Attack of the implausible resolutions to alien invasions!

MeridianFlight

New Member
If you haven't seen War of the Worlds yet, please don't read this. This post contains spoilers about that movie.

Seriously, WoW spoilers to follow. Move along.

Okay, now, for those of you have seen War of the Worlds, what's up with the ending? I haven't read the book (which is the first sci-fi book ever, apparently) or seen the other movie installments. Apparently the ending is pretty close to book though, so I've heard. The ending is highly improbable, which is the case with Independence Day and Signs as well.

In Indepedence Day, Ian Malcom...er, Jeff Goldblum's character uses what appears to be a Mac, connected to the alien network on the mothership to upload a virus that incapacitates the shields of the invading force. This allows for the remnant human forces to take down the aliens' city-sized assault ships. How is it human technology was able to interact and corrupt a system developed by a techonologically advanced race? It may have been slightly more probable if they had used a computer with a Windows OS. Windows would have found a way to crash on the aliens.

In Signs the alien invasion is repelled by...water. Good ol' water. Who was the tactical planner for the alien invasion? Do you think they were demoted after the invasion was countered? Why would you assault a planet where nearly 70% of the surface is covered by a liquid extremely toxic to your race? They have spacecraft clearly capable of traveling vast distances and cloaking while suspended in air but a monkey wielding a garden hose would be a formidable challenge (that should have been in the movie)? They should make a game where you get to travel to the alien homeworld in a counter-attack, armed with Super Soakers.

As for WoW, well, the invading force is conqeured by what, bacteria? In all their "watching and waiting" of the human race, waiting for the moment to strike, did they not have time to use their equivalant of a microscope on earth's environment? A slightly smaller tactical oversight then the aliens from Signs made, but, incredibly implausible nonetheless. I like the compromise in the narrative at the end as well, evolutionary overtones with a nod to a Creator, way to appease everybody!

Perhaps the only plausible resolution to the invasion of earth by a technologically advanced race is the total annihilation of humanity. That doesn't make for a good popcorn movie though.

Does Hollywood need to get an alien invasion right or should I be content with pretty explosions and eat popcorn?
 
Well as far as War of the World goes you need to understand it was written in 1898 and back then this might have seemed more plausable. The story on a hole shows how useless all our vast technology is when a more advanced enemy presents itself, much of the book is spent describing the futility of all attempts to stop the invasion.

In the end to resolve the story H.G Wells uses a Deus ex machina in the form of bacteria to show that after all our work it was God or nature, or evolution (depending on how you read it) that stopped the invasion.

The ending is sort of a lackluster but this story was suppose to take place in the late 18th century can you think of any other plausable way to stop an alien invasion with a pre-nuclear arsenal?
 
IceBladePOD said:
As for WoW, well, the invading force is conqeured by what, bacteria? In all their "watching and waiting" of the human race, waiting for the moment to strike, did they not have time to use their equivalant of a microscope on earth's environment? A slightly smaller tactical oversight then the aliens from Signs made, but, incredibly implausible nonetheless. I like the compromise in the narrative at the end as well, evolutionary overtones with a nod to a Creator, way to appease everybody!


It wasnt all the bacteria's fault! It was disease and viruses too! In the end of the movie the narrator said that somthing to this extent: "Humans have earned the right to live here....[blah blah blah etc etc etc....]" He meant that our bodies knew how to "handle" our common diseases. Their bodies couldnt handle it.

Next you may ask: "They are an advanced race, they should be able to arm themselves against this." Not necessarily. In order to find out why people are dieing, they would have to get human samples. They cant just fly over and say: "Hey im taking this, is that ok?" with out having somoen freak out and blow their cover. Also, the book was written in 1885. The people who lived near 1885 didnt know that bacteria existed, let alone killed people. When someone died and the cause was unknown, common people thought that the victim made God angry. Bacteria and such was just being discovered at that time too... read what Exo said again... im just gonna repeat it lol. :rolleyes:
 
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Yes, but I'm not applying "plausibility standards" to the book, I'm applying them to the 2005 movie. This War of the World's time peroid was modern.

Are the aliens supposed to be oblivious to microorganisms? It just seems a little silly. Conducting environment testing on a planet before exploring (or in this case, invading) it seems like a logical strategy, doesn't it?
 
Exo-Slayer said:
after all our work it was God or nature, or evolution (depending on how you read it) that stopped the invasion.

I'm pretty sure H.G. Wells was a theistic evolutionist (very popular worldview at the time) so he probably intended it to be both.
 
kraniac said:
I'm pretty sure H.G. Wells was a theistic evolutionist (very popular worldview at the time) so he probably intended it to be both.

Actually, he became an athiest, and apparently, later, came to abhor Christianity. He also supported eugenics.
 
I enjoyed WOTW, but I went into the movie knowing what to expect because I've heard the original radio broadcast and watched the movie that came out in the 80s, so my perspective in watching the movie was different than someone who knew nothing about WOTW. Sometimes though it's best just to sit back and enjoy a story without analyzing it too much.
 
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