War of the Worlds

Continuity mistake: Just before the first alien tripod breaks free from the ground and cracks are appearing in the street, the front of the church cracks, and rocks away from its second half. In that shot, in the view from behind Ray, he places his right foot on the curb, while his left foot is on the road. In the next shot facing Ray, both his feet are on the curb.

Continuity mistake: When Ogilvy shouts Ray's name half a dozen times, Ray runs to him to quiet him down. The broken cellar window behind Ogilvy has shards of glass and red roots growing on it. Then in the next exterior shot, the shards of bloody glass are different size and shape, and the roots differ as well. (01:29:35)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: In Ogilvy's cellar, in the close-up of Ray's hand, he holds it up to the red mist blowing through the two broken windows. In the next shot however, as Ray looks at his hand and realizes it's blood, the right window is suddenly blocked with a broken shutter and two pieces of wood. (01:29:15)

Super Grover

Audio problem: As Tom Cruise and the children walk towards the Athens NY ferry an older gentleman says, "We got it the worst, that's what I heard". If you look closely his lips do not match what he's saying. (00:56:30)

????

Audio problem: When Tom Cruise gets back to his house after the first encounter with a machine, Robbie's says "What happened?" but nothing is heard, then he says it again and is heard the second time.

Continuity mistake: After speaking with Robbie, when Ray runs across the street to speak with Manny some are entirely different cars from the previous shots and in one case a car jumps sideways from one lane to the next. Ray also runs beside the crosswalk in the close-up, but in the next shot he's much farther away, and the crowd differs. (00:18:50)

Super Grover

Audio problem: In Boston, just after the military destroyed the tripod, in the tunnel Ray holds Rachel and we hear him say, "I love you. It's ok. It'll be ok," but his lips really say, "I love you. It'll be ok. It'll be ok." (01:45:10)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: The Hudson Ferry employee runs to the two soldiers and shouts, "Get that ramp up. Cast off. No more peopleĀ…" In the next semi close-up of the crowd converging on the ferry, there is a large grey car on the dock at the base of the ramp. In the next shot that car is inexplicably gone. (00:59:45)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When the hole cracks the asphalt in the first shot, the crack makes its way to Santo's Florist cracking the side of the brick building. A few shots later, when the Portuguese restaurant windows shatter, as the camera pans toward the church Santo's is seen on the street corner and the massive damage to the building is gone. The long crack in the asphalt leading from the hole to the florist is gone too. (00:21:20)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: Whilst Robbie is helping the people onto the ferry in the overhead shot, Ray holds Rachel beside a red car down below as they are both avidly watching Robbie's heroism. However, in the next close-up Ray is just now approaching the car, amongst a greater crowd of people. (01:02:20)

Super Grover

Factual error: As the Hudson-Athens ferry capsizes, Tom Cruise and his two children are almost crushed as a car slides off the ferry and quickly sinks, going straight to the bottom. We see that this sedan-style car has people in it, and that the windows are closed, so the passenger compartment has not yet flooded. It is still full of air. A sedan full of air would not quickly sink. It would briefly float on the surface, then slowly submerge as the passenger compartment floods.

Bruce Trestrail

Continuity mistake: When Mary Ann carries Rachel's backpack into Ray's kitchen, she places the backpack down on the floor to her left, with her left hand and then steps away. However, in the next shot, she is still holding it and then places it down to her right, with her right hand. (00:06:00)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: In Boston, when Ray breaks off a piece of the dried up root from the statue, the piece he holds in the next shot is completely different. (01:41:35)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Rachel runs to her mom, in Boston, in the side shot of Mary Ann she's already gone down the stairs and crossed the sidewalk towards her daughter, yet in the next shot it's Rachel who crosses the sidewalk towards her mom, who is still up at the center of the stairs. (01:47:05)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Ray throws the bread with peanut butter at the window it lands dead center. However, in the next close-up it's off to the side of the glass, in order for Ray's and Rachel's reflections to be seen clearly. The slice of bread differs as well. (00:37:15)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: In the scene when the intersection is rotating, the camera is aimed up towards the church and starts to pan down. Tom Cruise runs into the scene and gets behind a car. The movement of the church shows the intersection is turning counter-clockwise but as it pans to the ground, the intersection is turning clockwise.

Continuity mistake: When Robbie shouts at the soldiers driving by, puddle water splashes all over him, and the pattern and/or amount of water all over Robbie's jacket varies shot to shot. For example: when Ray shouts, "You're in charge now, you tell me..." there are many water spots on both sides of Robbie's jacket, but two shots later as Robbie shouts, "We get back at them!" only his left side is wet. Quick drying. (00:49:10)

Super Grover

Audio problem: At the beginning when Robbie runs up to tell Ray what happened with the car, and they're standing in the middle of the street, when Robbie says, "It opened up this hole or something," his lips aren't in sync with the words. (00:18:15)

Ray: Can you think of a plan that doesn't involve your 10-year-old sister joining the army?

More quotes from War of the Worlds

Trivia: When a group of aliens are exploring in the cellar, one of them spins the wheel of an overturned bicycle, and all are startled when the bicycle falls, making for a moment of comic relief. There's more to it, though. The H.G.Wells book mentions that the aliens probably had no concept of the wheel, as not a single rotating part was found inside the captured tripods. So an upside-down bicycle must have puzzled them a great deal.

More trivia for War of the Worlds

Question: I'm still a bit confused on the tripods' actual height. I can't find it anywhere and I just wanted to make sure how tall the tripods are. Preferably in meters but any measurement is fine.

Answer: They're reported to be about 100 feet tall.

Which is about 30.5 meters.

lionhead

They definitely seemed a lot taller than 100ft in the movies though that's for sure. I would have guessed maybe a few hundred feet.

Answer: In this film, their height is about 150 feet.

Bishop73

More questions & answers from War of the Worlds

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