War of the Worlds (2005)

With War of the Worlds director Steven Spielberg proves that he is one of the top directors working with huge tentpole type Hollywood films of today. Here is a blockbuster that defies all the expectations of it's kind and manages to be scary, poignant, entertaining and visionary at the same time. There is definetly more than meets the eye here and Spielberg has much more in his sleeve that on the surface would seem.
This time you can forget the friendly aliens of Close Encounters of the third Kind, or that sweet and good natured E.T who won over the hearts of millions of people around the world. Spielberg has gone into more darker waters and presents his aliens as a blood drinking doomsday machines with nihilistic need of destruction. Their only purpose seems to be killing and taking our world over.
What surprised me the most is the clever way that Spielberg makes direct political references to holocaust and 9/11 with his film. Grey ash filling the air, people running for their lives in a panic and everyone desperately trying to survive from the mass scale butchering reminds me a lot of Spielberg's own Schindler's List. In a way War of the Worlds is as much a holocaust film as Schindler's List is. Therefore i found it as much as political film as it is sci-fi-film
Brutality of this level might come as a surprise for some viewers, but those more familiar of Spielberg's work should not be surprised. With films like Empire of the Sun, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List or Minority Report and A.I., he has glimpsed more darker side of his mind before and now War of the Worlds joins among those films as a one of the most darkest, if not even the darkest, of his films to date. Actually this is the closest that Spielberg has ever come to horror genre and when you think of it, this is pure horror film at it's core.
There were moments when i was absolutely terrified and on the edge of my seat while watching it's horrifying beauty. From the point when Spielberg let his bloodthirsty aliens free, the film never let it's viewer off the hook and keeps us riveted till the credits roll. He has abitlity to create menace without showing too much for the viewers. There are many more terrifying moments in this film than we are used to see in other of todays horror films and Spielberg handles them with his assured hand.
War of the Worlds is technically and visually undisputed work of art. Janusz Kaminski's camerawork is simply outstanding and together with Spielberg he creates fantastic set-pieces that are outstanding to watch. For example there is this great moment when we see the main characters driving in a car and the camera swoops around them with a one long take creating a wonderful suspense into that moment. John Williams, who is also one of the most important work partners with Spielberg, delivers one of his most effective and darkest scores to date. Spielberg himself instead show many other directors how to do this kind of film. He is one of those rare directors who can make us in the audience care about his characters even when the whole world is getting blown away by tripods.
When it comes to acting, Tom Cruise delivers believable and complex performance as a flawed father here. Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin are very good as his children in jeopardy. Together they all three form a family which is authentic and one that audience will most certainly root and care for. There is also Tim Robbins in a disturbing role as a man who has lost his himself in the middle of all the desperation and destruction.
If you love sci-fi or horror or just enjoy great entertainment overall, then here is a perfect film for you. It might not be nothing new or original but it is pure, if a bit hollow, entertainment made with skill.