would make sense but do we have that capability yet? I mean dont we have to set off a nuclear bomb to generate an EMP that big?

[Baron of SG-12]

the said:

Now thats thinking outside the box Phil good idea, it would make sense but do we have that capability yet? I mean dont we have to set off a nuclear bomb to generate an EMP that big?

No you don't, There are bombs that just generate EMP. I don't what it is called you'll have to ask someone thats in the Air Force. ;D

Baron

[Spirit of Man]

Something that kinda confirms the EMP thing is the news report on the "Aliens not from Mars" thread, it says;

"Cruise, with Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin playing his children, attempts to drive a blue Plymouth van—the same vehicle they are seen commandeering in their Super Bowl TV spot and one of the few remaining operating cars—through a crowd of refugees"

[ClaytonForrester]

Well,in the 50's version when a cylinder crashed the after-effect was massive magnetization of earthly electronics and power sources;that would fit in pretty well with the way SS wants to knock out mobern conveniences in his flick.


ClaytonForrester.

[themotile]

ClaytonForrester said:

Well,in the 50's version when a cylinder crashed the after-effect was massive magnetization of earthly electronics and power sources;that would fit in pretty well with the way SS wants to knock out mobern conveniences in his flick.


ClaytonForrester.

Well the watches stopped. Thats about it realy so I dont think it was intended as a weapon. The power was knocked out when the power cables were taken out with the heat ray along with the phone line. Gene Barry explains it all.

[EvilNerfherder]

I dunno, Motie.. I think a particular point was made regarding the magnetism of various items as well.
Whether that was 'fallout' from the Martians power supply or a form of EMP isn't made clear.