War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave
| War of the Worlds 2 | |
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 DVD cover |
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| Directed by | C. Thomas Howell |
| Produced by | David Michael Latt, David Rimawi, Paul Bales |
| Written by | Steve Bevilacqua (story) Eric Forsberg (screenplay) |
| Based on | The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells |
| Starring | C. Thomas Howell Christopher "Kid" Reid Kim Little Fred Griffith Dashiell Howell |
| Music by | Ralph Rieckermann |
| Cinematography | Mark Atkins |
| Editing by | Ross H. Martin |
| Distributed by | The Asylum |
| Release date(s) | April 1, 2008 |
| Running time | 85 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $500,000 (estimated) |
War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave (also known simply as War of the Worlds 2) is a 2008 direct-to-DVD science fiction film starring and directed by C. Thomas Howell.
War of the Worlds 2 is a sequel to the 2005 science fiction horror film H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds (titled internationally as Invasion), which is a modernized adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds and mockbuster of Dreamworks' adaptation of the same novel. The film was released by independent film company The Asylum. Whereas the previous film, directed by David Michael Latt, gained a fairly good critical reaction from critics, selling 100,000 DVDs upon its release, War of the Worlds 2 received a largely negative reaction from critics.
The post-apocalyptic science fiction film was directed by and starred C. Thomas Howell, reprising the role of George Herbert. A new wave of Martian walkers resumes the invasion of Earth, and begins capturing humans including George's son. As he and his companion Pete (Christopher Reid) attempt to rescue him, a fleet of United States Air Force jets attempt an air raid on Mars in a final battle against the aliens.
War of the Worlds 2 was released directly onto DVD in 2008, possibly because that year held the 110th anniversary of the novel's release, with an R rating in the United States and an 18 certificate in the United Kingdom. The film is often played on the British Horror Channel, and is now beginning to broadcast on the Syfy channel. The plot bears little resemblance to the novel.
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[edit] Plot
The film begins with clips from War of the Worlds and the voice of George Herbert, who explains that despite years of searching for extraterrestrial life, mankind could never have predicted the invasion. He tells us that the aliens fed on human blood which infected them, wiping the invaders out. He then states "for some, the nightmare had only just begun".
Two years later, a town is seen, populated with silent refugees. Among them is Shackleford and Sissy. Suddenly, three Tripods land in the city. People are struck by a Heat-Ray, disintegrating them. Shackleford and Sissy run to their hideout. Shackleford grabs a syringe and takes a sample of Sissy's blood. He then injects it into himself.
George Herbert and his son Alex are living in their house, left undamaged by the first invasion. One morning, George recognises a familiar disturbance on the radio, the same heard during the first invasion. He takes Alex to the basement and promises he will be back when he is finished with his work. He goes to a United States air base, where he reveals to Major Kramer and scientists there that his studies suggests the aliens are creating a space time hole between Earth and Mars. A fleet of F-22 fighter jets, with the deep-space flight capabilities, fly through this time hole and raid the planet Mars.
George goes to get his son back to the base, only to find a Tripod standing outside his home. Alex is then hit by a smaller weapon from the tripod. Remembering humans were kidnapped by the first wave of machines, he realizes the weapon is a teleporter. He escapes to an abandoned city and wakes up the next morning to find a man named Pete running from a Tripod. George throws himself before the machine offering himself and hoping to find his son once he's teleported. He wakes up inside the machine with Pete and they both escape with Sissy, who seems to know her way around the organic interior. Meanwhile, the Martians begin a second invasion, attacking recovering cities such as London and Paris. Major Kramer leads the fleet of jets to chase the alien mothership through the time hole and back to Mars.
George, Pete and Sissy find themselves in the town from the start of the film. Shackleford reveals that the town is a fake, created by the Tripods as a place for human prisoners to live on Mars. Shackleford wants to destroy the aliens in the same way bacteria did them in during the first invasion. Shackleford and Sissy are dying from a virus which is lethal to the Tripods. Before he dies he convinces George to inject his infected blood into himself. George and Pete are kidnapped again and wind up inside the mothership, where they find Alex in a cocoon. George injects his infected blood into a pod holding a brain which is telepathically connected to all of the Tripods. The virus quickly spreads through their minds and deactivates the alien machines, ending their second invasion.
George, Pete and Alex find Kramer's jet and escape just as Mars begins to explode. George somehow survives the infection, and the humans celebrate while listening to the radio, which suddenly begins making the invasion sounds once again...
[edit] Cast
- C. Thomas Howell as George Herbert
- Christopher Reid (entertainer) as Pete
- Dashiell Howell as Alex Herbert
- Fred Griffith (actor) as Major Kramer
[edit] Soundtrack
The film's music was composed by Ralph Reickermann, a former composer for The Asylum. The film features the single "You Came into my Life" which featured the vocals of singer John Brown Reese.
[edit] External links
- War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave official site
- War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave at the Internet Movie Database
- War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave at Rotten Tomatoes
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