斯皮尔伯格新作——科幻惊悚电影《世界大战》

（单词翻译）

Spielberg Revitalizes Classic Sci-Fi Thriller¹

War of The Worlds

斯皮尔伯格新作——科幻惊悚电影《世界大战》

(Movie Snippet)

There is something scary under the streets of urban New Jersey² ... and when it breaks through the pavement even scarier things start to happen.

(Movie Snippet)

Tom Cruise stars as Ray Ferrier, a divorced father taking care of his two children on what turns out to be an eventful weekend as extraterrestrials wreak³ havoc⁴ on the planet. Adapted from H.G. Wells's 1898 novel, War of The Worlds taps into deep fears about unknown, unseen, unstoppable invaders⁶. The story became a part of American popular culture when a 1938 radio dramatization by a then-young Orson Welles sparked genuine panic. It was first made into a film 50 years ago, but with this new version, Steven Spielberg shows he can depict⁷ outer space aliens that are not benign⁸ and friendly, as they were in his films E.T. and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.

Spielberg: I thought why can't try my hand at the kind of film that Ridley Scott made when he did the first Alien, which is one of my favorite scary science fiction movies of all time. It's just something I had always wanted to do. I had wanted to do War of The Worlds ever since I read the book in college before I actually became a filmmaker. It's a great piece of 19th century literature. It was something that I really respected when it was first made by George Pal⁹ in 1953(54); and I just thought we could make a version a little darker and closer to the original novel.

(Movie Snippet)

Screenwriter David Koepp, who collaborated¹⁰ with Spielberg on the first two Jurassic Park films, says they made a conscious effort in this script to avoid the clichés and stock scenes of "alien invader⁵" movies: no montage of world cities or landmarks¹¹ being destroyed, no breathless broadcasters trying to describe the carnage, no "big picture" overview¹² from some battlefield commander. Instead, Koepp says it tells the story through the eyes of this one man and his family.

Koepp: One of the things that I thought was so brilliant about the book that no one had ever exploited was its point of view. These vast global events were told from the point of view of one man on the periphery¹³ and I think that's the genius of it. So we made our rule 'if Ray doesn't see it, we can't see it.' Then you go about trying to tell your story.

(Movie Snippet)

Co-star Tim Robbins believes the continuing appeal of the story is that it draws on the apprehensions¹⁵ of its audiences.

Robbins: I think the original novel was a warning against the quickness with which industrialization and modernization¹⁶ was happening; but each generation has applied¹⁷ their own fears to it. In the 1930's, when Orson Welles did the radio play, there was the impending¹⁸ fascism in Europe. In the 1950's when it was done as a movie there was the communist threat. Today we are living in times when there is a different fear, so I guess each generation will find its interpretation¹⁹ of this classic novel.

(Movie Snippet)

Director Spielberg says some of the scenes of panicked crowds running for safety were inspired by news video from the 2001 9-11 attacks: "a searing image that I've never been able to get out of my head" is the way he describes it. While it may reflect real life fears, however, Spielberg insists the film does not make a political statement.

Spielberg: This movie is a reflection and there are all sorts of metaphors²¹ you can certainly divine from the story. I was hoping it would be more like a prism: everyone can see in a facet²² of the prism what they choose to take from the experience of seeing War of The Worlds. I tried to make it as open for interpretation as possible, without having anybody come out with a huge political polemic²³ in the second act of the movie. I think there are politics certainly underneath²⁴ some of the scares and some of the adventure and some of the fear, but I really wanted to make it suggestive enough for everyone to have their own opinion. But I certainly gave you enough rope to hang me with.

(Movie Snippet)

War of The Worlds also features Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin as the two children of Cruise's character. The amazing scenes of destruction are brought to life through vividly²⁵ realistic computer imagery and the cinematography of Janusz Kaminski. The soundtrack score is by another frequent Spielberg collaborator²⁶ and Oscar-winner, John Williams.

Alan Silverman for the Voice of America in Hollywood.

注释：

scary [5skZEri] adj. 引起惊慌的

pavement [5peivmEnt] n. 人行道，公路

extraterrestrial [7ekstrEtE5restriEl] n. 外星人

wreak havoc 带来灾难

adapt [E5dApt] vt. 改编

dramatization [7drAmEtai5zeiFEn] n. 改编成戏剧

panic [5pAnik] n. 惊慌，恐慌

depict [di5pikt] vt. 描述

screenwriter [5skri:n7raitE] n. 编剧

carnage [5kB:nidV] n. 大屠杀，流血

periphery [pE5rifEri] n. 外围

apprehension¹⁴ [Apri5henF(E)n] n. 忧虑，担心

fascism [5fAFiz(E)m] n. 法西斯主义

metaphor²⁰ [5metEfE] n. 象征

divine [di5vain] vt. 预测，预言

polemic [pC5lemik] n. 争论