Pendragon's War Of The Worlds

[Methos]

So what your saying is, they tried to do the aged effect, which worked so well for “The Illusionist”, but somehow the messed it up?

[rossh]

When the first real trailer for WOTW that showed the tripods came out I must admit I was a little underwhelmed.

For a laugh I took that footage and the earlier teaser trailer and cut together a new trailer that IMHO made the film look much better.

Now while some of the acting is a little painful, it's really not that bad overall.

Some of the effects are OK, but in a film that does rely on special effects then I'd go as far as to say this is one of the films weakest part.

Having said all that, I think we all agree that if the movie had been edited with a lot of skill (and you'd need some skill to edit this footage together) then it would have been quite a pleasant little distraction. As it is, the 3hr version I own is a snorefest...

Say what you like about the fx, acting and direction- it's the editing together of the scenes (and the inability to omit some) that ultimately ruins the film.

[Lensman]

rossh said:

Some of the effects are OK, but in a film that does rely on special effects then I'd go as far as to say this is one of the films weakest part.
<snip>
Say what you like about the fx, acting and direction- it's the editing together of the scenes (and the inability to omit some) that ultimately ruins the film.

We've slated the FX quite a lot on the old forum, and that's an easy target because it's easy to see what's wrong. But I totally agree, it's the editing that is the worst, out of all the ineptness displayed in this film. I'm sure many or most of us could do a better job of editing-- I'm sure *I* could. It really astonishes me that Hines, who produced more than one feature film *before* this, could be so inept at editing.
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[Reppu]

The question is, why does he insist to make the editing himself, whene there are so many great editing proffesionals out there?. Not that that's the most expensive part of a production, is it? I understand cutting cost in FX, but in editing? As it has been said, you can do miracles with a few money with a proper editing.

Oh wait, i forgot that word........ego

[Wastedyuthe]

He didn't even need a proffesional editor- just someone competent. I've only done minimal editing of a few of my favourite movies (for personal viewing only of course), and hell- even I managed a better job than Hines. If I'd had the patience to finish it, it might have made it half decent. The editing (on the original 3 hour, and the DC) is definately the worst offence, but there is no saving the Thunder Child scene, how ever it is cut together. It's a shame, as some of the actors, as amateur as some are, really tried to make something of this film.

[bittersound]

I agree definately.

We could go on (and probably will) for ages about the faults in the film but with better reasonably intelligent editing some of these could almost be overlooked.
It certainly does appear to feed into the generally accepted opinion of a control freak. Shame.

[almichev]

Have just seen the 3 hour version for the first time. I could go on and on pointing out things i didn't like about it and it's faults but life's too short. And i'm a bit lost for words actually. The further into the book the film progresses the further it falls apart and veers away from the book. Top marks for trying to make a period version, but it's so shoddy and amateurish it's quite sad.

Except for the music, which is completely at odds with the rest of the film.

Ho hum. Move on, move on.

[Lensman]

THE SIX STAGES OF PENDRAGON

1. ANTICIPATION -- Oh! I finally got the DVD of Pendragon's classic "The War of the Worlds"! It's an authentic period production-- this is gonna be great!

2. DENIAL -- What?? I can't believe ANYONE could make a movie this bad. This can't be! I'll look at the DVD case again, maybe I bought the wrong title?

3. ANGER -- This is the worst piece of %$@^##& I've ever seen! I am SO ticked off! Who is this Timbo, anyway? I'm gonna track him down and do to him what he did to Wells' novel!

4. BARGAINING -- Oh gawd... maybe it gets better toward the end? Please, please, there has to be SOMETHING good about this film. (Maybe if we edit out the bad parts?)

5. DEPRESSION -- Oh, this is so awful. It's the most inept film anyone ever made, from start to finish. It's even worse than an Ed Wood film. I give up, there's not a bit of this I can like or recommend to anyone. I don't really care any more. What's the use?

6. ACCEPTANCE -- Okay. It's only a movie, and it was a cheap DVD. Wells' novel is still a masterpiece. Time to move on with my life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

almichev said:

Have just seen the 3 hour version for the first time. <snip> it's so shoddy and amateurish it's quite sad. Except for the music <snip> Ho hum. Move on, move on.

Congratulations, Almichev! You've progressed thru all the Stages of Pendragon quite quickly. A few are still stuck at stage 3... not naming any names.
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[Ashe Raven]

6. ACCEPTANCE -- Okay. It's only a movie, and it was cheap. Wells' novel is still a masterpiece. Time to move on with my life.

This stage works well for me.

[rusti]

lensman said:

THE SIX STAGES OF PENDRAGON

[
3. ANGER -- This is the worst piece of %$@^##& I've ever seen! Who is this Timbo, anyway? I'm gonna track him down and do to him what he did to Wells' novel!

I take that as a compliment... ;D

[Lensman]

I wasn't singling you out Rusti, honestly. I went thru all the stages I described. I didn't get stuck at any one stage, altho it certainly took me longer to move thru them than Almichev did.

[rusti]

You didnt base the 6 stages on the Robot Chicken Giraffe sketch did you?

[Methos]

The movie isn’t that bad, and as amazing as Wells’ novel was, it wasn’t exactly Dickens or Yates; it was filed with run-on sentences and bad grammar. Wells’ ideas were unique and revolutionary but let’s face it, he could have done better.

[Lensman]

methos said:

The movie isn’t that bad, and as amazing as Wells’ novel was, it wasn’t exactly Dickens or Yates; it was filed with run-on sentences and bad grammar. Wells’ ideas were unique and revolutionary but let’s face it, he could have done better.

Run-on sentences weren't a mark of bad writing in Victorian novels; it was part of the style of writing back then.

[Lensman]

rusti said:

You didnt base the 6 stages on the Robot Chicken Giraffe sketch did you?

Is that a serious question?

It's based on what is generally called the "Five stages of grief", altho a more general description would be the "five stages of reaction to a traumatic event". These are the grieving stages gone thru by someone who experiences the death of a loved one, and those who are aware of this may think I'm trivializing fans' reaction to Pendragon's WOTW by comparison. But actually the website I used for a reference talks about the same five steps in reaction to a dead car battery:

www.counselingforloss.com/article8.htm

To be honest, I did have my tongue a bit in my cheek when I entitled it "The Six Stages of Pendragon"; a more accurate description would be "The Six Stages of Reaction to Pendragon's Film".

But after forum members laugh at this, I hope they'll go back and read it a second time. For many of us, seeing the actual DVD movie *was* a traumatic event after having had a faithful, well-researched period film adaptation promised to us. I think most of us have finalized the grieving process and accepted Pendragon's film for what it is. Some have not, and it seems to me those who are saying "If it were re-edited, it could be a good film" are stuck in the "Bargaining" stage.

Just my opinion of course, and I hope this doesn't offend anyone. I am hoping that by pointing out grief over this film isn't just a joke-- it is a traumatic psychological process many of us have had to go thru-- that we can understand each others' reactions better.

I'm not all that sure that I've completely finished *my* grieving process, either. After all, here I am still posting about it. Maybe I can't let go either?
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