SSC Film Studies

"It is often said that films reflect the time in which they were made. How true is the War Of The Worlds (2005)?"

This is true because it reflects on 9/11 society. The intro of 'War Of The Worlds' begins with ominous music, this is low tone and spooky. We associate the music with horror films and not sci-fi, by Steven Spielberg using this type of music, it preparing us for an uneasy film.  Morgan Freeman voice then speaks over the music and he says "no one would believe..." this means that America was complacent and they thought that nothing could happen to their country, but it will happen to another country. The intro is very dark, so this means that it is a saturated and sinister world.

Spielberg uses an establishing shot of the New York skyline and the Twin Towers are missing, this means that the film takes place in a post 9/11 world. Tom Cruise's character, Ray, works on the cranes opposite Manhattan so he would of seen 9/11 occur. The cranes foreshadow the sound of the noise that the tripods make, while they are invading. Ray is a bad dad, who is unreliable, late and a reckless driver. He has a son and a daughter but he is a part of a broken family, this is unfamiliar and it challenges the audiences expectations because in the 90's the films were light hearted. For example; 'Independence Day', the invasion brought people together, whereas in 'War Of The Worlds' it rips them apart. This increases our uncertainty and contributes to the tension. Tom Cruise is playing an unusual character for him because he always plays  the 'hero' in his films but in this film he is playing a vulnerable dad. The camera is positioned at the side of a row of houses, outside each house they have a 'Star Spangled Banner', this reflects the rise of patriotism and nationalism in a post 9/11 world.

Ray watches the lightening strike in the same place 26 times, which he realised is unusual. People rush to the spot where the lightening struck, cars have stopped working, there are police officers and people speculating what is going on and why did it happen. When Ray picks up the rock, it is freezing and it continues to have ominous music, we associate this with horror films so the audience know something isn't right. The ground begins to crack and shake, smashing shop windows and people start to run away. It begins to crack the side of the church, this is a symbol of American society.