H.G. Wells’ trailblazing sci-fi novel Struggle of the Worlds has seemingly been tailored greater than nearly another ebook as a result of it set the template for the alien invasion story and is within the public area. Steven Spielberg‘s memorably bleak take not too long ago celebrated its twentieth anniversary. Now, Prime Video has tried its personal model, with its new Struggle of the Worlds premiering with little fanfare on July 30.
Starring Ice Dice as a counter-terrorism skilled thrust into the midst of an alien assault, Prime Video’s Struggle of the Worlds has earned a dismal reception, presently sitting at a uncommon 0% on Rotten Tomatoes (albeit with solely 12 opinions). Whereas it could be good to say that it isn’t that dangerous, sadly, that’s not the case. Prime Video’s Struggle of the Worlds is without doubt one of the worst releases from a serious studio in latest reminiscence, made all of the extra hilarious by the movie’s tagline: “It is worse than you assume.”
The place ‘Struggle of the Worlds’ Went Flawed
To their credit score, Prime Video selected to make use of a comparatively novel format: the screenlife style, the place your entire motion unfolds throughout numerous screens and digital camera shows. Whereas typically a contact gimmicky, this method has been used to attention-grabbing impact in motion pictures just like the 2018 thriller Looking and the 2020 Zoom-set horror film Host, which generated some shocking scares in its restricted format. On paper, this concept might have had potential as a technologically up to date tackle Orson Welles’ notorious 1938 radio broadcast, which famously triggered a minor panic by convincing listeners that Earth was underneath invasion.
Sadly, it does not work that method in apply, because the alien invasion plot typically finally ends up taking part in second fiddle to each a conspiracy storyline and a few household drama. Ice Dice performs Will Radford, a Homeland Safety analyst who weaponizes America’s in depth surveillance know-how to maintain tabs on potential terrorist exercise. He additionally makes use of it with out reservation to spy on his pregnant daughter Religion (Iman Benson), chiding her for her dietary decisions in actual time. He is much less involved about his son Dave (Henry Hunter Corridor), primarily as a result of the man will not cease occurring about conspiracy theories involving some large authorities data-mining program.
It is not lengthy earlier than a freak meteor bathe begins wreaking havoc internationally, adopted by the awakening of gigantic, tripod killing machines rising from underground. Will makes use of his explicit set of expertise to replace the powers that be (together with Clark Gregg because the DHS director) on the rising risk, whereas concurrently attempting to maintain his youngsters secure.
Lest that description make this film sound extra compelling than it’s, relaxation assured that a lot of it’s dealt with in the obvious method potential. The shows on Will’s pc are sometimes laughably fundamental, removed from what one may think such high-level surveillance would entail. I am no skilled, however I think about that commandeering a drone mid-flight requires just a little extra finesse than simply right-clicking “commandeer drone” from a drop-down menu. Understandably, the film would not wish to get too slowed down within the particulars, however just a little extra authenticity would have helped.
The sense of hazard is a bit skewed; at one level, Will pauses mid-threat to put in writing Religion a heartfelt electronic mail about why parenting is so laborious. When it comes time to ship his risk evaluation report back to the President (famous impressionist Jim Meskimen, whose slight Southern accent is paying homage to George W. Bush), he arms over what mainly quantities to a spreadsheet. He clearly needed to do it on the fly, however was there no different official format for this sort of factor? Struggle of the Worlds is filled with perplexing stuff like that, and people moments of clunkiness is likely to be the film’s saving grace, at the very least for the proper of viewer.
‘Struggle of the Worlds’ Is a ‘So Unhealthy It is Good’ Traditional within the Making
Whereas it fails as a would-be blockbuster on almost each degree, Struggle of the Worlds nonetheless has some leisure worth for anybody who’s a sucker for a great dangerous film. Past its wonky know-how and surprisingly shoddy CGI results, there’s sufficient awkward appearing and head-scratching story decisions to make even essentially the most seasoned dangerous film fan cackle.
The actors clearly aren’t phoning it in, however sadly, there’s solely a lot they will do to raise the fabric. No disrespect to Ice Dice, who is usually a really enjoyable display screen presence (simply have a look at the Soar Avenue motion pictures), however he cannot fairly promote both Will’s real panic or his difficult relationship together with his youngsters. A few of his reactions are laughably off, like when he is confronted with widespread destruction and lets out a flat “that is horrible.”
A lot of the criticism to date has centered on the Amazon model integration, and it does generally really feel like the first objective of the film was to promote the general public on Amazon Prime’s speedy supply. Religion’s fiancé Mark (Devon Bostick) is a Prime supply driver, and the movie’s Hail Mary to defeat the alien risk hinges on him utilizing one in every of Amazon’s new supply drones to get a thumb drive to Will within the nick of time. The film’s mistrust of presidency surveillance apparently does not prolong to Amazon, which has its personal historical past of privateness invasion.
As enjoyable as it’s to stipulate the mind-boggling goofiness of Struggle of the Worlds, anybody who enjoys laughing alongside at a clunker ought to actually see it for themselves. Generally, this sort of ironic viewing can really feel a bit like punching down, significantly for micro-budget indie fare. However Struggle of the Worlds wasn’t made by some scrappy indie crew. It was made by Common Footage and Prime Video, two heavy hitters within the film enterprise. So, with that in thoughts, I say snort away. Struggle of the Worlds (2025) is streaming on Prime Video.
Struggle 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