In terms of sheer spectacle alone, War of the Worlds is a winner. If this movie doesn't help stop or turn around the box-office slide of the past few months, then Hollywood really is in big trouble.
War of the Worlds (2005)
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Reviews Counted:240
Fresh:176
Rotten:64
Average Rating:7/10
Consensus: War of the Worlds delivers on the thrill and paranoia of H.G. Wells' classic novel.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for frightening sequences of sci-fi violence and disturbing images
Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Theatrical Release:Jun 29, 2005 Wide
Box Office: $234,141,872
Synopsis: On June 29th, 2005, Earth goes to war. From Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures comes "War of the Worlds," directed by Steven Spielberg and starring international superstar Tom Cruise. A... On June 29th, 2005, Earth goes to war. From Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures comes "War of the Worlds," directed by Steven Spielberg and starring international superstar Tom Cruise. A contemporary retelling of H.G. Wells's seminal classic, the sci-fi adventure thriller reveals the extraordinary battle for the future of humankind through the eyes of one American family fighting to survive it. The film also stars Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto, Justin Chatwin, and Tim Robbins. Cruise stars as Ray Ferrier, a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. Soon after his ex-wife (Miranda Otto) and her new husband drop off his teenage son Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and young daughter Rachel (Dakota Fanning) for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm touches down. Moments later, at an intersection near his house, Ray witnesses an extraordinary event that will change all their lives forever. A towering three-legged war machine emerges from deep beneath the earth and, before anyone can react, incinerates everything in sight. An ordinary day has suddenly become the most extraordinary event of their lifetimes - the first strike in a catastrophic alien attack on Earth. Ray scrambles to get his children away from this merciless new enemy, embarking on a journey that will take them across the ravaged countryside, where they become caught in the desperate tide of refugees fleeing from an extraterrestrial army of Tripods. But no matter where they run, there is no safety, no refuge … only Ray's unconquerable will to protect the ones he loves. Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures present an Amblin Entertainment/Cruise|Wagner Production, a Steven Spielberg film, "War of the Worlds." Directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Josh Friedman and David Koepp, based on the novel by H. G. Wells, the film is produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Colin Wilson. The executive producer is Paula Wagner. The film also stars Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto, Justin Chatwin and Tim Robbins. This film has been rated PG-13 for Frightening Sequences of Sci-Fi Violence and Disturbing Images. Spielberg's core filmmaking team, which has collaborated with the director on numerous projects, is led by director of photography Janusz Kaminski, ASC, production designer Rick Carter, editor Michael Kahn, A.C.E., and costume designer Joanna Johnston. Music is composed by John Williams. Visual effects and animation is by Industrial Light & Magic, led by senior visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman. "War of the Worlds" opens worldwide on June 29, 2005. The film's official website is: www.waroftheworlds.com -- © DreamWorks Pictures [More]
Starring: Tom Cruise, Miranda Otto, Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins
Starring: Tom Cruise, Miranda Otto, Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins, Justin Chatwin
Director: Steven Spielberg
Director: Steven Spielberg
Screenwriter: Josh Friedman, David Koepp
Producer: Kathleen Kennedy, Paula Wagner, Colin Wilson, Tom Cruise
Composer: John Williams
Studio: DreamWorks Distribution LLC
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Reviews for War of the Worlds
It's the movies' ultimate disaster epic: a genuinely unsettling movie experience that uses the new technology to create an alien invasion of unprecedented scale and realism.
Spielberg is pretty much incapable of making a terrible movie anymore. But he has plainly forgotten a lot of what makes a good popcorn movie since his Jurassic period. Where's the fun?
This disappointing War of the Worlds limps to a conclusion that mercifully insures there will not be a sequel.
Fantastic and banal, terrifying and occasionally dull, pure Spielberg and yet at times anonymous, War of the Worlds delivers multiple viewing experiences during its two-hour running time.
...the film's only sublime moments happen in scenes where the population gets blown up.
The movie is no fun. There's none of the spirited adrenaline you expect from a bang-up blockbuster. I've docked it a star or so because it is nasty and mean-spirited, and plays on shocking allusions to 9/11 imagery.
War of the Worlds is the kind of movie Spielberg can make in his sleep, which may be why it feels like we are sleepwalking while watching it.
It is nerve-wracking and gripping and draws specific parallels, both dramatically and visually, to 9/11, but never in a way that seems anything but natural.
Much is destroyed in Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds, but the movie never quite delivers an emotional knockout blow.
In his latest science-fiction epic, director Steven Spielberg shows he's better at blowing up the world than anyone else alive. Unfortunately, he also shows he has no idea how to put the world back together.
This is B-movie material all the way, yet it's not only watchable, it's engrossing. That's because the material is in the hands of an A-talent director, who knows, as few of his contemporaries do, how to manipulate the plastic qualities of a film.
Spielberg, whose previous alien visitation movies (E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and Close Encounters of the Third Kind) are considerably more benign than this film. But he does this more mature, nightmarish material nearly as well.
In the second half of the film, the wind starts to go out of Spielberg's sails.
War of the Worlds can be a nightmarish trip, but it's a terrific film, a blockbuster that lives up to its billing.
A first-class pop entertainment packed to the brim with astounding effects and near-non-stop action and suspense.
War of the Worlds pushes some of the right buttons and enough of the wrong ones to make you wish that Spielberg would move on from aliens already and use his unparalleled talents to focus once more on earth.
...wowing enough to silence rude, modern movie audiences in their seats.
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