Stars: Tom Cruise, Miranda Otto, Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins, Justin Chatwin, Morgan Freeman

Director: Steven Spielberg

Summary: One cannot help but think of terrorist attacks while watching Steven Spielberg's update of the classic sci-fi fantasy THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. While the H.G. Wells story dates back to 1898, and has inspired previous adaptations, this particular version feeds off its 21st century audience's fear of a terrorist-induced apocalypse. Even if the sight of tall buildings crumbling to the ground and crowds running fearfully away from their demise doesn't trigger post-9/11 paranoia, dialogue such as Is it the terrorists? will. Disgruntled, divorced father Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is struggling to connect with his estranged kids, who have been dropped off by their mother for the weekend, when a severe and unusual lightning storm leaves his New Jersey neighbourhood powerless. Over the course of the next few hours, it becomes obvious that this was not a storm at all, but rather the first sign of a worldwide alien attack. Emerging from the ground in multi-legged tripod-like machines that have apparently been stored beneath the earth's surface since before man's time, these aliens begin the process of waging a long-planned war on our planet. While WAR OF THE WORLDS follows Ray's growing closeness with his two children (Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin) in the face of imminent disaster, and his transformation from lousy father to hero, their story is used mostly as a vehicle for illustrating an unending series of horrific scenarios. The human element of the story is also briefly explored with Tim Robbins's portrayal of a crazed, alien-fighting recluse. Sticking closely to Wells' original descriptions of alien warfare, the film focuses mainly on visuals and succeeds through impressive special effects to create two hours of thrilling, frightening, realistic terror.

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Reviewed by: philreyn
Posted on October 13, 2005 12:42 PM

Spielberg has done what most have failed to do, improved on an original classic. This film is breath taking in it's special affects and action scenes. It also stays fairly faithfully to the original in that it doesn't show too much of the aliens themselves. This leaves our imaginations to run riot, creating even more tension. The film has very little humour, and is brutal in parts. I think H G Wells would have approved. If we were ever invaded from space, I imagine this is how it would really be. Unusual role for Cruise, but played well.

Reviewed by: davybozal24-7
Posted on May 17, 2006 7:35 AM

This is a much darker version than the original and even though I
preferred the Gene Barry 50s version of this iconic film , it does the trick in spectacular haunting Wellsian form . The plot stays relatively
near to the original film but it would have been nice to stay in England instead of Americanising it . Tom Cruise does nothing for me as the anti - hero trying to come to terms with his inner demons
but nice special effects and with ultra nasty aliens who seem to have been living under the oceans for centuries should have fans
talking for ages .

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Despite super effects, a huge budget, and the cinematic pedigree of alien-happy Steven Spielberg, this take on H.G. Wells's novel is basically a horror film packaged as a sci-fi thrill ride. Instead of a mad slasher, however, Spielberg (along with writers Josh Friedman & David Koepp) utilizes aliens hell-bent on quickly destroying humanity, and the terrifying results that prey upon adult fears, especially in the post-9/11 world. The realistic results could be a new genre, the grim popcorn thriller; often you feel like you're watching Schindler's List more than Spielberg's other thrill-machine movies (such as Jaws or Jurassic Park). The film centers on Ray Ferrier, a divorced father (Tom Cruise, oh so comfortable) who witnesses one giant craft destroy his New Jersey town and soon is on the road with his teen son (Justin Chatwin) and preteen daughter (Dakota Fanning) in tow, trying to keep ahead of the invasion. The film is, of course, impeccably designed and produced by Spielberg's usual crew of A-class talent. The aliens are genuinely scary, even when the film--like the novel--spends a good chunk of time in a basement. Readers of the book (or viewers of the deft 1953 adaptation) will note the variation of whom and how the aliens come to Earth, which poses some logistical problems. The film opens and closes with narration from the novel read by Morgan Freeman, but Spielberg could have adapted Orson Welles's words from the famous Halloween Eve 1938 radio broadcast: "We couldn't soap all your windows and steal all your garden gates by tomorrow night, so we did the best next thing: we annihilated the world." --Doug Thomas, Amazon.com

Aspect Ratio:	1.85 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Revisiting The Invasion, The HG Wells Legacy, Steven Spielberg And The Original War Of The Worlds, Characters The Family Unit, Previsualisation, Production Diaries East Coast, Production Diaries West Coast, Designing The Enemy Tripods And Aliens, Scoring War Of
Subtitles:	Arabic, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
Year:	2005
Release Date:	November 14, 2005
Runtime:	112 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	P H E 8883
Keywords:	Special, War, Worlds, Two, General, Edition, Fiction, Science, Horror, Discs, Sci, Fi
Genre:	Science Fiction