Independence Day vs. War of the Worlds Part 2

NCh: *sigh* You know, sometimes I feel like I don't give Independence Day its due. I mean....

(clips of Independence Day and War of the Worlds)

NCh (VO): It's dumb as all hell but I still love watching it.

Casse: Alright, you alien assholes!

NCh (VO): Certainly more than I love watching War of the Worlds, which is kind of a drag.

NCh: Hmmmm. Let me state, from the outset, that this part 2 part is mostly gonna be about War of the Worlds 05, with Independence Day as a reference point for where War of the Worlds failed. But to really get into it, first we gotta figure out some context for this story. Uh, first the adaptation thing.... No, wait, first we gotta do the Spielberg's dad thing.

(Clip of Ray singing a lullaby)

NCh (VO): Daddy issues, they are strong with this one.

NCh: God, where to start.... Well, you know what, we'll just start with the most obvious in common complaint and go from there.

Title card: Number something: Tom Cruise.

NCh (VO): Tom Cruise. Look at that Tom Cruise, he sure is a....movie star with....hair and a....face. Still unlike Roland's trademark cast of thousands, War of the Worlds features a cast of four. So while Tom Cruise probably wasn't the best choice to play blue-collar Joisey guy....

NCh: You- You can still understand it. 2005 was the twilight of the era of the bankable star and Spielberg probably couldn't have got the budget he wanted without a name like Tom Cruise in the lead. Independence Day conversely didn't have to worry about stars so much. It wasn't selling celebrity, it was selling premise.

(first destruction scene in ID4)

NCh (VO): And the premise was BOOOOOOOOM.