斯皮尔伯格新作——科幻惊悚电影《世界大战》

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》

 

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

 

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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

1 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

2 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

3 wreak   

v.发泄；报复

参考例句：

• She had a burning desire to wreak revenge.她复仇心切。
• Timid people always wreak their peevishness on the gentle.怯懦的人总是把满腹牢骚向温和的人发泄。

4 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

5 invader   

n.侵略者，侵犯者，入侵者

参考例句：

• They suffered a lot under the invader's heel.在侵略者的铁蹄下，他们受尽了奴役。
• A country must have the will to repel any invader.一个国家得有决心击退任何入侵者。

6 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

7 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

8 benign   

adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的

参考例句：

• The benign weather brought North America a bumper crop.温和的气候给北美带来大丰收。
• Martha is a benign old lady.玛莎是个仁慈的老妇人。

9 pal   

n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友

参考例句：

• He is a pal of mine.他是我的一个朋友。
• Listen,pal,I don't want you talking to my sister any more.听着，小子，我不让你再和我妹妹说话了。

10 collaborated   

合作( collaborate的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• We have collaborated on many projects over the years. 这些年来我们合作搞了许多项目。
• We have collaborated closely with the university on this project. 我们与大学在这个专案上紧密合作。

11 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句

12 overview   

n.概观，概述

参考例句：

• The opening chapter gives a brief historical overview of transport.第一章是运输史的简要回顾。
• The seminar aims to provide an overview on new media publishing.研讨会旨在综览新兴的媒体出版。

13 periphery   

n.(圆体的)外面；周围

参考例句：

• Geographically, the UK is on the periphery of Europe.从地理位置上讲，英国处于欧洲边缘。
• The periphery of the retina is very sensitive to motion.视网膜的外围对运动非常敏感。

14 apprehension   

n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑

参考例句：

• There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑，于是她越来越担心。
• She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。

15 apprehensions   

疑惧

参考例句：

• He stood in a mixture of desire and apprehensions. 他怀着渴望和恐惧交加的心情伫立着。
• But subsequent cases have removed many of these apprehensions. 然而，随后的案例又消除了许多类似的忧虑。

16 modernization   

n.现代化，现代化的事物

参考例句：

• This will help us achieve modernization.这有助于我们实现现代化。
• The Chinese people are sure to realize the modernization of their country.中国人民必将实现国家现代化。

17 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

18 impending   

a.imminent, about to come or happen

参考例句：

• Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
• The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。

19 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

20 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

21 metaphors   

隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I can only represent it to you by metaphors. 我只能用隐喻来向你描述它。
• Thus, She's an angel and He's a lion in battle are metaphors. 因此她是天使，他是雄狮都是比喻说法。

22 facet   

n.(问题等的)一个方面；(多面体的)面

参考例句：

• He has perfected himself in every facet of his job.他已使自己对工作的各个方面都得心应手。
• Every facet of college life is fascinating.大学生活的每个方面都令人兴奋。

23 polemic   

n.争论，论战

参考例句：

• He launched into a fierce polemic against the government's policies.他猛烈地抨击政府的政策。
• He wrote a splendid polemic in my favour.他写了一篇出色的文章为我辩护。

24 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

25 vividly   

adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地

参考例句：

• The speaker pictured the suffering of the poor vividly.演讲者很生动地描述了穷人的生活。
• The characters in the book are vividly presented.这本书里的人物写得栩栩如生。

26 collaborator   

n.合作者，协作者

参考例句：

• I need a collaborator to help me. 我需要个人跟我合作，帮我的忙。
• His collaborator, Hooke, was of a different opinion. 他的合作者霍克持有不同的看法。