Transcript

War of the Worlds (2025)

From How Did This Get Made? · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 1 h 12 min · 13,405 words · 303 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "War of the Worlds (2025)", an episode of How Did This Get Made? published September 5, 2025 (1 h 12 min, about 13,405 words). It mentions 14 people, works and ideas, including Ice Cube, Apostle Paul, Amazon, June Diane Raphael, Jason Manzukas.

What this episode is about

"War of the Worlds (2025)" presents a modern retelling of H.G. Wells' classic, featuring Ice Cube as Will Radford, a surveillance programmer whose strained family relationships coincide with an alien invasion. The film incorporates a heavy dose of product placement and explores themes of isolation and technological dependence amidst chaos.

Key takeaways

  • In a world where everyone is surveilled, is privacy the ultimate sci-fi fantasy we can't afford?
  • If COVID birthed this film, it feels less like art and more like an online meeting gone rogue.
  • Stalking through your screens: when tech meets family drama, who's the real alien here?
  • Is the 'Guardian' program more advanced than the plot? Apparently, hacking family dynamics is easier than movie-making!
  • In a universe of unfulfilled potentials, this movie is a reminder: sometimes, staying home is scarier than aliens.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 10:00: Amazon, iPhone, Ice Cube, Apostle Paul
  2. – 20:00: Amazon, Ice Cube, Goliath, Facebook
  3. – 30:00: Ice Cube, Facebook, Eva Longoria, Goliath
  4. – 40:00: Ice Cube, Goliath, Amazon, Jason Manzukas
  5. – 50:00: Ice Cube, Amazon, Goliath, Facebook
  6. – 1:00:00: Amazon, Ice Cube, Goliath, War of the Worlds
  7. – 1:10:00: Amazon, Ice Cube, Eva Longoria, Goliath
  8. – 1:11:53: Apostle Paul

Notable quotes from "War of the Worlds (2025)"

  • And son is strained because he is stalking them. Oh, and today is the day that the aliens attack. Anyway, let's meet my co-hosts, Jason Manzukas and June Diane Rafield. How are you both?
    about Jason Manzukas · at
  • Yeah. 3 weeks after our Vancouver show where Paul absolutely had co Yes. And Paul spread it internationally.
    about Apostle Paul · at
  • This movie Grant fourth retelling of War of the Worlds, right? We've seen it multiple times. This is a different way of doing it. But by putting him in this position where he's also kind of like a.
    about War of the Worlds · at
  • NASA is like NASA on every level. He is dealing with Eva Longoria who I believe is NASA or weather adjacent.
    about Eva Longoria · at
  • And I really when I saw The Driver in the beginning and I realized we were watching on Amazon Prime, I thought, well, for sure they're not going to have like Amazon be the like the thing that saves the world. The world.
    about Amazon · at
  • By the way, we're just talking about the end. There's so much before. But I will say that the fact that Ice Cube is able to give his son access to another drone, not an Amazon…
    about Ice Cube · at
  • I think so. Like I think Goliath is so much more datari that it's like too attractive to them.
    about Goliath · at
  • Oh god Oh, this is the thing that was driving me nuts. Clearly, they weren't making the movie together. And everyone says data differently, so it sounds like they're having a fight. so Sandro said, Data, and they'll be We.
    about June Diane Raphael · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Ice Cube — Person · Referenced lead actor (film subject) · 21 mentions · first at
    Central figure in the episode because the hosts are reviewing a recent 'War of the Worlds' retelling starring him; they repeatedly discuss his character, performance, and the film’s tech/surveillance premise.
  • Apostle Paul — Person · Host / main moderator · 3 mentions · first at
    Primary speaker guiding the episode structure (intro, segments like 'Second Opinions', wrap-up) and driving much of the critique; context strongly indicates Paul Scheer, host of HDTGM.
  • June Diane Raphael — Person · Co-host · 5 mentions
    Introduced as a co-host and contributes sustained critique of the film’s COVID-era production choices, tech realism, and character behavior, plus comedic bits and recommendations.
  • Jason Manzukas — Person · Co-host · 2 mentions · first at
    Introduced as a co-host and participates throughout by reacting to scenes, questioning plot logic, and riffing on the film’s tech/product-placement absurdities.
  • Eva Longoria — Person · Referenced supporting actor (film subject) · 4 mentions · first at
    Discussed as a standout performer in the film; the hosts describe her as a NASA-adjacent character and repeatedly cite her scenes as stabilizing the movie’s tone/credibility.
  • Clark Greg — Person · Referenced actor (film subject; mis-transcribed name) · 2 mentions · first at
    Mentioned as the Homeland Security chief character in the movie; the transcript spelling suggests Clark Gregg, discussed in a comedic aside about working out in his office.
    NASA is like NASA on every level. He is dealing with Eva Longoria who I believe is NASA or weather adjacent.

Books & papers

  • War of the Worlds — Book · Referenced work · 4 mentions · first at
    The movie is a retelling of HG Wells' War of the Worlds, mentioned as the inspiration.

Companies & orgs

  • Amazon — Company · Business focus · 24 mentions · first at
    Amazon is portrayed as a hero in the movie, with its products and services playing a crucial role in the plot.
  • Facebook — Company · Business focus · 7 mentions · first at
    Facebook is mentioned as a platform used by characters in the movie for communication.
    Think on Facebook, by the way. That's the issue. Why is the head of the NSA getting voicemails active on Facebook? He's so like that's the thing is I kind of also wish there had been other open windows that.
  • NASA — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at
    NASA is mentioned as part of the government entities involved in the alien attack scenario.
    NASA is like NASA on every level. He is dealing with Eva Longoria who I believe is NASA or weather adjacent.

Products & tech

  • Tesla — Product · Case study · 1 mention · first at
    Tesla cars are featured in the movie, with their technology playing a role in the plot.
    And by the way, I know that a Tesla, if you're down on 12, it's going to drive right to a charging station. It's not going to allow you to go on the road with that little of a charge.
  • iPhone — Product · Case study · 3 mentions · first at
    iPhones are used by characters in the movie, showcasing their durability and features.
    Also great for iPhone cuz they get a they take a licking and keep on ticking. I mean these aliens are shooting lasers and they just they're working fine just a second later.
  • Microsoft Teams — Product · Case study · 1 mention · first at
    Microsoft Teams is criticized in the movie for its video service quality.
    Film is that they're all on [ __ ] Microsoft Teams. You can't have a more jankier video service. when someone tells me they want to have a meeting on Microsoft Teams, I want to turn down that meeting. I don't even want to go.

Concepts & topics

  • Goliath — Concept · Core topic · 12 mentions · first at
    Goliath is a program used in the movie for surveillance and hacking, central to the plot.

Full transcript with timestamps

Log into your Facebook, check your WhatsApp, secure your Apple Watch, charge your Tesla, and check out your Amazon cart because we saw 2025s war the worlds. So, you know what that means? Here we go. Now it's time for this. We're going to have a good time celebrating failure, not just a hater cuz you know you wonder how this wall mediocrity of some art. Perhaps we'll find the answer to the question, how did this get made?

Hello people of Earth and beyond. It's the movie taking the internet by storm since its release only a few weeks ago. Ice Cube and a retelling of HG Wells War of the Worlds, one man, one computer screen, and a lot of product placement. In an attempt to keep the show slightly on track, because I know I could spend an hour pulling apart the first 10 minutes, let's just say this. Ice Cube plays Will Radford, a badass surveillance programmer who can monitor every person on Earth. However, his relationship with his pregnant daughter and son is strained because he is stalking them. Oh, and today is the day that the aliens attack. Anyway, let's meet my co-hosts, Jason Manzukas and June Diane Rafield. How are you both?

Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. This was something else. This gave me like this gave me a panic attack. Like too many open active windows on his desktop. I didn't like I didn't It was stressing me out how much clicking around this movie entailed from moment one. that click click click click click click

didn't like it. He's in the office of homeland security. Yeah. Right. He is this expert hacker, surveillor, whatever you want to say. He works alone in an office with multiple desks and computer screens.

Wow. Good point. Well, okay. So, I I thought before I realized it had just come out, I thought that it was a COVID movie and I was like, "Oh, this is so smart." like it. This was made on March 14th, 2020 and they had to all be separate. Everybody just had their iPhones and a computer screen and they just shot it.

Yeah. 3 weeks after our Vancouver show where Paul absolutely had co Yes. And Paul spread it internationally. Sure. Single-handedly. But I I was like, "Oh, this is a co movie and well done."

Yeah. You know, well done. By the way, June, it was a co movie. It was shot right at the beginning of uh of co.

Okay. So then summer hitfall of 2020. So why why force it on us now? Well, I mean I assume they've taken the the past 5 years just to really dial in the visual effects.

I think at a certain point you may say let's take a loss on this one. Yeah. You know, I I don't know why it was delayed so heavily because to your point, June, it's not a movie that requires a tremendous amount of work in the I guess maybe the computer screens. I don't know.

Yeah. What What do you mean everything looks like a docu sign? Nothing looks real. Nothing looks like it's good. His cursor is the little hand cursor. It looks like a kid's computer he's on. And the Department of Homeland Security would have hundreds and hundreds of analysts working at desks with multiple monitors, not like one 63y old man.

Well, I would understand it if he had gone into the office at like 5:00 a.m. and then they went into lockdown, but he's there at 9:00 a.m.

on a Sunday. It's a It's a Sunday. I think someone says it's Sunday at 1. believe it is a weekend because that's why the Secretary of Defense is out golfing

with a cigar. Yes. And that's also why uh our other Homeland Security Chief uh Clark Greg was working out in his office. Oh yeah.

Just working just doing a home gym in his like work office, not like a home office.

Getting sweat jacked. Jacked. I am Well, I I appreciate then that they did this during co that does I do because I'm like this is people we were trying to you guys don't remember. We were all trying to do the best we could.

I listen I appreciate that they made it. I don't think we needed to have it released. I don't think I don't think it needed to be disseminated. Sure. If you want to make movies as like a something to do, great.

That's what we watched. We watched people doing something for the sake of doing something.

Yes. We watched people who weren't comfortable being bored at home, who couldn't who couldn't read at home and just and get through it.

Well, I mean, this is the thing though. This movie Grant fourth retelling of War of the Worlds, right? We've seen it multiple times. This is a different way of doing it. But by putting him in this position where he's also kind of like a a stalker, he is a straightup stalker. He is not only stalking his children, he is stalking the refrigerator of his children. Like there's a camera. Like I know that there are cameras on the outside of fridges. I've never known.

Uh yeah, like there's like a So you can do like zooms and like family like conversations like that.

You think there are now smart fridges that can scan what's inside your fridge? Wow.

That's part of their thing. They're being like, "Oh, we know when you're low on milk or whatever." It does sound wonderful. But but here's what I did not understand.

Yeah, I could use that. It does sound wonderful. But here's what I didn't understand.

My fridge keeps texting me you up. You they he already seems to be running the world. Okay. So Ice seems to be

eyes on everything, listening to conversations, knowing what people are about to do, following them in fridges, in food orders. Now what I could not for life of me understand is like well if he's we're already able to do that.

Yeah. What what is the difference between him and the technology he's given Galileo or Goliath or whatever that thing was called?

So he's using a program called Guardian which seems to be very robust in its ability to

I'll say break passwords and hack into people's stuff. He's able to delete his son's video game from his uh game console or whatever. Like, he's very invasive. So, what must Goliath do? I mean, he is so invasive that at one point he pulls like a an FBI most wanted list, clicks on the person that he wants to follow for that day and then zooms in on like the literal block that he is living on like and then everything comes through him like people are asking him for warrants. NASA is like NASA on every level. He is he is dealing with Eva Longoria who I believe is NASA or weather adjacent.

NASA well she's NASA because you know that when she popped up on screen it says like Susan NASA right

Sandra by the way I want to say of everyone who's acting by themselves in this film Eva Longoria like I I am all in on her. I like I just saw her on Brooklyn 999 and I was like this is great. But she kind of brings

like it all together. This is an insane thing. And every time she comes on screen, I relax a little bit. I'm like, okay, we're in good hands here. Like she at least knew how to set up her camera and get a good angle on herself and a good performance. Whereas I feel like maybe some of the Ice Cube ones were right out of like one or one and done.

Here's the thing now. I have I have definitely facetimed moving around but very rarely because it's so difficult and to be to hold the phone out and to talk to someone but then also make sure that you're going where you need to go. And I just I could not get over the number of times people in this movie, our dear friend Andrea Savage included, you know, they are in mortal danger and still filming themselves.

They are FaceTime. I think the movie wants us to believe we're getting access to like their body cams, but their body cams wouldn't be pointed in a in a single shot, a one or a one shot rather of their faces. Andrea is putting on her tactical gear and the shot is from the trunk at her. There is no camera that what she didn't put down her phone. There there is a a lot of time where we don't know why the camera's there. And also great for iPhone cuz they get a they they take a licking and keep on ticking. I mean these aliens are shooting lasers and they just they they're working fine just a second later.

Oh no. The only thing that is more robust in terms of uh uh all of the computers and all the phones is anything that Amazon touches. um whether it's drones or packing tape or vans or drivers, Amazon is the hero of the movie.

And I really when I saw The Driver in the beginning and I realized we were watching on Amazon Prime, I thought, well, for sure they're not going to have like Amazon be the the you know, like the thing that saves the world. The world.

Yeah. Okay. The planet. And and I thought that's going to be that's crazy. Like I like this guy. He's an Amazon. Like it's all But they're not going to do that. They did.

Oh yeah, they did. Everybody in the movie is pretty stupid, you know? Like there's a thing where Eva Longoria is like they're moving, they're on the go, they're changing direction or whatever. And there everybody's doing their like hacking furiously clicking their keyboards and trying to figure out and and and Ice Cubes going through one million different windows for different tracking this and that. And then then this is when they figure out that they're going after all the data.

Holy [ __ ] This whole attack is just a big diversion to get those tripods to the data centers. And those tripods are just Trojan horses to get those little bugs into the servers to get to the data.

And he's like, "Oh, it's data." and he clicks in like data government data facilities and it populates uh uh pictures of all the government data facilities which now have the robots just standing outside of them

just fingering them. All these robots are just fingering the You didn't need to. You You lost. You miss they've already gotten there. Like anybody with just looking at it like you've not cracked the code. You're so behind. Obviously they're at the data centers. They're there already.

Of course. Right. They're there. Just look at them. Yes. But but what I could not for the life of me under Well, first of all, it seems to be daytime everywhere in the world.

Yes. So it's the same time the armies are not blowing. Is this movie in real time? It seems to me. I mean, right, cuz I have I have We'll bring that up in a little bit because I do have some questions about that as well.

I have some questions about that, too. But but what we watch ultimately, meteors hit the Earth. They hit the satellites first to take them out. So, we have no warning. Which, by the way, I'm like, how did they even know that that was the intention? They keep on saying, "We realized they intentionally hit the satellites." How?

Don't know. Yeah. How? Well, I guess they're ships. The meteors are ships. Goliath. Goliath. Goliath was able to hack the uh hack the aliens I chat.

So So but then all of the world's infrastructure starts to fall fall apart. Uh we're talking power grids, gas lines, everything. They've now they're in our data. Now they are dealing with the they've taken down our militaries globally. But what they couldn't stop was news alerts.

Oh, people are still broadcasting. I mean, there's a moment here. Yeah, go ahead. Where the meteor has just crash landed on Earth and if we're in the real time of this world, that means that they got a reporter out to a meteor that has landed. She stands there and then is blown up. Immediately.

Here's what I'll say. This movie exists in a world in which Fox News is interested in telling the truth.

Yeah, Fox News. Which was shocking. Like the way this movie could have been better is if every time they cut to the Fox News people, they weren't covering the invasion at all, they were covering like Hillary's emails. You know, it that's what I wanted. I

that's what that's the data they want. That would be the great joke that the if the movie was interested in it. Um but no, they do keep cutting back to Fox and Fox is reporting the same information that CNN is and all the other news sources. Here's what I want to bring up. The biggest flaw in this movie, the thing that makes me not trust anything from a technology perspective in this film is that they're all on [ __ ] Microsoft Teams. You can't have a more jankier video service. Like, when someone tells me they want to have a meeting on Microsoft Teams, I want to turn down that meeting. I don't even want to go.

You're barely going to get me on a Google Meet. Yeah, barely. What is this, a hangout? The other thing I need to bring up is this is a man ice cube. He has lost his wife. How?

An illness. An ill. Well, I don't think an illness because she leaves a message like, "Hey, be nice to the kids and take out the trash." I think she was like hitting a hit and run.

Oh, interesting. Because that was the last message. No. Doesn't the daughter say you couldn't, you know, when she gives her her monologue about you, you don't have as much power as you think you do, you couldn't stop mom from getting sick?

Oh, I thought it was I think so. I think I think that's just an old voicemail he listens to. I don't think

on Facebook, by the way. That's the issue. Why is the head of the NSA getting voicemails active on Facebook? He's like, so like that's the thing is I kind of also wish there had been other open windows that he was interacting with that were like he also had an instant cart order he was waiting for. He also was like got to get swiping on Bumble. Like I wish that that he was just not so just clicking on um hacking sites and password generators.

Oh my god. Yeah. I wanted to see him playing Mind Sweeper in the background too. Yes. Got it. Now, he originally was supposed to be parapolgic, but when the director saw how exciting it was that he threw his chair, uh, he was like, "He should walk now."

Oh my god. And I heard that. I was like, "That's interesting." But then I'm like, "Well, how would the whole end of the movie play out?" Because a majority of the third act is him running through a building to catch an Amazon Prime drone. which my god,

this drone to me was one of the best things ever because like he needs to poison the database with this zip drive. But before he can do it, he has to order a zip drive just to signal I guess the drone to even work because

the guy can't fly. Mark the Amazon driver has access to an Amazon drone. He is the daughter's baby daddy. Baby daddy is on the surveillance footage because whenever the daughter walks by, it says baby daddy on it.

Okay, got it. So, he's the baby daddy. They're not married, but uh but nonetheless, she's very very pregnant. He applies a tourniquet to her injured leg with packing tape with Amazon packing tape.

I mean, it's pretty strong. This is thought. Yeah, it's a great idea. But but I just don't understand in the world of the movie why we needed to see him add a zip drive to cart for that drone

just to see how easy it is to order quickly on Amazon and see that you know it's just an ad. It's an ad. Like even in the end times you can order and receive exactly what you ordered instantly. Well, this is what I do love about it is that this is a world in which aliens are attacking, cities are being destroyed, and when they tell this uh, you know, homeless guy like, "Hey, we'll give you a free cell phone service," he is not moved by that, but when they say, "We'll give you a $1,000 Amazon gift card." He risks his life to flip the drone over. Insane stuff.

The world is ending. Yeah, people are making decisions. And like that's the other thing too, like yeah, you got to add the you got to add the zip drive to cart because here's the flaw of that is ideally the drone would then pick up the zip drive from the depot and then mail it out. But he's he's just taking his own zip drive, putting it in the drone, and then flying it with the most complicated VR goggles. I'm like, if that's the f is it just one person just flying drones and

I don't know. But it's it's honestly like problematic because you would think the drone would know I have got to go to the depot.

Yeah. Yes. That's my first stop. Like how is he cutting it through cuz he's carrying a backpack. He's run across.

There's no QR code. There's no I don't know. There's no address. But it really is. The movie is interested in your shopping exper showing you an Amazon shopping experience. I'm like those clicks.

I'm genuinely shocked. It was only like one click to be honest. It was It was buy it now. I think I did. I did buy it now and and then just use current location.

I was And is that an option on Amazon? Use current location. Current location. Department of Homeland Security. Um, and then he flies into the building. Um, the the the Amazon driver is able to move the drone through the the buildings, cubicles, hallways, stairwells of the Department of Homeland Security.

But this this is the exciting news is that we did get a preview because he said, you know, they've been training us on this. Yes. And so it seems so wild to us now, but like I bet within this calendar year, we will have drones flying into our homes and delivering like Q-tips right to our bathroom,

like right into our ears. It's going to be so great. By the way, we we're just talking about the end. There's so much before. But I will say that the fact that Ice Cube is able to give his son uh access to another drone, not an Amazon Prime drone, but another drone to run like strafing fire against the aliens. So, the son's video

understand that. Oh, yeah. I couldn't understand that. And those drones have missiles on it, like military drones. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, I laughed so hard earlier in the movie when the sun's walking down the street. He's already been attacked by, you know, the meteors have come. They're attacking and Ice Cube both to his son and his daughter just keeps on screaming,

"Get away from that. Get out of there now. Stay clear of that stuff. Get out of there.

Get out of there. Run. Get out of there." And I kept on saying to where? Where too?

Where are you going to go? You're in the middle of Would you like them to go? And he's telling them, he said, "Go straight. Make a left." I'm like, "Where? Where? Where? Where are they going to get to that will be safe from the giant alien ships that are firing?

Although, here's the thing about the aliens though. They don't seem too concerned actually with killing people.

No, only like if they're being attacked by helicopters or whatever. They are not comes to Yes. They're not just destructive in terms of like walking down the street, you know, zapping everybody. No, they're not. What do you think though that they actually What do they want to do with that data?

They want everybody's nudes. But seriously, what are they doing? They're feeding. Like that's I think that they're vampires that feed on data and they're just finding planets with data.

So So when they get data, more little ones are born. Is that what those little insects were?

All the little bugs. I liked the little bugs element of it, but I I I don't think they ever figured out a a meaningful way to tell us what was the bad guys plan. Like I I guess I understand how we stopped them by poisoning the data or whatever, but like two

twice, by the way. We do that twice. Yeah. Right. We give them two We give them one virus that's kind of okay and then one virus that's kind of partly a human virus because

Yeah. I think one of them we gave them was COVID 19. Well, yeah. Yeah. And I don't I didn't know how they were half biological and half cyber, which Ava Longoria says multiple times. I just

But I believed her when she said it. I Oh, absolutely. And the and the the smoking gun information that Ice Cube's son gives him that illustrates all of this is the case is basically 12 PDFs that are just old documents showing that aliens have come before in the past. I was like, this is not nearly enough information. This is just basically 12 single documents that he gets to open and be like, "They've been lying to us the whole time."

But but what have they been doing with that data? Yeah, we don't know. It's none none of it solves any of the questions. It just proves to him that

that he's been lied to. And because Goliath is because there's so much data that's about to come in that's somehow triggered the aliens.

I think so. Like I think Goliath is so much more datari that it's like too too attractive to them.

Well, I mean, but here's the other thing. His job is spying. Like at certain points, it's not just about people in the United States. He's pulling up camera views of everywhere. So he is and I just want to go back to this because why is what the government doing wrong and what he is doing on a daily basis even to his own family, right? Like there's no that's what I wanted to say to his son too. It's like focused on ex on just what Pops is up to.

Yeah. I mean I do also just want to get into he is the head of NSA surveillance

domestic domestic and he is tasked with uh analyzing this situation. And at one point the president's like, "All right, what do you got?" And we know we know that he we know what he's been doing because we've been watching in real time. And he gives a fullthroated

Yeah. analyzed version of what is happening. Mr. President, gentlemen, we're seeing a full attack on our infrastructure, on power grids, water, communication, and top level military targets. They knew exactly where they were going and they are systematically eliminating resources and our ability to coordinate a response. Here, let me show you. These locations are our global response headquarters, our most sensitive targets, and they're taking them out one by one. Based on their prioritized destruction of these critical intelligence command centers, my analysis suggests nuclear power facilities are next. Electric grids will follow, leaving us completely helpless.

Do you see that? They're grouping to concentrate their attack. Exactly. And they will be much stronger in groups. So if we concentrate our armed response assets to our high priority locations, we can hit as many as possible. I think it's the only option we have right now.

How do you know? How do you know? Yeah, he has taken it in. He's analyzed it and he's giving he he is reporting out like a very highlevel kind of summary and we never saw any of those pieces coming together. Honestly, most of what he's done has been to alter the electronics in a Tesla that he got his daughter in so that it would have higher battery to get her farther away from the bad guy.

And by the way, I I I know that a Tesla, if you're down on 12, it's going to drive right to a charging station. It's not going to allow you to go on the road with that little of a charge.

Where does he send her? To a hospital? No. No, Paul. They're all full. They're just They're just in an office. It looks like

he looks like he just sent her to like an abandoned Yes. an office park. By the way, uh Scott wants to point out that his official title is domestic terror analyst.

Now, I don't know much about much, but it seems like when you're just your title is just analyst that you're pretty low level.

He's too old to have this job. He's too old to have this job. But it's like you are if I don't see a head of or anything like that on your title like I I am concerned that you are being led into these zooms and he's always late with the president.

He's on with the president. So he should have dozens and dozens and dozens of people who are doing exactly what he's doing. He if he's talks to the president, he shouldn't be doing that many clicks. Well, and also I will say that uh the pre the president should be in a safe room, not in the Oval Office. The president is fully

It's hard to trust anyone's background, Paul. Because what we'll find out later on, is of course that this hacker we've been looking for the whole time, the disruptor is actually his son after all. And

and the fact that he couldn't figure that out makes me think he's dumb. Absolutely terrible. the dummy

because he should have he has on his computer his son's location everywhere. Listen the the guys when he photoshopped himself and also when did he cut that YouTube video together?

He cut like a meme video. He he built he made a real he built a meme video with like all sorts of specifics and jokes in it and like I was like what the [ __ ]

He he did a great job on Cap Cut. But here's my question. When when the son is when we think he's at his actual home, which is Ice Cube's home, when we think he's there, there's a giant explosion wi-i which Ice Cube is is tracking and

the aliens come to Ice Cube's house. Correct. And and destroy it. But he the sun reacts to it so strongly. The camera goes flying. Things are happening. The camera's on the ground with soot on it. But then we find out that he is not at his home. He's at one of the other hackers homes and and has a backdrop like a screen that he pulls down. What was he reacting to?

Who knows? Well, I think the the aliens the aliens I think were coming for all of the hackers. His whole disruptor team got got attacked at one point. Um, do you think that he was just maybe like having like phantom like like like uh like June going to see a horror movie with you? You jump out of your seat. So maybe uh maybe like when that explosion happened like oh he just like he just kind of had his own.

Yeah. He shouldn't have gone anywhere. I loved that during the whole attack like there's still an element that is monitoring like social media. Like there's hash #freeear like ice cube is somehow monitoring social media as well. Again, this is a 60-year-old man. Like, the world is ending. The world is

People have access to internet still. Like, they took down a lot, but they didn't take down our our Wi-Fi.

Although, at one point, didn't they say they took down all the power? You can't take our Wi-Fi.

People still got to post. We have to. That's when I will start posting. That's By the way, you keep on saying he's old in this movie, and I and I don't disagree. That's why I wanted him to do more like uh hunting and pecking. I wanted his typing back uh tink like just

I was obsessed with the fact that Well, also the idea that his daughter and her baby daddy would be on Facebook.

Yeah. Is the only flaw of the movie to be honest. But like that's absurd. They're only communicating on Facebook.

Everybody's communicating on Facebook. It's the most important app in everyone's lives.

Well, but but I laughed so hard when the when everything's all right at the end.

Oh, this is incredible. I mean, saves the world. And then on Facebook, we get to see pictures of her baby shower and there are four people there.

Five. It's the five cast members of the movie. Yeah. Okay. So, it's You're right.

It's the two kids. It's Mark and it's um Eva Longoria. Yes. So, are we to believe that they are now a couple?

Yeah, I hope so. Oh, that would be wonderful. I'd like to see him get back out there.

I would love it if they were the only five people who survived on Earth cuz she's the head of NASA at the end of the movie. She becomes the head of NASA. She's in front of the White House. Maybe they needed to shoot that scene in 2025 just to finish the film because after co protocols are lifted, we can finally get the five cast members together. 5 years later, we I mean NASA basically doesn't even exist anymore as as an entity. Like we go we live in a postNASA world right now. I guess I did have a problem that the president was so quick like he's hearing, okay, aliens have attacked. The meteors are things.

They're taking our data and he goes, well, I see no other option to initiate this war of the worlds to save us all.

He he does say the titular line war of the world repeated multiple times, too. And then like Ice Cube is like, "Yes, yes." Like he's psych like it's a football game. Like finally, finally, we are in this.

Finally, we've got a war of the world. They've honestly as though everyone's been waiting for this and preparing for it.

Well, and they keep on saying on the front lines. Where are the front lines? Every shot of the globe, it seems like they're everywhere

in the daytime. And we're losing. All of our ships have capsized. All of our planes are falling out of the sky. Um, we are losing in a way that is shocking. Um, and but they barely show because mostly what we see is a cacophony of drop- down menus. I would like there are shots in this thing where I just wrote down some of the things that are available in drop- down menus on ice cubes. And one of them is this is just an option in one of his drop- down menus. Show sensitive government addresses. That's an option he can click show sensitive government addresses.

But then some of the other options are just copy. Like there's such a range of options in that drop down.

It is. Yeah. Like it might as well also be like a the thumbs up emoji. Like it is absolute madness what is what he has at his fingertips. And also how it's it's what you were saying earlier, Paul, about him acting like he was at like a his kid sporting event or something,

right? Like it's the same thing we had with um when Hugh Jackman was a hacker in whatever hacker movie that was.

Oh, yeah. fish. There's an element of trying to give intensity and action and emotion to what is such a just flat I'm just typing on a computer to try and give it weight to try and give it

stakes. That is why he's late to so many highle meetings because Sandra NASA's calling. People are always calling in when he's doing something else. He's on the phone with someone else in a phone call in this movie. Just straight up audio. You have got to be on video. And

uh that's the way that urgency is is created in this, which is so wild. I mean, my favorite moment though is when his son reveals that he is the disruptor, the person they've been chasing. He goes, "It's you. It's you."

Yeah. Well, yes. Kind of. I How could you, man? How could you? My own son is hacking the government.

It's you. It's you. It's you. Like out of his chair. And there's a couple moments when he gets out of his chair. That's probably my favorite. But the second is when clearly as an actor, Ice Cube understands he can't leave this room. So he runs to the most flimsy glass door like where if you pull in the door it kind of makes a clunk clunk clunk clunk sound you know it's like it's not even sealed.

He runs to that glass door like locked. Like it's locked from the inside. I'm like what? That door doesn't even seem to have a lock on it. And if it did a strong push would break it. Like he's not in a secure room. He's in a office that most normal

he's in a conference room in West Hollywood. Yes. Let me be clear. He's in like his manager's office.

Well, but here's the thing though, like I do wish I do wish they had some we had some sense of like, oh, these aliens have a certain Achilles heel. They can't go into um like they can't they they can't go into coffee shops. They can't go whatever it is

because they are half human. like there's something about them but as it says there is no

they they are susceptible to CO there is no safe place. So yeah the the department of terror analysis or whatever is on lockdown but what does it mean nobody is safe in this world?

Well also how come the the aliens haven't attacked the building he's in which is where like Goliath is? They should have just come right there.

Their last stop, Jason, I guess. So, yeah. Yeah, it just was like last on the agenda.

The the way the movie is set up, he's alone, I believe, on a Sunday or on a weekend or whatever, at the Department of Homeland Security, which suggests to us that they take the weekends off entirely. The entire Department of Homeland Security takes weekends off,

right? Cuz there's no one in the Clark is like, "What are you doing there? Why are you at work? And what what if he wasn't the building would be empty?

Yeah, it seems someone should be there 24/7. But by the way, it seems like they're doing a very important thing, which is bringing down the disruptor today, who's like number 12 on the most wanted list. And it seems like Andrea Savage is like, I need the uh warrant. And he's getting a warrant. He's getting a search warrant for the FBI.

Why is she even reporting to him? She reports to him multiple times. I'm like, you're the FBI. He is an animal. Again, he's doing too much and also not nearly enough.

Well, and you're so right because on the one hand, he runs the world. Yes. Like truly, he runs the world

alone alone in that office. Yes. Um but at the same time, like he has he also seems to have no idea what's happening and is making all the like terrible decisions.

Yeah. Well, there's another thing that I've just been realizing, too. Like, we're supposed to believe that he is smart, but he stops these aliens by putting uh a 128 gig like hard drive in like USBA, right? Which by the way, so I just Googled that as we were talking here. It goes a 128 gig hard drive is suitable for basic use. Oh, yeah. Uh but uh moderate. It would not be sufficient for users who uh need a game or a software.

You couldn't even you couldn't even put like a highfidelity album on 128. I have a a 4 terbte or like a small a sand disk. Like that's tiny. Like just up it, guys. Like if you're taking down the entire

make it sound big. That's what I mean by when he finally gets when the son gives him the Goliath uh whistleblower document. It is so basic. It's so not interesting. It's so not impressive, I guess, is what I mean. You know, like you think it's going to be this big reveal. They've got this cuttingedge software and all it is is a bunch of old photos of UFOs from the 50s.

But here's here's what I find to be so fascinating about this filmmaker and the choices that are made. Like you could still open up six of those files and look at like old timey newspaper clippings or whatever, but have hundreds of files sent over.

Yes. And yet the choice is like no just 12. Yeah, just 12. Well, it does feel like the movie does feel like by having Ice Cube as the lead. It's that same way that Liam Niss action movies function like this is for dads and uncles, right?

And I don't think they wanted to clutter it up too much and to confuse the dads and uncles,

right? It's a sort of like computers can get you any information obviously and Amazon's great to deliver you [ __ ] and your kids are on Facebook being weird and you got to monitor them and you got and you don't know what your kids doing in the next room

and Teslas are basically ambulances and can save your life. Yes. This is for dads and uncles. This is what this movie is.

Oh my god. Well, it's so funny. So, our youngest son came in while I was watching it this morning and goes, "Oh, what video game is this?"

Amazing. And I said, "Oh, no. this is a feature film. What I also appreciate from that that knowing

knowing both the people in that story, my wife and my son, is that he would ever assume that you were up at 6:00 in the morning playing a video game. Like that would like like he would have been like I like that you I like that you felt like you needed to identify that you knew both of the people in the story, me, your wife and your son.

Just want to I just want to just say that I won't go on record saying I know both of them. both of the people

like I like that before you before you provided your anecdote you were like just so you know this is from insider info I happen to know the person that June is mentioning he's my son

yeah he's he knows what's up um the that was wild both of the people oh man oh god Oh, this is the thing that was driving me nuts. Clearly, they weren't making the movie together. And everyone says data differently, so it sounds like they're having a fight. Like, so Sandro said, "Data," and they'll be like, "We need the data."

These things eat data. Check in the data center. Stand by. Collecting data to get to the data.

These little guys are drawn to data. You know, everywhere they've been going, there's a data center.

No, the code you will be carrying is data. What if we starve them out? take away the data.

So, we got to infect all the data centers. Data center. Yeah. Data centers. We use the data centers they've connected to as bait and plan an old school rabbit virus to infect the data they're eating.

The more data it consumes, data data data. Data data. They're eating our data. My data is being drained.

They're speaking back and forth and it does feel like they are having a pissing contest on how to say it.

Well, and there's only one right way to say it, of course, which is data. Data. Dada.

Dada. Dada. Dada. Oh, do you have that dada for me? Give me my dada. Now, where did we ever get to see where those little bugs that were feeding on the data went?

I mean, they're all over the place. They're attacking um um Ice Cube when he gets into the Goliath room, I believe. Like when those little snake legs pull on Goria gets them. They she traps a couple and she's keeping them as pets, I think.

Yeah, I think that that like that's really what I'm curious about. Like cuz she's like, "Oh, I like these little guys." But meanwhile, the scene before they were crawling all over her and also they are they have blood. Hey, guess what? They also have blood. So like get out of there, Eva.

Um there's so much happening outside. Like the movie is unquestionably happening outside. Like aliens are attacking. There's so much happening and we spend all of our time watching Ice Cube try and maneuver a cursor like that. The movie we're watching is Ice Cube and a computer. I would love someone to pull some data on how how much screen time is devoted to just his screen and moving windows around and answering calls and typing and coding versus like action with people and aliens. Like I really do need to know because it did feel like godamn it I am watching a a computer screen. Now, there's another version.

It was stressing me out. It was stressing me out. I think there's a way that this style or whatever you want to call this um can be very interesting. I just it just didn't really work here. But because I think to use these elements, all of the way that we communicate is so smart if you're interested in interrogating how we communicate right?

This is not doing that. I I do want to also bring up that, you know, earlier we've been talking like, oh, clearly Amazon wanted a lot of product placement. Would it surprise you to know that this was a movie not made by Amazon? It was made by Universal. It is only being distributed on Amazon. So, this was

So, this the Amazon stuff was in there before Amazon was part of it. Yep. I mean, I think that they probably did some sort of branding deal with it, but it was not like it was this wasn't a direct

It wasn't cooked up by Amazon. No. Universal Studios bought this movie independently of Amazon.

That's shocking. And then maybe that was a backdoor idea, but this is not an Amazon made for Amazon.

I'm surprised there was not an Alexa moment in this uh in this whole thing. I'm I'm shocked there that they didn't somebody didn't say Alexa, you know, where are the robots or something.

Alexa, find disruptor. Well, a lot of things like once they get into audio cuz so much of it is video, the movie really falls apart. It's like when he he is able to talk through the Amazon truck.

Yeah. through a system. The speaker system. What speaker? What speaker? And how does he have

find he's able to like connect to the camera and Mark almost drives off the side of the road? He's so shocked as he should.

Yes. Yes. I mean, just to go back and say there is a camera in a commercial airliner that just has footage of like where's that camera? Well, like what cameras in a commercial airliner?

How come there aren't a bunch of shower cams? If that's what we're showing, that's what he's getting in there early for.

Why Why isn't he in there? Exactly. Checking out shower cams. I think Goliath is just It's a picture of Clark Greg unredacted. It's a bunch of pictures from the 40s and 30s of UFOs and then just shower cams. You did not wash your pits. Like it's like it's, you know, just like letting them know. But there is something in this movie that's so crazy. Like you think this is going to be about a movie where we're taking down like a cyber terrorist, somebody who is like uh that organization that wears the uh the masks anonymous.

Anonymous. And that first part of it when he's getting the warrant, when he's zoning in on the house, when he's finding the block and the apartment building and everything,

he's also off checking Facebook in between that. Like it's like he's not even focused on the task at hand. It's like, okay, we're going to get that warrant. Let me call my daughter real quick. You know, it's like this is there's an FBI SWAT team standing outside of a building with guns ready to go.

I think you don't know what it's like, Paul, to deal with as many windows and drop down menus and the speed at which he is able to do these things is is beyond your wildest imagination.

Well, I don't Here's what I'd like to see. And and listen, I think Ice Cube is a fantastic actor.

I don't think he can type that fast. No one. I I didn't believe he could type that fast. No one could.

He is a very fast now. I'm a fast typer. But are you really? Yeah. Did you take a typing class or is this just Oh, you did. Okay.

I did. Yeah. Did you, Paul? No, Paul didn't. Well, can I tell you why? Because uh when they said, "You want to take a typing class?" I'm like, "Uh, I don't think I'm going to have to use typing in what I'm doing." I was I was adamant that. I was like, "Yeah, yeah. Uh, none of that, please." like like this is not going to come in handy for me at all.

Oh my god, that's so funny. I rejected it and I think it was even offered to me.

It was offered in sixth grade. We all had to learn typing. It's smart. I I mean I

Can I just offer a PSA? This is a PSA to people that I think maybe maybe generationally we just have forgotten or people don't know. If you have something stuck in your body like um the daughter does in this movie, she has some some piece of shrapnel in her leg, do not pull it out. Period.

That will make it worse. Make it wrap it tight so that the thing stays in there. Do not pull it out of your body. That's my PSA.

Okay. Well, I mean, I think that you're right on the uh you're right on the level of ice cube. Like Ice Cube is very much like don't pull it out. I do want to also bring up I mean like my my guy applied a tourniquet to her leg. So in the at the end of the movie when they're showing the the baby shower pictures, she should have lost that leg.

That's what a tourniquet does. Yeah. That that leg would have been gone. Well, especially cuz you have to imagine that after even after that they you know got the virus inside all of the aliens. I think I don't know even after that happened like all emergency and like medical services must have been down for a really long time. I'm like, I can't imagine she got any help.

No. You know, so that leg had to come off. Had to go. Had to go. But you know what? She lived another day. I mean, the fact that she didn't have a miscarriage honestly was also pretty impressive. I mean, for the amount of stress that she went through.

I'm shocked they didn't try and make that the plot line, right? That that she goes into labor and that that is what Ice Cube is monitoring is her giving birth.

The final moment of a baby being born would have been pretty great. And then if it got bitten by one of those little bugs.

Whoa. First alien human robot hybrid. I love it. That's the sequel. What the hell is happening here?

Boom. Um, just so you all know, Amazon Prime Air has taken flight. It is uh it is an active service.

This is the drone uh delivery system. Drone delivery system. It is. It is happening um in uh Texas

in rural areas in I believe it's happening in areas that are not congested. College Station, Texas and parts of Phoenix and they're expanding to Kansas City metro and uh 30 minutes or less. And the uh it's only $4.99 extra to uh to get it.

But now what can they carry though? Little boxes. Yeah. I'm looking at the box like a thumb drive.

Yeah. If if they actually ordered a two TBTE thumb drive, it wouldn't have worked. Um they're cute. They're they're bulky. And it doesn't seem to make that much sense. Honestly, it doesn't seem to make any sense cuz I think it makes sense in areas that are where people are remote,

right? You know, like that I that that it's like it's easier to fly a drone out over agricultural land than it is to send a driver. That I get in the cities, anything like that. Absolutely not. No way.

I mean, wow. Oh, wow. But I mean like when I drive around Los Angeles, the city that we all live in, and I see those little guys, those little robots driving around with googly eyes on them or whatever, I'm like, "Oh, I've already acclimated to this. I've already acclimated to driving around a city and there's just not just now, not just robots driving around with, I guess, food in them or whatever, instant cart or whatever, but also the Whimos driverless cars on the road. I've just I'm just normalized to now. I still haven't been in one, but I love the idea.

Great. I see. I But I'm also a person who doesn't understand that little robot. Like I don't get delivery robot. Yeah. I don't get why. Like it just seems to me like it's not going to get there quickly. And what am I ordering?

And to me, they just look like I feel like people must be using them as toilets.

Well, then they'll have a they'll have some photo they will have a video of you [ __ ] in it. And I think then you have to pay for it. I think that's the that's the

Hey, that's that's a that's a service I would sign up for. Um, this is a movie.

Can I interrupt you for just one second? I'm so sorry, Paul. Just to go back to the robots. June,

what's up? Would you have ever imagined a world in which when you said, "What is its mission about the BB-8 robot?"

God, some that is rolling around on screen in Star Wars and then the little toy in your home that now we live in a world where you regularly drive past robots on the streets of Los Angeles.

True. And and actually like what is its mission? The way that the robots, the Los Angeles robots move is very similar to BB-8.

Yeah. You know, and it seems none of us do know what its mission is. I don't know what they're delivering.

Yeah. No, I think hot diarrhea. Yeah. I don't know if it's just like if it's food or what's in there.

I was having lunch the other day and one just drove right by me and then we also were in a car the other day where it was causing a traffic intersection backup. remember the the uh the driver is screaming at it, which I was like, that doesn't really uh help because it's I don't think that they're taking that in. I hope. I don't know.

By the way, good good that the residents of LA are having road rage against the robots and not each other. Thank you.

Um but I will just say that, you know, was this movie on your radar at all? Because this has been a movie that for the last two weeks I have been getting non-stop text messages about people like, "Have you seen it?" because this is a movie that had a zero on Rotten Tomato. A very uh hard feat to do is now moved up to 3%. But it is uh but a zero is a shocking for Rotten Tomatoes. A pretty shocking thing. And that was a big talk about it on release. It had a zero. Uh and and I think that people are watching it to be like, well, how what could it be?

And here's what I'll report. Whatever you think, if you've not seen it and you've just listened to us, it will still shock you. Like even everything that we've just revealed here, it will still shock you because in this movie, there are things we can't even get to all of the things that are confounding. Like the idea you were saying, drop down menus. They type in sometimes search words where it's like terrorist house um you know Prius

there's so many yeah there's so many good things like that that are just both what are what's available in his drop down menus and also what he can type in that is immediately then realized I and and all of this is happening in real time so like they are activating warships planes are dropping out of the sky but like this movie happens in 90 it this is 90 minutes or it is 12 hours. I don't know because we never see a time jump.

There are no obvious time cuts, but time I believe does pass. You know, there's one not much.

There's one and I don't remember when it was, but they're waiting for something and it's like 1:46 and then it's 217. It's like there's one.

Oh wow. So there's about 30 minute 30 minutes. All right. So there's 30 minutes of unaccounted for. So that time

it's when everybody in the movie goes and has a dump. I would love it if there was just minutes of the movie where it was just webcam of an empty chair and finally Ice Cube returns from the bathroom. Damn, what did I miss?

I have to say I liked Ice Cube with the gray hair and gray beard. Oh, he's great. I like him in a little sweater vest and a and a shirt.

He's great. And I thought he did a hell of a job for what he had to do. And I wrote down repeatedly throughout that everybody's working so hard at an impossible task.

To act not just to act against nothing. But to act against nothing, but have the stakes be so high is impossible. to to have it be a World War event and you're just trying to communicate the stakes and severity and scope via um webcam is absurd. Without any scenic partner, without anybody to work off of or work with, it's just punishing I felt like. And everybody's doing their best. Yes. And and I will say this, I have no problem with the acting in this movie whatsoever. It really is how insane it is because when that kid says, "I will fly the Amazon drone to your office." He like I I believe like I love that side game. I love his son. Like when his son is like, "Dad, let me tell you something. Dad, I got to tell you something." And now I do think that they tease the audience. Like I'm like, "Oh, he's disruptor." He's like, "Daddy, you got to know what's going on." He's like, "You don't tell me about what I need to

know. Click." You know, it's like I'm like, well, we should have just played that up that little twist.

Felt like he needed to pay a little bit more attention to his son overall. Yes. His son didn't seem to be as monitored as much as his daughter.

The daughter. It was a little creepy. Seems like he's got something weird going on there. He doesn't want her to maybe like she fell in like she became like a a substitute for his wife and now, you know, in some level, you know, not like, you know, just like he's being prot overly protective of her.

Yeah. Yeah. He he's definitely monitoring her quite a bit more because I mean to think about him being on Facebook so much but not responding to a Facebook friend request from four years ago.

Like if you Here's what I'd like request from from the baby daddy from the Yes. from Mark.

Why does he hate Mark so much? Cuz Mark calls him Pops when Mark when he goes also Mark did raw dog his daughter.

Well, but willingly. It was a it was a consensual raw dog. Oh yeah. like before conception I would imagine

know why he hated we don't know that so much well and also like when everything he does seems to be like okay sir I'm on it like he he says like he says

guy get to her office whatever it is wherever her lab is get to that and he's like on it on my way it wasn't it wasn't like a question it was like on my way that guy leaves his Amazon but he's working

okay so Ice Cube and his son are shown to be expert hacker computer people, right? They are they can breach any firewall. They can get into any system. Whatever it takes, they can do it. But at the end of the movie, when Ice Cube has to run down to the Goliath room or whatever, it is his daughter who has to do all of the hacking.

Yes. And she's mounting the computer. And I couldn't figure that out. Why is she now in charge of uh um disabling security systems and and finding the key code and blah blah blah?

Well, I don't know. I mean, the other main issue I had with it that key code is like, okay, now we're we're to understand that this is 40 ft below the actual Department of Homeland Security and Goliath is here and it is like the most important piece of data that we have. And they yet they have a camera facing

the keypad. Yes. Facing the keypad. And they are able to find out that password in

immediately less than 30 seconds. Immediately. So why wouldn't Wouldn't it have been funny? How how great this is my pitch for the movie. Wouldn't it have been great and maybe one of our listeners will compile a um a trailer for this movie that is this that when when he gets when he finally breaches and gets into the Goliath room, it is just Billy Bob Thornton from the Amazon Prime show Goliath.

It is just what's in there is only the Amazon Prime TV series Goliath all seasons. I would have liked it if in a moment he's like this is too stressful. And he pops on Bosch. Ah, gotta watch. Just unwind.

Ballard. He's like, I gotta watch my Ballard. I need to I need her to solve cold cases. Please, please, can I be on Ballard guys?

Just if you're listening, Ballard, I just want to be on Ballard. June has heard me ask about Ballard to all the Amazon execs, and they're always like, we're we're not Yeah. They were like, why are you talking to us about this? like,

"Oh, yeah. Let me be Ballard, please, guys. Let me be on Ballard. I just want to I just want to just help Maggie Q or fight Maggie Q. I I just want to know what's up. I just want Renee Ballard. Call me."

Oh my gosh. All right. So, let's take a look. Obviously, people had opinions about this movie. Uh, a lot of negative ones, but there are people out there that had a different opinion. It is now time for second opinions. Don't trust the mainstream for information. Don't trust Grammarly for punctuation. Don't trust a surgeon to make incisions. Check out Amazon user reviews. Get a second opinions. Second opinions. Second opinions.

Thank you, Benley, for that amazing song. Uh, we don't get to hear it a lot, but I always love it. Amazon. This is an Amazon Prime movie. When we watched it, it was number six of the most watched things on Amazon. Ever

ever. Well, in the top 10 right now, like in the I see what you mean. Uh, and so far, uh, it already has o 3,000 reviews, and 15% of them are fivest star reviews. This first one is from Liam, and the title is, Ice Cube has done it again.

I like Ice Cube. I like when the president said, "I hereby initiate a war of the worlds." And everyone clapped. And I was happy to see the man next to the tent reject a year's worth of free internet in return for picking up a drone in the middle of a field of lasers, but quickly changing his mind for a,000 Amazon bucks. I thought that was very realistic. Personally, if someone offered me $1,000 in Amazon bucks, I'd pretty much do anything they told me, including risking my life.

Oh, Liam. Oh, this is stark. Okay, so Oh, Liam. Some may say this movie wasn't very good. Do not listen to them. A lot of people don't like aliens and they give bad reviews to alien movies. There's also a part of the movie where they try to drop two nuclear bombs on top Ice Cube, but luckily he saved himself with 3 seconds to spare. Lots of Spencil moments and even a heart touching ending. Five stars.

I don't dropping nuclear bombs. I don't either. Liam is watching this in a different Liam is also out there thinking that people are uh bombing like critic bombing alien movies like uh

Oh yeah, I also don't use the term heart touching. No, heart touching is not a thing.

Nobody's ever used it. Phil K writes uh surprisingly gripping and good. Wait, is it Phil K dick?

Yes, that's that's what makes this one real. Yeah, cool. Uh, surprisingly gripping and good, showing tools we all had to learn to use during COVID, combined with some fancy, probably fictional government tech, it made this movie even more urgent. The way this combines all types of conspiracy theories, UAP disclosure, privacy concerns, anonymous, disruptor, etc. It actually stands out as a representation of the frantic times we are living in. times that could become even more frantic. Once you let the format sink in, it's hard to switch off.

Wow. Quite an original take on an old story and in a way even scarier cuz it hits closer to home. It also shows us how much we live in a corporate world and the film did not shy away from showing that five stars.

Incredible. Like they think that that was like a corporate takedown. Yeah. I wonder for for this new generation, is this movie their um Independence Day? It might be.

Oh god. I uh this one is from an untitled person. I think the truth is people are uncomfortable talking about the potential of something going wrong at the hands of our leadership. People are uncomfortable with the return of Jesus.

Okay. And the end of the world. All right. And people are definitely uncomfortable seeing a black family save the world. So, it could be subconscious, but it's definitely true that this is a good movie with a profound message that left you with something to think about. Not like those vulgar movies that people get excited about. The title, The Truth About the Low Ratings. Five stars.

Wow. Snuck in the Jesus thing in there a little bit. Like, I don't think that this movie had that kind of

I was like, where where are you seeing Jesus inside of this? I would love that. Um and and then it just finally goes here from Amazon customer. Amazing cyber evasion movie. I think it means invasion.

Yeah. Um the acting was amazing and I liked how it was directed with all the video chatting etc.

Five stars. And that is just a sampling of some of the fivest star reviews of this film. I mean is maybe big government is taking it down. Maybe this is like the uh that movie with Will Smith and the football players where he was talking about CTE and the NFL kind of concussion. Yeah, the concussion movie. This is maybe maybe big government is making us uh not enjoy this. They kind of hacked into Rotten Tomatoes.

Somehow I do believe that the government in this movie is operating more coherently than the government we're currently living under is. All I'm saying is if Ice Cube can get into anything, he could definitely hack Rotten Tomatoes. And maybe there's a there's an analyst out there jacking up scores, dropping down scores. You know, he may not like uh you know, She-Hulk and just getting in there and doing his own issues with it,

reviewbombing the woke the woke superhero movies. I mean, we still despite Rotten Tomatoes or No, we saw what we saw.

We did see what we saw. We saw what we saw and it is something to see. Like that's the thing about this movie. I will give it first of all nice hour and a half.

Yeah. Nice. The time on this was perfect. Perfect. And you know it is so wild that it is absolutely something to behold.

Yes. Even if you just watch the opening, just the opening until those meteors come crashing down.

For sure. And but the other thing I will say is we didn't talk about and I'm curious because I am as we know childless um and you guys are not as we've established Paul does know your son

but Jason I've offered it to you multiple times you can take any we have two so you could take

again that is such a strange offer um uh what did you think of the letter he writes to his children at the end of the movie though actually that he's trying to write throughout the movie but and succeeds and sends at the end.

Dear Faith and Dave, being a parent is hard. If I don't tell you this stuff now, I might not be able to tell you later. Protecting my kids was the most important part of my life. But I held on too long. I was afraid to let you guys grow up. Please forgive my trespasses. I promised mom I'd keep you safe, but you ended up saving me. And your mom would be so proud of her children. I know it's true that if I make it through this, it'll be because of you guys. Just remember, I'm with you always. It got me. It got me. I'll be honest.

I actually Yes, I I did. I I liked what he said. I was so curious about the way that he wrote it. And I think it's because he's so used to like short

um misses and and and coding, but there's not a paragraph to be found in. No, it's all disjointed sentences, single sentence ideas.

Well, he's I mean, he is saving the world at the same time. He does not he does not have emotional growth and that's part of it.

No. Well, he does end up at the shower at the end, but I sure with Eva Longoria

and he wore the shirt, the Grandpa Shark shirt. He wore the shirt. But what would have helped his growth, I think, is if he ultimately needed to turn off surveillance on his daughter. If he like delete the ex of her and to assume that she's going to be okay and the decisions she makes like he's not helping her, that never really happens.

Wouldn't it have been awesome? And now this is not the movie that we saw obviously. If the machines come in because they have so much access to the data, what if they started sending him messages that sounded like they were from his dead wife?

Wow. You know what I mean? Like the world that we're living in where AI can spoof any of us because it has access to so many hours of our voices or what? AI is so powerful. The world we live in, people are being deceived by AI versions of the people they love. Yes.

Wouldn't that have been interesting if the way the machines were trying to obfuscate what they were doing was to have his suddenly his phone rings and it's his his dead wife.

Well, but here's again I ask you, what do the machines actually want to do? Exactly.

But they don't that's the thing. They don't want to do anything because they're not interested in deceiving. They just want to drink the milkshake. Like we are 7-Eleven and they're coming to drink our data slurpees. Like that's it.

Okay. Okay. So, so this is a big drink. So for you this is about drinking. Either milkshakes or slurpies. Yeah. This is like when you guys are coming to drink

when Daniel D. Lewis says I drink your milkshake. You put that in this movie. It's like that's what the aliens are like. I drink your milkshake with milk to drink our milkshake. Or is it to survive off of it or what is it? What is

Are they taking it somewhere? Are they? Yeah, they're doing better version of what we tried to do here.

No, they just are coming to take a drink. It's like we go to a place with a beach to go swimming. They're like, "Oh, that planet's got a lot of good data."

So, it's for fun. You think this is a vacation? I think it's like it's it's like a buffet. We're a buffet. And they're going from place to place. Doesn't

So, when we vacation, we go to like museums. So, they check they pick vacation spots for data centers.

Yes. And it's like I think in my mind, it's like it's like Brainiac. Doesn't Brainiac go around from like planet to planet and suck up all their knowledge and then keeps them in little little glass jars like the city? Sort of. Yeah. Yeah. You know, that's what's going on here. This is these are the aliens.

I wish I knew what the aliens plan was. I would have enjoyed like that's part of the thing is they're up against an antagonist that is just so so inscrutable and so unknowable. Yes. You know,

you never even get to see what they look like. Nope. It's always grainy. They do break off into a capsule at one point which I thought was cool but like we don't even get to really see them.

Well, he could afford that. And also like none of the information when he opens the Goliath files and we have obviously these machines have been here. It doesn't help him at all. It's not like oh from the 30s we discovered that they are allergic to you know pollen or whatever. None of it none of it works or happen or helps. It's

I mean just thankfully his daughter was working on this other virus the cannibal virus. I mean, I guess all the

Thank God they are as a family so singular in each of their abilities and positions. It's crazy.

It really, really is. And I guess the question is, would you recommend this movie to other people to watch?

As I said, there is something to it is so again, if only for the first 15 minutes. Yeah, I think this is worth getting your eyes on.

I had no problem watching it. I will say even at a tight 90 it went down pretty smooth.

It went down smooth but there were like until that that third act kicks in. Like I was like there's like a little bit of a time where you're like okay well what's happening next and then once

once we get into the Amazon Prime once we get into the Tesla honestly yes we're in great shape. Uh but there's a little bit of time in between. This is the kind of movie that I think absolutely for the sake of the episode, watch it. But also like this is the kind of movie that you can watch it while you're making coffee in the morning. Oh yeah. Like it does not demand you turn out the lights and sit down and give it your full attention. It's it's it it's okay in the background and you'll enjoy it enough and it will be good for the episode. Uh for for this episode,

you need to see you need to see some of it. And I I I highly recommend everybody in it. I cannot wait to see Andrea Savage. We have a lunch planned and I am going to uh find out every detail I possibly can about it. And I'm sure she's also being inundated as people head

so curious. Um Jason June, you want to plug anything? June? Uh what do you got?

Well, I don't know if it's I don't know if Weapons is still in the movie theaters, but if it is, I definitely recommend that movie and going to see it. It's so much fun to watch with an audience.

Really great movie. So much fun. Uh Jason, what about you? Um you know what? I don't really have anything, but I'll shout out um Taskmaster season 19. Um it's on YouTube now, so check it out.

I love it. I will uh shout out uh Dark Webb every Monday on uh YouTube. Uh me and Rob will totally free. Everybody, thank you for listening. And if you have questions, concerns, observations that we didn't quite get to, give me a call at 619 P A L or just go to our Discord at discord.gg/ GG/HDTGM because last looks we will break down all of them or as many that are interesting. And last but not least, I got to thank our entire team for whom the show could not be done without. I am talking about our producers Scott Sonni and Molly Reynolds, our movie picking producer, Averil Halley, and our engineer Casey Holford. All right. Uh guys, we'll see you next time.

See you next time. Okay. Clicketity clackity clickity clacky.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "War of the Worlds (2025)"?

Paul Scheer (Host), Jason Mantzoukas (Host), June Diane Raphael (Host).

What is "War of the Worlds (2025)" about?

"War of the Worlds (2025)" presents a modern retelling of H.G. Wells' classic, featuring Ice Cube as Will Radford, a surveillance programmer whose strained family relationships coincide with an alien invasion. The film incorporates a heavy dose of product placement and explores themes of isolation and technological dependence amidst chaos.

What is mentioned in this How Did This Get Made? episode?

14 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Ice Cube, Apostle Paul, Amazon, June Diane Raphael, Jason Manzukas, Goliath. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "War of the Worlds (2025)"?

The episode runs 1 h 12 min; the transcript is about 13,405 words in 303 timestamped sections.

More from How Did This Get Made?

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 26, 2026.