War of the worlds-Independence day

[Gamingboy]

Proof that ID4 is a rip-off of War of the Worlds (the 1954 movie, not the book)


1. In both movies The Aliens both arrive to speculation: Are they good, Bad? Are they here to destroy us or help us?

2. Both Aliens prove they are most definitely bad.

3. In both movies the Aliens are bombed by Flying Wings.

4. In both movies the aliens are nuked to no avail.

5. Both movies involve the destruction of LA.

6. Both Aliens have a death ray (this is kinda true for every Alien movie, but hey).

7. Here's a big one: In ID4, Will Smith's Character is stationed at El Toro air base.... in WOTW, the Flying Wing sent to A-bomb the Martians comes from.... El Toro Airbase.

8. Both Movies have Paris destroyed as well.

9. Both Aliens have shields.

10. Both Alien's shields seem to protect them from the miraculous heat of there own heat beam.

11. Both Alien races look very, very ugly.

12. Both movies are a bit vague on the details of the Invasion out of the US (although WOTW is a little bit better at this).

13. Both begin with a shot of the earth from space.

14. And.... in both movies the Aliens are destroyed by a virus (different type, but still).

 

[Grey Wolf]

Yeah, but ID4 is still a good film. One might note that AFAIR 'War of the Worlds' did not have any child characters ?

Grey Wolf

 

[Faeelin]

Yeah, but ID4 is still a good film. One might note that AFAIR 'War of the Worlds' did not have any child characters ?

Grey Wolf

It needs a sequel.

 

[Gamingboy]

The reason WOTW didn't have any children characters was, that, in the 50s.... they're were none. They mainly were either on TV or were put in for comic relief. The only good Sci-Fi movie of the 50s with a strong Child character was "The Day the Earth Stood Still".

 

[Grimm Reaper]

Uh, how to break the news?

It's never been a secret that ID4 WAS an updated version of War of the Worlds, just as the movie was an updated version of the book.

Got both, book and original movie.

 

[Gamingboy]

You know, I heard that Tom Cruise and Stephan Spielberg were joining forces to make a remake of "War of the Worlds", only this time taking place in 1898 (The book).

 

[zoomar]

Proof that ID4 is a rip-off of War of the Worlds (the 1954 movie, not the book)


1. In both movies The Aliens both arrive to speculation: Are they good, Bad? Are they here to destroy us or help us?

2. Both Aliens prove they are most definitely bad.

3. In both movies the Aliens are bombed by Flying Wings.

4. In both movies the aliens are nuked to no avail.

5. Both movies involve the destruction of LA.

6. Both Aliens have a death ray (this is kinda true for every Alien movie, but hey).

7. Here's a big one: In ID4, Will Smith's Character is stationed at El Toro air base.... in WOTW, the Flying Wing sent to A-bomb the Martians comes from.... El Toro Airbase.

8. Both Movies have Paris destroyed as well.

9. Both Aliens have shields.

10. Both Alien's shields seem to protect them from the miraculous heat of there own heat beam.

11. Both Alien races look very, very ugly.

12. Both movies are a bit vague on the details of the Invasion out of the US (although WOTW is a little bit better at this).

13. Both begin with a shot of the earth from space.

14. And.... in both movies the Aliens are destroyed by a virus (different type, but still).

And you point being...?

I agree with Grey Wolf. ID4 was one of the most enjoyable SF movies of all time, which visually captured my own imagination of what a space invasoin ought to look like. That one line early in the movie when the radar operator is talking to the general as the as-yet poorly understood objects are heading toward the earth, "sir...., they appear to be slowing down" is one of the most chilling thowaway lines in movie SF. Full of ridiculous plot contrivances and silliness, but it sure beat WOTW (the movie), which I saw many times. Pal's film (it was Pal, I think) was a classic example of what can happen when "big budget SF" was made in the 1950's. I can never forgive them for placing it in the modern era with shiny flying martian ships instead of Well's wonderful turn-of-the-century tripods. I too have heard that some kind of GOOD remake of WOTW is in the works. A sequel for ID4 would also be great. There have got to be literally millions of nasty aliens on all those crashed ships that have to be taken out.

 

[Gamingboy]

IMHO, War of the Worlds was better. But both are highly enjoyable films.

 

[Michael E Johnson]

It needs a sequel.

I really agree with that. To me one of the most interesting parts of the ID4 story would be the aftermath. From the political state of the world to reverse engineering alien technology to the possibilty of alien survivors all would be really interesting to explore. There is a ID4 book called War in the Desert that takes place in the Middle East a few days after the invasion and there is talk of a sequel but its not a done deal yet.

 

[DominusNovus]

I wouldn't call the similarities a rip off on ID4's part. Most of the stuff is standard scifi (bad aliens, ugly aliens, energy shields), and stuff like El Toro is probably just ID4 giving WOTW a nod.

 

[Grey Wolf]

The reason WOTW didn't have any children characters was, that, in the 50s.... they're were none. They mainly were either on TV or were put in for comic relief. The only good Sci-Fi movie of the 50s with a strong Child character was "The Day the Earth Stood Still".

I have that somewhere...

I remember in 'The Day The Earth Caught Fire' there was a little girl lost in the park who was important to the plot in the relationship of the two central characters, but otherwise not

Grey Wolf

 

[Torqumada]

ID 4 had elements from War of the Worlds (Aliens with advanced unbeatable technology invade the Earth, kick butt and then are beated by a virus), V (llok at the ship designs), Star Wars (Will Smith's flight from the Alien fighter craft in his F-18 and then later in the Mothership) and Star Trek:The Motion Picture (scenes from inside the mothership). Did that surprise me? No.

Torqumada