Best Interview Yet (tagline explained, cells,etc)

[skunker]

Rebecca Murray over at about.com's movie section has posted probably one of the best interviews from the filmmakers.

Sample Questions addressed:

Why are the aliens no longer from Mars?

Rick Carter – I don’t know if anyone believes that there’s anything on Mars now. I think it’s just more from ‘out there.’

What did you pull from [the book] when you began working on the designs of the aliens?

Rick Carter – I don’t know how much we can say (laughing). Of course this is the big 500 lb, 10,000 lb elephant in the room that we’re supposed to talk around. What I would say is that it’s about how those aliens present themselves in our world, so that what I’m trying to get at is there’s a mystery to it. There’s a cause and effect so that a lot of what the aliens are about – and they’re tripods and I’m allowed to say that – they’ve been here and that’s why the [cells] are already here. There’s a way that they’re activated. So that, in a sense, it is about something that’s already here from our subconscious coming up.

More info at: www.waroftheworldsfilm.com/

[RustiSwordz]

Sample Questions addressed:

Why are the aliens no longer from Mars?

Rick Carter – I don’t know if anyone believes that there’s anything on Mars now. I think it’s just more from ‘out there.’

But people generally seem to think that mars was once capable of supporting life. The above argument is weak at best.

Rick Carter they’ve been here and that’s why the [cells] are already here. There’s a way that they’re activated. So that, in a sense, it is about something that’s already here from our subconscious coming up.

what kind of BS is that? when someone is running for their lives they dont give two sh*ts to do a dna analasys to see where the buuggers comefrom, now this is the only gripe i have over this film that they are going to have somekind of bullsh*t explanation as to why the aliens are here and where they are from when a) they are from mars, and b) they want to conquer/eat us. Thats good enough explanation for me.

[Gerkinman]

see, we didnt realise that the tripod were walking freely amoung us until AFTER they starter shooting at us.

[themotile]

No. no no no no!


So they are already here litteraly then? What a bunch of crap. Koepp is a git. Instead of cylinders its "cells" and they are underground and are activated by something and thats better than cylinders how exactly?

I wonder were that idea came from (alien sleeper cells - terrorist sleeper cells )

This thing just went down a notch, if that interview is acurate.

[nervouspete]

(Reposting what I did on the other WOTW forum, with additions...)

I think he meant: 'sleeper cells' rather than 'dna cells' or organic cells. Basically cylinders already lying around underground waiting to open. 'Sleeper cell' as in the 'Red menace' interpretation, small cells of invading forces sown in enemy territory awaiting the signal to emerge and carry out their mission.

So that they've got the hardware and the aliens hidden in our landscape and they're going to emerge on a pre-arranged date. Also: they won't be explaining in the film half the stuff that's said in the interview. Usually for films you need a sort of framework behind what happens that explains what is happening, so you can keep everything in context and moving along the same lines in the same direction. Cruise will be running about, we'll get glimpses or clues that we'll have to interpret ourselves (Donnie Darko style) but we won't have Pierce Brosnan with a pipe explaining things to us.

To my mind, his best performance.

What is intriguing from the interview is that I'm beginning to suspect that they've been reading Grant Morrison's superb anarchist mirror-magic comic book 'The Invisibles', which is about the next buddha being a chav from Liverpool who joins a magical anarchist cell, travels through time and space and becomes enlightened - all the while fighting an invading force from a parralell universe who symbolise a form of conceptual cancer. It's a very weird, and very good book. Apart from the bit where it recommends (gngh) Kula Shaker. It explains the artistic explosion of the 1920's, the atomic bomb, current media, revolution by proxy, ace sci-fi concepts, magic and the power of sigil by corporations - and is utterly ace.

How the above translates into the interview: the bit about the image of universal fear that the aliens will be - that they're going for something that just feels wrong and frightening. And the notion of - and I'm guessing here, they danced a lot in that interview, excellent teaser stuff - some parallel dimension invading ours. This was envisaged reasonably well in the big budget BBC sci-fi series set in Scotland 'Invasion Earth', which they tragically arsed up with Scully-isms and something of a meandering lack of urgency to the plot.

I think they're trying to create something that is everybody's worst alien invasion nightmare combined - and how one would be realistically - ie: the enemy are so far advanced that we can't really work out how they got here, what they are doing, what they want and who they are - but they are killing us.

Frankly, apart from plot elements mirroring Well's book - the house, the cylinder opening, the heat ray, tripods, refugees, baskets, working man's viewpoint, ferry evacuation, deus ex machina saviour - I now believe that they ARE trying an interpretation that is for the most part radically different.

Do I care anymore?

Not really. All my hope and cheerleading was already invested in 'Serenity', the movie version of the stupendous Firefly that's out in September.

I'll keep flying the flag for it in the hope that artistically it will be something worthwhile and very intersting, and that speaks to all of us.

Obviously I still wanted the cylinders falling from space though.

No, I reckon WOTW will be great, but will be radically different from Well's book. How much I care about that will be whether or not their new vision holds water conceptually, and is nightmarish enough to be truly iconic.

I always have the book, but my nightmares are set in present day - and I don't ask the tripods where they come from in them. (Though I can sometimes jump from roof top to roof top, so that's a bit odd, as well)

Pete

P.S: Though obviously, given the choice, I would still have asked for a scary one from Spielberg that was largely faithful and period setting to the book.

[themotile]

nervouspete said:

(Reposting what I did on the other WOTW forum, with additions...)

'Sleeper cell' as in the 'Red menace' interpretation, small cells of invading forces sown in enemy territory awaiting the signal to emerge and carry out their mission.

Can any one say " Al Qaeda".......?

[RustiSwordz]

can anyone say bullsh*t

come back Tim Hinds all is forgiven...

[themotile]

Then what was this all about?




www.waroftheworldsfilm.com/nm/publish/news_68.shtml

[Gnorn]

The tagline should read The money is allready in the pocket

-Gnorn

[jeffwaynefan]

Or 'War Of The Worlds - Been Done To Death, But Not Properly' ;D

[DareDevil]

skunker said:

Sample Questions addressed:

Why are the aliens no longer from Mars?

Rick Carter – I don’t know if anyone believes that there’s anything on Mars now. I think it’s just more from ‘out there.’

That's pretty much how I see it, yes
I do believe there is 'something'out there. But I no longer believe in such kind of life on Mars.
To me it's a lot more credible they come form another planet we don't know about yet. And i'm pretty convinced there are plenty of those.

[FALLINGSTAR]

If this is true and it's not Paramount putting out a bit of misinformation, then it looks like some of our worst concerns were right about this and it could well have quite a bit of underlying 'War on Terror' propaganda in it.

Looks like the neo - conservatives have infiltrated Hollywood even more than I thought - and is there a bit of Spielberg self interest in this type of propaganda one wonders.

If this is correct it's the final nail in the coffin as far as I'm concerned about this already shaky concept.

Pathetic!

[heruursmith]

I wonder if the 'cells' are actually on Mars? So that they would launch their invasion from Mars but that the sleeper cells would be activated by something/someone (perhaps an Earth expediton to Mars ala the end of Jeff Wayne's musical version?).

If they are already on Earth then that does seem to be a bit well, erm propaganda-ish! Get the people all hyped up with fear of "the bad guys in our midst" type of thing!
But then again, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" was such a story and played on people's fears of communism and the possibilty that infiltrators might help cause the downfall of personal freedom and kill the human spirit. And that movie (and it's remakes) was very powerful!

It will certainly be interesting to see what kind of message and "aura" this movie endeavours to create. I hope it isn't a propaganda piece...

Kamael

[Gnorn]

Playing on fears... Well, we all know what McCartney did with the so-called communists.

-Gnorn

[maniacs]

FALLINGSTAR said:

If this is true and it's not Paramount putting out a bit of misinformation, then it looks like some of our worst concerns were right about this and it could well have quite a bit of underlying 'War on Terror' propaganda in it.

Looks like the neo - conservatives have infiltrated Hollywood even more than I thought - and is there a bit of Spielberg self interest in this type of propaganda one wonders.

If this is correct it's the final nail in the coffin as far as I'm concerned about this already shaky concept.

Pathetic!

Reminds me of 'Hero!'. I almost swore that was some sort of philosophy in favour of Bush.

...the emperor is misunderstood. That his actions are for the greater good etc

[Cylinder]

hummpnh

[nervouspete]

maniacs said:

Reminds me of 'Hero!'. I almost swore that was some sort of philosophy in favour of Bush.

...the emperor is misunderstood. That his actions are for the greater good etc

Actually, it was propaganda in favour of the Official Chinese line versus Taiwan.

That's one of the reasons why I didn't like it. Carboard characters, illogical unrequited love and a general 'meh' atmosphere despite the gorgeous visuals was another. Shame really, I loved Crouching Tiger and 'Once Upon a Time in China'.

For the best in Eastern epics, get Hayao Miyazaki's anime films - "Spirited Away", "Princess Monokoe" and "Castle In the Sky". They are absolutely jaw dropping and beautiful works. Seriously. If WOTW were even half as wonderous as Miyazaki at his best, I would be seriously impressed. (And I'm still looking forward to WOTW too!)


And Invasion of the Bodysnatchers has also being reputed to have been about the dangers of McCarthyism creating a bland, one thought state where those who have different opinions are suppressed. It seems the way the creators would go... Hollywood didn't love McCarthy. (Infuriatingly, no interview has yet to indicate one political motivation over the other yet)

Pete

[dragon]

Here in the US, some proponents of the Face on Mars say that a superintelligent race once existed on Mars and fled to Earth after a natural disaster (asteroid collision, etc). The Face is a temple/marker of their original Martian origins. As the theory goes, once on Earth, they manipulated the DNA of the dominant species, man's ancestors, to produce homo sapien. Also, they claim the Pyramids, the many temples in South America, etc. were built by the ex-Martians. Perhaps that is the cell he's referring to..... "They" is "us".

[Gnorn]

dragon said:

Here in the US, some proponents of the Face on Mars say that a superintelligent race once existed on Mars and fled to Earth after a natural disaster (asteroid collision, etc). The Face is a temple/marker of their original Martian origins. As the theory goes, once on Earth, they manipulated the DNA of the dominant species, man's ancestors, to produce homo sapien. Also, they claim the Pyramids, the many temples in South America, etc. were built by the ex-Martians. Perhaps that is the cell he's referring to..... "They" is "us".

Yeah right... and Elvis realy isn't dead...

-Gnorn

[quaderni]

A 'real American' named Ray. Oh boy.