 An earth-shattering adventure that both "rivets and amazes" (Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune), War of the Worlds reunites superstar Tom Cruise and Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg for one of the most awe-inspiring cinematic experiences of all time! A contemporary retelling of H.G. Wells’ classic, the sci-fi thriller reveals the extraordinary battle for the future of humankind through the eyes of one American family. Fleeing from an extraterrestrial army of killer Tripods that annihilate everything in their path, Ray Ferrier (Cruise) races to keep his family safe. War of the Worlds is an action packed adventure that explodes with spectacular special effects! Storyline: Ray Ferrier (Cruise) is a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. When his ex-wife and her new husband drop off his teenage son Robbie and young daughter Rachel for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm suddenly touches down. What follows is the extraordinary battle for the future of humankind through the eyes of one American family fighting to survive it in this contemporary retelling of H.G. Wells seminal classic sci-fi thriller. Written by Majorwest Editor's Note: 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 (Jaws, 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 --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition. Cast Notes: Tom Cruise (Ray Ferrier), Dakota Fanning (Rachel Ferrier), Justin Chatwin (Robbie Ferrier), Miranda Otto (Mary Ann), Tim Robbins (Harlan Ogilvy), Rick Gonzalez (Vincent), Yul Vazquez (Julio), Lenny Venito (Manny the Mechanic), Lisa Ann Walter (Sheryl), Ann Robinson (Grandmother), Gene Barry (Grandfather), David Alan Basche (Tim), Roz Abrams (Herself), Michael Brownlee (TV Reporter, Osaka), Camillia Sanes (News Producer). User Comment: tieman64 from United Kingdom, 26 June 2005 • James Cameron and Stephen Spielberg famously ushered forward the CGI revolution in the early 90's with films like Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park. They set a trend, and since the late 90's we've been hit with one CGI adventure movie after the other. But Spielberg had his fun with his CGI dinosaurs, and soon moved on. While lesser directors scrambled onto the CGI bandwagon, churning out soulless nonsense like RESIDENT EVIL and TOMB RAIDER, Spielberg changed gears and directed Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, The Terminal, AI etc. Argue about the quality of those movies all you want, but what I'm trying to get at is that this guy tries his best to stay ahead of the game. Ahead of the trends. Saving Private Ryan broke new ground. I think it's a flawed film, but nevertheless, it now serves as a template for all future war movies. Loot at Black Hawk Down, can you imagine it shot with the static feel of, say, Platoon? So here we have War of the Worlds, and again we see Spielberg developing a new "eye". And that is what fascinates me most about this film. The camera stays fixed on Cruise and his family. We catch fleeting glimpses of the alien invaders and their war machines. The destruction and special effects whir by in the background, ominous and looming but never dominating the screen. Spielberg's camera is always running away, afraid to look at the destruction, panning away from the effects, terrified! And what's terrific is that this new "eye" suits the story. I suppose it was only a matter of time before a director decided to consciously play down special effects for dramatic purposes. Of course this filming style is not new. But no other movie has ever used this technique from start to finish with such intensity. Aisde from this "eye", the movie is actually pretty standard. Instead of children hiding from Raptors in cupboards, we have Cruise hiding from invaders in basements. Spielberg handles the tension well, but its all stuff you've seen him and others do before. As for the "review" lock-down, I personally don't think it's warranted. I don't see what Paramount is trying to suppress. I haven't given any spoilers away in this review, but that's basically because the film had no major spoilers for me to reveal! There are some twists but the abrupt ending isn't earth-shattering. Regardless, I suspect within the next few years, everybody will be copying the style of this film. It will be interesting to see how Spielberg chooses to shoot his next movie. Summary: Spilberg's "eye" of terror. IMDb Rating (01/29/17): 8.1/10 from 104,444 users
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