On July 30, 2025, the film Conflict of the Worlds, starring Ice Dice, premiered on Prime Video to an overwhelmingly detrimental important response. Headlines had been made relating to the movie’s surprising preliminary 0% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes (although as of this writing it has moved as much as a barely extra spectacular 3%), and memes mocking Ice Dice’s performing unfold throughout the web like wildfire. The one query repeated over and over by each seasoned movie aficionados and informal viewers alike has been: “Is Conflict of the Worlds one of many worst films of all time?”
With an bold cinematic storytelling model hindered by a low funds and a director inexperienced with characteristic movies, Conflict of the Worlds actually has some hanging flaws. Nonetheless, that doesn’t essentially render it with out leisure worth. As evidenced by the massive fan following for the movies of director Ed Wooden, flaws can truly be very fascinating to look at. Moreover, Ice Dice’s efficiency, whereas actually memeworthy, additionally has a whole lot of coronary heart and sincerity to it.
‘Conflict Of The Worlds’ Director Wealthy Lee Had a Robust Act to Observe
The newest cinematic iteration of Conflict of the Worlds could be very loosely primarily based on the 1898 science fiction novel of the identical title by H. G. Wells about an alien invasion of Earth. Maybe one of the crucial well-known of all of the variations of Wells’ story is the 1938 radio broadcast narrated by legendary actor/director Orson Welles (no relation to Wells), which was so plausible that it truly impressed a real-life panic. Notable movie variations of the story embody the stirring 1951 film produced by sci-fi/fantasy auteur George Pal, and the 2005 blockbuster directed by Steven Spielberg starring Tom Cruise.
In distinction to this appreciable pedigree, the 2025 Conflict of the Worlds is directed by Wealthy Lee, greatest recognized for steering an extended string of music movies starring such performers as Eminem, Lana Del Rey, Maroon 5, and Billie Eilish. Whereas the pipeline from directing music movies to profitable movie films is powerful (with names reminiscent of David Fincher, Michel Gondry, and Spike Jonze), Conflict of the Worlds is Lee’s first full-length film, and it very a lot appears like a manufacturing with a heavy studying curve.
Moreover, if a characteristic debut wasn’t sufficient of a tall order, the storytelling can be finished within the bold screenlife narrative model, during which a lot of the story takes place inside a visible collage of digital gadgets reminiscent of computer systems and smartphones. Whereas there’s a powerful checklist of well-reviewed horror films utilizing the screenlife model, does it actually translate over to science fiction flicks? Maybe with a seasoned director and a hearty particular results funds it’d, however alas, this model of Conflict of the Worlds has neither.
‘Conflict of the Worlds’ Is Each Dangerous and Weirdly Entertaining
The digital results on Conflict of the Worlds are of the two-dimensional, “pixelated” high quality widespread in low-budget direct-to-streaming productions with far much less media publicity than Lee’s film. These lackluster results might merely appear tacky in a manufacturing with a daily narrative model, however when mixed with the actual components of screenlife they are often significantly devastating. Essential scenes within the movie’s plot lose their affect because the subpar particular results are rendered even smaller and extra insignificant on the system screens the characters (and film viewers) watch. In consequence, key moments in Conflict of the Worlds, reminiscent of defeating the big alien machines, are diminished to mere footnotes as an alternative of being epic moments.
This visible and narrative awkwardness is then mixed with a number of moments so mind-boggling that they distract the viewer altogether. Think about the notorious line spoken by the President within the movie, “I see no different possibility however to provoke this conflict of the worlds to save lots of us all.” Clumsily shoehorning the title of the film into this piece of dialogue is groan-inducing to the nth diploma. What script editor would permit this? Or take the jaw-dropping Amazon product placement on the movie’s climax, about as refined as a sledgehammer. No “regular” movie, nonetheless mid, would make all these errors and questionable selections.
Nonetheless, there’s something profoundly fascinating about these blunders that retains eyeballs riveted to the film itself. They nearly beg the query: was the movie made this badly on goal, as some type of meta Snakes on a Aircraft experiment? Was the Conflict of the Worlds’ tagline, “It is worse than you suppose,” a figuring out wink to the media phenomenon the film would change into?
Then once more, the viewer might come to an much more intriguing conclusion: maybe no person making the movie realized how dreadful this all was. Possibly there’s a kind of maximum sincerity at play right here with Conflict of the Worlds and different such films. To the followers of all these closely flawed movies, all these inexplicably terrible selections may give the manufacturing an nearly religiously transcendent aura. If a film is so-bad-it’s good, is it actually unhealthy? Sure, it might be actually unhealthy, but additionally fairly entertaining. As Leisure Weekly’s Jordan Hoffman famous in his evaluation, “It is actually silly, but additionally an excessive amount of enjoyable.”
Ice Dice’s Efficiency as William Radford Has Coronary heart
The star of Conflict of the Worlds is each bit as unconventional as its storytelling method. Rapper/actor/producer Ice Dice performs the curmudgeonly William “Will” Radford, a surveillance knowledgeable employed by the Division of Homeland Safety. Per the screenlife model, we see a whole lot of his character because the story is generally considered by means of his eyes, by means of the pc screens and video cameras linked to them. Whereas Dice has appeared in round 40 movies, together with the critically acclaimed Boyz within the Hood and comedy/motion franchises reminiscent of XXX, 21 Soar Avenue, and Are We There But?, his position in Conflict of the Worlds is exclusive. Per the precise wants of the storytelling system, Will Radford is essentially a rolling stream of response pictures, lots of them now common on-line memes.
Was Ice Dice probably the most excellent actor for this highly-focused “man sitting in a chair” film? Actually, Denzel Washington or Tom Hanks may need given the position extra of a deeply textured efficiency unhindered by the confined perspective. That stated, Ice Dice’s work in Conflict of the Worlds is extraordinarily to-the-point and honest, convincingly “promoting” Radford’s frustrations, fears, regrets, and triumphs. Is Radford a personality of Shakespearean parts? No, however whether or not he’s being the over-protective dad or reeling in shock at some dastardly alien (or human) doings, he is plausible. He might generally be a little bit goofy, however the goofiness is plausible for that character. And fairly frankly, Will Radford’s persona is not that totally different from different characters Ice Dice has portrayed in movies reminiscent of Are We There But? and 21 Soar Avenue. It is what you get while you rent Ice Dice.
Two weeks after its premiere, Conflict of the Worlds has constantly been in Amazon Prime Video’s Prime 5 “Most Seen” checklist. The movie continues to be talked about and mentioned throughout social media and movie web sites, with quite a lot of meme photographs and video clips that includes Will Radford garnering “likes” within the tens of hundreds. Maybe it is going to enter the hallowed corridor of different films, maybe scorned however by no means forgotten, alongside such champs as The Room, Cats, and, in fact, Ed Wooden’s Plan 9 From Outer Area.
Conflict of the Worlds
- Launch Date
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July 30, 2025
- Runtime
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91 Minutes
- Director
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Wealthy Lee
- Writers
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Marc Hyman, Kenny Golde, H.G. Wells
- Producers
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Timur Bekmambetov