Product ReviewsWar of the Worlds (DVD, 2005, Widescreen)

Tom Cruise makes this film personal, while the special effects make it believable.

War of the Worlds is a book, a radio broadcast, and a 1940's movie. All these formats were exceedingly scary for their time. This remake does not disappoint. The special effects make the action believable and frightening. Cruise personalizes the story. We can empathize with him. First his unknowing scoffing at the freak electrically storm, than his realization that there is real danger. His concern for his children's safety in circumstances he can not control is every parent's worse nightmare. The fear and loss of hope he feels hiding out in the farmhouse basement from the alien machines is deeply disturbing. I have to say that the sequence in which his character carries out a successful attack on one of the tripods was superfluous, which is why I only give the movie four stars. That whole scenario was a distraction from the unrelenting helplessness of the situation. This is the point of the book, the broadcast and both movies. Humankind is helpless in the face of this invasion. It is this slow and steady realization that makes this movie so dramatic. I found the scene with the burning train roaring pass particularly horrifying.Read full review...

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A Dark Retelling of an H.G. Wells Story

If one were to make the perhaps inevitable comparison to the 1950s movie it comes across heavy handed. But the earlier movie does convey the same type of terror. .just not on such a grand scale with such ease.

The relationships between the characters, which I cannot pretend to go into very well here, is the most terrifying aspect of the movie.

Not that the 50's were paradise but relationships weren't so #visibly# "broken." That is also includes the man to Creator relationship.

There always has been an odd thing about the alien invasion idea as it is depicted in this story.

If aliens were indeed "scrutinizing" earth for any length of time it seems that they would been aware of the diseases or even common colds (etc.) which are ever so common to humans.

Surely they should've been sensitive to the idea of importing disease when ingesting people in #this# movie .

These are very naive aliens. (Unless they believed technology made them invulnerable). Do I hear a commentary on present war activity ?

Very odd that war technology could be so advanced but medical (for lack of a better word) advancement is not present.

Spielberg is a master at his craft so I'll have to continue to reflect on the movie.Read full review...

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Great Effects But Should Have Gone Different Directions

Having read through many reviews here, I find that most would agree that this film leaves much to be desired. It left me a bit senseless, like the way you feel after you go to work for 10 years at the same time everyday and one day you wake up and go, "Wow, I could have had a real life".

After seeing the trailer for this film, I somehow knew that I wasn't going catch this at the theater. The trailer is usually a pretty good snapshot of the tone for whole film. The original trailer just gave very small hints of what was coming, but never really gave you enough to chew on while the film was still in production. When the trailer of "Independence Day" came out I was really interested in catching the film in the theater, however, you need to remember from which perspective that film was coming from. It wasn't a hopeless (hey, we are all going to die today) type of film. It was positive and upbeat, even when the aliens were getting ready to incinerate those people on the top of the building.

Tom Cruise's character development was a bit overdone, although I can believe in him being a responsible parent. That's the thing about disaster movies. You never can really know what you would do if you wound up in the same situations as this. Dakota Fanning was great as a disturbed and shocked child and the scene where she stands at the river and sees bodies floating down was really a powerful scene, showing the enormity of the massive death and destruction going on.

When Tim Robbin's character was introduced, that's when I knew that this film had taken a wrong turn. Robbin's paranoia and hopeless despair really was a downer for me. When the aliens started turning the landscape into living blood, things really got creepy for me, ever since I really started to get more and more germ phobic. Oh well, what's a little spilled blood all over the world?

There seemed to be something cold and dark about this film, since it spent much time focusing on the immediate fears of Cruise's character. The reuniting of there family was alright, but I thought the film should have gone on a bit further in showing a last ditch attempt with more firepower from the sky.

I'm going to give this film a 4/5 for attempting to make a film that would not only be good but one you would like to watch again. I saw this film two times and think that maybe watching it once ever 5 years or so might be a bit too much.

IF YOU LIKE MY REVIEWS, PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO LET ME KNOW BY VOTING. THANKS!Read full review...

I like to call it War of the Worries

This is a most stress-filled and exciting film, with good reason. Poorly equipped for fatherhood (no Suri jokes), Papa Tom finds himself responsible for the safety of his two children who are visiting for the weekend when the earth is attacked by very unfriendly aliens with an agenda. Junior has rebellion issues and Blondie's precocious and spoiled. All this is very worrisome and stressful for Papa Tom.

The film progresses from there to nonstop run for safety activity that is thrilling and well done. Spielberg creates an ominous sense of impending danger and confusion in the first act. It feels frighteningly real as everyone has to suddenly react to the peril that crops up so quickly.

The movie takes you on the family's wild ride for safety as Papa Tom's efforts to help them survive moment to moment close in around them. Cruise does a good job of conveying a barely controlled sense of panic, as you would under these circumstances. Papa Tom not only has to contend with trying to stay out of the paths of roving, homocidal tripods (who always look as if they are about to take a picture), but has to deal with other people who act nasty and generally lose it. These create more worries.

There were a few nit-picky things that grated and I mention them now:
(1) Even though Papa Tom found the only operable car in the area it still would have needed to be a hovercraft to travel more than a quarter of a mile to get around all the broken down cars littering the road, much less make it all the way up to the rural Hudson Valley area;
(2) They outran the tripods on the hill which were pretty darn close considering the short human legs to long tripod strides ratio;
(3) The kid's brattiness always seemed to emerge at the worst moments, as when faux-goth-punk son decides the middle of a battlefield is a dandy place for a family argument (what was he going to fight the tripods with anyway, his cunning?); or the little blond albatross gets all brave, picky and mouthy when it comes to going to the bathroom outdoors not long after being completely psychotic with terror (did she ever get to pee? I know, I shouldn't obsess on such things).

All in all and in spite of the above objections, I found it a satisfying movie. Cruise kept his couch jumping to a minimum and the action was trademark Spielberg in the good way (though he will probably never surpass "Schindler's List" and that's as it should be). The film keeps you on the edge of your seat with the right amount of breathing space moments.

For extra amusement, watch it with others in a darkened room, sneak out and quietly set a tripod with a video camera nearby. Watch the fun as your guests discover it hovering ominously behind them, then turn on the flash. They may not speak to you for awhile, but it's worth it.Read full review...

Very Disappointing

As a fan of the original 1898 HG Wells novel, and the original 1953 movie, as well as the Mercury Theatre radio broadcast narrated by Orson Welles, I was disappointed after seeing this movie in the theatre. Tom Cruise was very good in his role, as was Tim Robbins, and the special effects were excellent, but the movie as a whole just didn't seem to mesh well. The original book and movie encompassed the whole world fighting the Martians with all of humanity's very survival at stake. This Spielberg offering concentrates on Cruise and his children dealing with relationship issues and their apparent salvation if they can journey to his ex-wife in an apparently untouched major city.

Dakota Fanning screams a lot, the ending is anti-climatic, and the new story fails when compared to the original. The dvd release also has few noteworthy extras.

If you want to watch good science fiction purchase the original 1953 War of the Worlds which was re-released in a Special Collector's Edition. It has great extras including additional commentaries, specials on Wells, and even the original War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast.

Keep Watching the Skies!Read full review...

War of the Worlds- 2005- Spielberg version

I'm not going to ever try to pretend there is a version of War of the Worlds that can equal the classic George Pal version. That movie is peerless! Yet the Spielberg movie is an excellent "go with" item for any fans of the H.G. Wells story itself. I personally love the novel and find great pleasure collecting anything to do with the story, so for me, this movie is a must have.

The movie is updated from Victorian England to present day America and many liberties are taken with the original story. But the cinematography is stellar and the sweeping magnitude of the tripod war machines is nothing short of breathtaking on the screen. While not keeping true to the book, the Martians themselves are pretty neat, certainly as viable as the Pal version. Visually, the movie is like being in an eye candy store! It literally explodes with all sorts of CGI effects. Some cinema snobs disdain CGI, but if it works in the movie, I say knock yourself with it!

Tom Cruise stars and, IMHO, is a depressingly over rated actor. Yet he pulls off the role of the main character with a more natural sympathy than other characters he's done. I'm certain much of this because Spielberg knew exactly what he wanted and tried to concentrate more on the character than on Cruise's superstar status. (You know the story: "Oooooh, Ahhhhh, we got a superstar to sign a contract...we must tailor make a movie all around him!)

Clearly though, the outstanding universal appeal of this picture is how Spielberg has a way with child actors. The kids in this movie are staggeringly natural and do not in the least look like kids trying to "act" or be cute for the camera. Their context reflects more the kids in Jaws who were thrust into a very dire situation rather than the cuter lighthearted situations in E.T. The movie is worth seeing alone if students of cinema wish to study how to get the most out of a child's acting on screen.

I give this picture an excellent rating NOT because I feel it's the apex of the greatest film making ever done, but rather in the context of War of the Worlds, which I believe is the only reason one would be reading this in the first place. If one likes the story enough to want to buy movies created from the source, it is only second to the Pal version and an essential. It can be enjoyed as a fun Friday evening popcorn movie, or actually as a study of how the infatuating writings of H.G. Wells have come to the big screen.Read full review...

New Version Of "War Of The Worlds"

I was impressed by the special effects that were used in this movie. They felt very real to me and not computer generated. I thought that the computer guys out did themselves and produced an excellent movie. I was also impressed on the new take of the old movie. They more than came up with a new version of an old movie, it actually stands alone. Thus becoming a totally new story not just a dressed up redone old story, that gets told over and over. I am very happy to own my own copy of this movie so that I can enjoy it over and over. I must mention the one problem I had with the movie. The kids were real brats and needed a good old fashion butt spanking.Read full review...

Not a Tom Cruise fan but ....................

If you are then you'll like this movie. I don't care for Tom Cruise personally, I think he should find a profession that he's good at. In my opinion, acting ain't it.

With that being said, the movie rolled along well. The special effects were good and the surround sound effects really made the movie. It was more gory than I expected which was a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

Overall I liked the movie enough to buy it. I added it to my collection because I felt it was good enough to watch more than once. It's not often that a movie is good enough on it's own to overcome a lead actor that I don't care for. This one is.Read full review...

Family Viewing

If you are looking online to buy this movie I will assume you already know the story plot of this movie. So I wont go into a long description and waste your time.
My husband and I watched this today. I really enjoyed the movie. It kept me on the edge of my seat.It was action packed and fast paced. There weren't many slow points during this movie. And even thought it is an alien sci-fi it did make you think about human behavior and the realm of possibilities out there...
I recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys this genre. It is however a bit much for some children. I am pretty liberal with what I let my kids see... But some of the scene were pretty high tension and bloody. The acting was pretty good. Lots of well acted intense emotional scenes.
My only regret is that I didn't watch it in the theater to get the full effect.
I hope this opinion helped you out. I wanted to put an opinion out instead of a recap of the film which anyone can fine on amazon or in the description.
Enjoy!!!!!!!!Read full review...

Absolutely the Worst

Worst Spielberg movie I've ever seen. Spielberg is a kindda history and Peter Jackson is the man now. As always Tom Cruise movie is boring. I never liked his movies. Not a single one. A lot of weird unsmooth stories on this one. For example, Robbie was acting strange incessantly as if possessed by some demon but he actually wanted to join army to fight alien. "Oh~ they want me! I gotta be there!" How lame. At the beginning Tom Cruise was walkin cool on the street surrounded by local peeps and all of sudden attacked by this alien. He comes home and acts as if shell-shocked. That one was not a smooth acting either. It's just lame. And I don't know why Tim Robinson appeared in this movie either. What's his role in this movie? Nothing but a homelessman. Only good thing about this movie is a little girl named Dakoda Fanning. She's a good actress.Read full review...