Question: I don't get it. What was the purpose of the aliens coming to Earth? And what exactly happened to them? Where did they go?
Answer: Near the end of the movie... The morning after in the basement... The guy on the radio says the aliens were there not for the planet, but to harvest humans. For what purpose is unknown, maybe as an energy source, Matrix-style.
Chosen answer: According to the theory in the movie they were there to take the planet for their own because they used up all the resources their own planet. They left the planet when it became apparent to them that the water on Earth was too dangerous.
Question: Do the individual aliens have cloaking abilities? It seemed at that the dogs were reacting to something that the people could not see. Were they smelling cloaked aliens? Were they going crazy to protect their human owners and that was misinterpreted as an attack on the people? I thought they are walking around at least invisible at times to do their work without detection. I may be wrong on that.
Answer: The aliens were not cloaked, not invisible. They had a chameleon-like ability to change their appearance to match their background. Recall the alien's fingers turning plaid when he held the boy. They seem to be that green color when not camouflaged. The better senses of the dogs did allow them to detect the aliens. However, one of the effects of alien presence noted in the movie was a change in personality; that is what happened to the dogs.
Question: First, let me say that the aliens being affected by only the "contaminants" in the tap water seems to be wrong. Two reason: 1)The Indian vet mentions that they don't like water, and 2) the aliens were avoiding areas with large bodies of water nearby. My question is this: wouldn't humans, who are over half water, be toxic to the aliens? Even if they processed the humans with different equipment and took precautions to avoid blood or body fluids, wouldn't carrying off a sweaty person burn the aliens? Seems like a dangerous harvest.
Answer: It could be that they are affected by the chlorine in the tap water (humans are affected by chlorine to, just look at Mustard Gas) to a greater extent then humans. The vet is only speculating about the landing sites. And while it is true that humans are mostly water, it is saline (i.e. salty like sweat) and has different chemical properties to pure H2O.
Well water does not contain chlorine.
Question: If the aliens were there to attack and kill people and spent some time getting ready, how did they not know about how to set a fire or smoke out families that barricaded themselves?
Question: How come Ray Reddy wasn't charged for killing Graham's wife? Since it was an accident, he most likely would've got sentenced for manslaughter. If so, wouldn't he have been sitting in a jail cell during the movie's storyline events?
Answer: According to a Google search and a few law websites, it actually appears that legitimately falling asleep at the wheel could potentially help someone avoid vehicular manslaughter charges. It would depend on if them falling asleep was the result of them behaving negligently. For example, if you took medicine that makes you drowsy or stayed up for 24 hours straight, you would likely get manslaughter charges, since you were behaving negligently. However, if it was legitimately just a freak accident (ex. You were more tired from a day at work than you realised and passed out at the wheel), you have a decent chance of avoiding manslaughter charges. (Or at least avoid a guilty verdict or harsh sentence if it went to court.)
Answer: Agree with the other answers, but would add that the accident was only six months earlier. The investigation, charges, a trial, etc. may be ongoing. Reddy could be awaiting sentencing or was sentenced to probation, community service, counseling, credit for time served, a suspended sentence, or restitution. Reddy could be out on bail or on his own recognizance while awaiting sentencing. It's unlikely he would be considered a flight risk.
Answer: It's never addressed in the film, so it's safe to say it's simply a plot contrivance. In the real world, he definitely would have been charged; the film chooses to ignore this for the sake of the story it wants to tell.
Who's to say he wasn't charged? Guilty people get off all the time, and if the judge thought it was just a case of an upstanding citizen making a freak mistake, he could have gotten probation and a suspended sentence.
You're right, I hadn't considered that, or the other answer, when I posted.
Question: Why didn't the Hess family have guns? Unless it was against the family's religious beliefs to own firearms, wouldn't the smart thing to do have been to bring guns and lots of ammo into the basement with you, just in case the aliens breached the basement? I mean, a pistol round or a shotgun blast would seriously ruin the aliens' day.
Answer: Less than half of American households have guns in them. They simply didn't own any guns and didn't prioritise buying any in the panic of what's happening.
Answer: He was a preacher and, like all men of God, didn't believe in guns or violence.
Question: I've always wondered what the significance is of the old Shasta TV commercial that they are watching. This is one of my favorite movies, but this has always bugged me.
Answer: It doesn't really have any significance but the one man thinks the commercial is to make people go out and buy the drink.
Question: The film is frequently criticized for its inconsistencies involving the competence of the aliens and their allergies to water. Has M. Night Shyamalan ever responded to these criticisms?
Answer: No, he never has.
Question: Was it ever stated what the crop circles were meant to represent?
Chosen answer: Yes, they were intended as coordinates for the aliens to land and begin their invasion. Merrill comments on this while engrossed in the television coverage of the invasion.
Question: What was the red area on the alien's back which Merril hit with the baseball bat? A major organ? Its heart?
Answer: He seems to have deliberately struck where a bipedal creature's spine would have been the most vulnerable. The color was a wound caused by water being poured on it earlier.
Question: The director makes a point to show the audience the picture of Mel Gibson (in normal Catholic priest garb) and his family at the beginning of the movie. The question is, is Mel Gibson supposed to be a Catholic priest? Or is there another Christian denomination in which preacher's wear the same outfit that Catholic priests wear?
Answer: American Episcopal priests and Anglican priests wear vestments that are similar in appearance to those worn by Catholic priests. They are able to marry if they choose.
Question: During the dinner scene, when Graham broke down with his family, the alien sounds come through the baby monitor as the red lights light up. Was that basically the alien call for the worldwide assault to begin, like the alien leader was telling the ground troops "Go!"?
Answer: It's impossible to tell what the message was since nobody can speak the alien language from this film. It was likely just picking up some sort of communication from nearby aliens.
Question: What did Colleen mean when she told Graham to "see"?
Answer: She meant for him to see, when the moment came, that he would see and understand swinging his bat at the glasses of water would affect the aliens and save their lives.
Answer: In the context of the film and its message, it could be interpreted as her exhorting Graham to "see" how her death and what follows is all part of God's plan, which he rejects at first but then comes to believe is borne out by subsequent events and the film's conclusion.
Question: How did the aliens drop down from their ships that were shown on TV? Did they land and drop them off, or did they have some kind of teleporting device? Also, why didn't the Air Force attempt to shoot down any of them?
Question: What happened to Officer Paski, Ray Reddy, Lionel Prichard, that girl from the pharmacy, and that army recruiter guy after the events of the film? Did they survive?
Answer: It's never revealed, so any answer given would be pure speculation. In truth, the answer is that it's up to your imagination. I'd assume a few were killed, but most people likely survived, given how short the invasion was. Of all of them, Paski and Ray Reddy are the most likely to have survived, as Paski is a cop and likely could defend herself, while Ray went out towards the water – the alien's weakness.
Question: How did the crickets know that the aliens were a threat, resulting in them stopping chirping? In fact, how did animals, in general, know before the all-out assault raid on Earth?
Answer: I think a general answer is that animals, bugs, etc. learn at an early age the sounds and appearances of predators and know which predators to fear, plus may have instincts to sense danger. When a new or different sound is introduced (e.g. the trilling of the aliens), species would instinctively go into defensive mode until they can ascertain if they are or not something to be feared. The "fight or flight" response would apply – it is better to play it safe than be eaten. So, they may not have known the aliens were a threat, but they had to assume that until they knew otherwise. (Better to be safe than sorry.)
Answer: It's left unclear, though the film proposes several possible theories, and there are other possible explanations as well. One major theory brought up in the film is that the aliens were there to acquire Earth's resources after using up their own. Another theory proposed at the end of the movie is that the aliens wanted humans for whatever reason, as a radio DJ mentions seeing his friend's family being dragged away. There is also a very popular fan theory that the aliens are supposed to represent demons that are merely there to create chaos and test the moral strength of humanity, as the film is ultimately about Graham losing and then regaining his faith, although this is more subtext than anything and may not be literally true.