Corrected entry: Tom Cruise is able to drive the mini-van because he told the mechanic to try changing the solenoids. The military vehicles all work, indicating that they knew how to get vehicles moving again, yet the military does not tell the mobs of people how to repair the cars and Tom Cruise does not take the time to replace a solenoid in one of the thousands of disabled cars, instead choosing to walk from the Hudson River to Boston, about 200 miles.
Twotall
1st Dec 2005
War of the Worlds (2005)
21st Jul 2005
War of the Worlds (2005)
Corrected entry: When Ray, Rachel and that other guy are in the basement after the aliens eye has come and gone, they see a ripple in the water. They then see aliens coming down to the basement. These aliens would have to be down there in the water before making the ripple.
Correction: No, they would only have to make something drop into the water, such as a pebble or other loose debris that is lying around after the destruction.
13th Jul 2005
War of the Worlds (2005)
Corrected entry: The aliens buried their machines some thousands of years ago. Precisely when isn't clear but well before human civilization got going. Yet they just so happened to bury them in and around major cities that would be built many thousands of years later. And by complete chance they put one right under the middle of an intersection in New York. The speed of the attack makes clear that these things didn't emerge randomly in the countryside, forest or jungle. They were marching through major cities from the word go.
Correction: First of all, it is only the ones we see who are "marching through major cities", and only one of these is shown breaking out of the ground so conveniently near an intersection. There are thousand of tripods that are never shown on screen, and most of these could easily have been emerging in more desolate areas. It just would not be very interesting to see. Secondly, human settlements follow certain patterns. We are reliant on fresh water (so we settle near rivers), we prefer temperate areas (and avoid deserts and the arctic), and we want to settle close to food sources and the natural resources we need. If the aliens knew this much about humans (which they could easily learn by studying our ancestors), it would be easy to calculate where the major settlements would be built.
13th Jul 2005
War of the Worlds (2005)
Corrected entry: When the family arrives at a small town where they catch the ferry, there are loads of missing persons notices. However, the fact that electrical equipment works in that town suggests the aliens had not reached that part yet. As such, nobody in the town would have gone missing and placing a missing person notice in a town where the person hasn't gone missing is completely useless.
Correction: Of course not. As we can see in the film, thousands of refugees have been fleeing that way, and thousands more are coming. These fleeing people would still hope that their loved ones were alive, even if they were separated earlier on, and so would leave these notes in a desperate hope that someone could reunite them. A very faint hope, that they should still be alive and arriving in the same town as their family, but better than leaving no clue and thereby abandoning all hope.
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Correction: Cruise's character had already seen first-hand the stampede and violence that erupted when the mobs saw a working car. He knew he would not have been allowed to keep the car for long, and it could be very dangerous to him and his daughter. As for the military; how many of the regular soldiers would know how to fix the cars? Most likely this was done by the mechanics in the military compounds, and they would have their hands full with repairing vehicles (or being called out to fight), so it is not certain thy would have had the opportunity to inform the public.
Twotall
Well, one more reason is, where will he find the solenoid in that chaos, to replace it in the first place?