andrew-ragland This is not a great movie, but it is a good one. Pearson sets out to tell the story of the second Martian invasion, with humanity using salvaged Martian technology and advances in their own to defend the world more actively than last time. He sets this against the dawn of what in our world would be the First World War. That serves only as backdrop, though. The incipient conflict in Europe, the problem of Irish home rule, and other issues get forgotten partway through the movie. That's okay. They were distractions, and would have detracted from the main story. This is a war movie, not a political drama. It has all the requisite elements of Japanese, American, and British war movies, all the tropes, all the conflicts, and manages to deliver them without becoming a muddle. We have the heroic yet damaged young officer proving himself and overcoming his past. We have the somewhat inappropriate relationship between comrades in arms. We have explosions, heroics, self-sacrifice, and triumph but at a terrible cost. The story of the initial invasion is told briefly, in the credits, ending with an atomic shadow on a wall in a burning city. Pearson moves straight from there to the action getting rolling, and keeps the pacing fairly tight, letting the audience catch their breath but just barely before throwing in the next assault. The film contains what it says on the tin. There's a lot to be said for that.And hey, any movie with Theodore Roosevelt firing a heavy machine gun while riding atop a walking tank scores points with me.

tom-spring51 How do I kill a world renowned story of Martians invading earth, taking over the planet only the be killed by the humblest of organisms? I know, get rid of that last part, it actually has substance, add in big robots and guns, and we've done it. Honestly, this may as well not be War of the Worlds. Had those tripods been replaced by an original character, it might have been a little better, but the themes of War of the worlds have nothing to do with it. Its nothing like the originals, its not aliens taking over the earth, its a war movie with the tripods slapped in there for an enemy. Its like Godzilla being destroyed by the military. In fact its worse, because at least that would retain some of godzilla's themes. An awful movie, I would give it a 1 but the robot designs are quite cool. They shouldn't be there in the first place however.

the_wolf_imdb Please forget all the "professional" critics who are disgusted by any movie without strong social and political commentary. This is not such flick. This is not movie about weak characters and their development. This is just a non stop steam-punk battle in alternative history. If you want to enjoy father who just wants to hide in a basement, be my guest and watch the War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise. You know it is pretty cool as well.This movie is "just for fun", more for the anime / scifi / steam-punk fans. The plot is somewhat weak, it is very linear - but what? The setting is pretty amazing, the alternative 1914 looks pretty cool and the battles are hardcore. The violence is here but is is actually mild so this movie could be even fun for older children.In a summary: Not great but good enough and fun enough. Thumbs up!

bbickley13-921-58664 I went to go see this movie because Kevin Eastman's name was attached to it. Kevin Eastman just in case you don't know created the Ninja Turtles with Peter Lard and is also the publisher of Heavy Metal Magazine. Whenever I think of Heavy Metal magazine I always think of hotly drawn scantily clad girls, and was expecting that in the adult themed animation, but of course adult does not just mean nude girls. Lucky for me this movie did not disappoint when I realized that.In fact, only one woman was featured in this all-star cast made up of actors from the TV show Highlander. Elizabeth Gracen, who played Amanda on the show and its spin-off, The Raven, played the one woman, while the highlander himself, Adrian Paul toke a side step as a supporting charter. Also Jim Brynes who played Dawson on the show, and is a voice-acting veteran by now, also has a part in the film.It's a really awesome premise. The movie acts as a sequel to War of the Worlds taking place 15 years after the events of the H.G. Wells novel in a steam punk influenced world where the human race creates an organization to train solders to prepare for another Martian attack just in case it happens. In a time and place when the "issues" that would lead to the First World War are causing conflict with the solders in this organization, which consist of men and women from every country in the world, the solders come together to train in war games only for the Martians to pick that time to attack again.The movie has a slow start as it tends to run on with it's explanation as to what's going on in the world, but form the beginning the movie was awesome to look at as the animation, which was a blend of traditional animation and CGI and the art design, especially that which focused on a steam punk vibe was as good as the stuff in Heavy Metal Magazine.Thought the 3D is not worth the price the action is. The battle scenes in the movie were great, not just from the animation point of view but it was very dramatic in it's story telling.A total thumbs up!