Eve Of The War

Reading various articles, I thought it would be interesting to get all the facts we've gleaned so far in one place and try to put the picture together. (Possible spoilers)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The invaders will not be Martians. They will resemble the book's Martians to some degree and will have tentacles. There is a rumour (Allegedly based on a comment a crew member made at a convention) that they are from another dimension. (This has lead to some speculation that they aren't aliens at all, but from an alternate earth. This would seem to contradict references by various people involved with the film refering to them as "Aliens".)<br /><br />The aliens have been here before and already have "Cells" here waiting to be activated. (This is possibly a means of getting around the issue of cylinders dropping without being intercepted by missile systems.)<br /><br />The first incident takes place in downtown Ironbound Newark.<br /><br />The main character, Ray, is a dock worker. (Could it be that the first "Cylinder" or whatever is found near where he works? Could this be why the teenage boy is saying "Tell me what you saw?")<br /><br />There will be a scene similar to the traditional cylinder opening.<br /><br />Crowds of people will see something coming towards them and flee.<br /><br />Ray will gather his daughter and son and take off in someone else's car ("Manny's" I suppose.) just before the neighborhood explodes.<br /><br />There will be tripods.<br /><br />There's a ferryboat scene similar to the book<br /><br />A suburban neighborhood will observe a commotion in the distance before explosions overtake it. (Given the hour and the look of it, it isn't Ray's.) [EDIT: This is apparently only for the trailer (Thanks to Leper Messiah for the info.)<br /><br />There will be a battle involving the military in humvees.<br /><br />There will be a crashed airliner<br /><br />There will be a "Ruined house" sequence involving Ray, his daughter and at least one other person (Probably Ray's son, judging by the brown jacket seen in footage.) <br /><br />(Thought: The crashed airliner may play a part in in the "Ruined house". It doesn't sound like there will be randomly crashing cylinders, so perhaps the plane will crash into the house and Martians will come to inspect the site...and maybe eat some passengers.)<br /><br />The ending will be similar to the book's but not exactly.

But have they invented the Wheel?

when was the "cells" thing confirmed? that slipped past me...<br /><br /><br /><br />is that in reference to the first trailer, because that was later revealed to be footage shot only for the trailer and not in the actual film.

The aztecs invented the wheel, but only used it to toys. The martians may have invented the wheel, but since legs are better when the construction is better(and since it is more flexible when not in a hurry) its better. Wheels are ugly, plain and not as flexible to huge fast made all-destruction makers. That is actually a so small issue that Wells didnt even bother mentioning it alot. Theyre attacking, the reason is better to know than their historical events and inventions...

I still dont like this project... Wrong era, no Jeff Wayne music...

The "Cells" reference is from this linked interview that Eveofwar posted earlier : http://romanticmovies.about.com/ I assume they mean "Cell" in the terrorist sleeper sense, not as a reference to actual cells. It makes sense in terms of other statements about the movie and the general way they're approaching things. My sense of things is that the aliens sent cylinders to earth awhile back, and something will happen early in the film to activate them. This is consistent with the "They're already here" tagline, and was probably concocted as a way to get the cylinders to earth without having to explain them not getting detected by missile defense systems.

This is also why I think the downed jet is going to be part of the "Ruined house" scene. I'd been wondering why they would go through the expense of having such an elaborate prop unless they were going to feature it prominently. Footage on ET confirms that Ray & family will be running by it at some point. My guess is that if they aren't going to have falling cylinders, this was their best fix to setup this kind of scene. Personally, I think it lacks the creepy factor of having it be a falling star.

Thanks for the info about the suburbanites just being in the trailer. I was kind of wondering where it would fit in, knowing what we know now about the begining.

Actually we don't know if they did or didn't. We know a toy horse with wheels for feet was found buried in Aztec land, and it was very old. But we don't know how it got there or or anything about it. If Southern American Civilizations did invent the wheel then they would not have squandered it on toys alone. So maybe it was band. Maybe the wheel became a religious outcast for some reason lost to time. Or maybe that toy got there by some stranger means.

right then people do you see where im coming from on this? what in the name of hell do sleeper cells have to do with WOTW? thats not an adaptation thats just making it up. i notice that in that interview its stated the aliens have a reason for bringing the red weed with them, however in the original story that is never stated to be the case, its hinted that the red weed could well have been an accident. Interview also states there to be no explanation given for the motives of the invaders.

lets conclude with Rick Carters statement on how this will relate to the source material: "An imaginative re-adaptation." well lets face it that could and probably does mean anything.

Well, Hollywood does have a history of selective overthinking. It's like when they ruined the American Godzilla by toning down the elements that made him cool. (Radioactive breath was considered implausible, yet they have people driving taxis out of his mouth.)<br /><br />It seems to me that a simpler way to introduce the cylinders would be to simply have the aliens (And it would be cooler if they were Martians. The very word "Martians" carries with it a lot of power.) drop cylinders that become radar invisible when they hit earth's orbit.

That would have been better than having no cylinders at all. but part of the tension is in the fact that the first cylander draws so much attention.<br />they could land be visable but indestructable. protecting the invaders untill they disgorge.<br />

That would work too. I think either solution would emphasize the Aliens' technological power.<br /><br />Granted, dropping cylinders at all might seem a little arcane compared to gracefully landing them like a space shuttle, but it could just be a part of the alien-ness of the way they go about things.