War of the Worlds may not stand up well to careful inspection and it may not be the smartest science fiction film brought to the screen, but it is an intense, visceral experience.
War of the Worlds (2005)
Tomatometer
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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: 12A [See Full Rating] for frightening sequences of sci-fi violence and disturbing images
Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Theatrical Release:01-07-2005
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
Reviews for War of the Worlds
An unwieldy hodgepodge of spectacular set pieces and sappy family drama.
The beauty in this lesser in everything but the budget ($135 million) Spielberg film, is in the spectacle.
The balancing act between pleasing crowds and evoking larger human truths eventually escapes Spielberg's grasp, as it has occasionally in the past.
Good-naturedly bludgeons its audience with old-fashioned alien-invasion hysteria.
Viewers expect to see a war of the worlds, but what they really see is a war of a dysfunctional family with an alien invasion as a backdrop.
War of the Worlds is an attack-of-the-aliens disaster film crafted with sinister technological grandeur -- a true popcorn apocalypse.
Extravagant in movie terms but stingy in emotional ones, it embodies all of Spielberg's bad impulses and almost none of his good ones.
War of the Worlds' is a picture without a thought in its pretty head: the Tom Cruise movie to end all Tom Cruise movies.
Meticulously detailed and expertly paced and photographed, with sights so spectacular and terrible that viewers will have to consciously remind themselves to close their mouths when their jaws drop open.
With the power of Spielberg and Cruise behind it, the sinister and tense War of the Worlds is this summer's blockbuster to beat them all.
It's on the road that War of the Worlds makes the jump from thrilling to frequently unpleasant, as Spielberg burdens the movie with Holocaust imagery and commentary about terrorism and wars of occupation.
As powerful a filmmaker as he is, Spielberg, with approximately two dozen features under his belt, remains a work in progress as a storyteller.
Its exploitation of tragic iconography -- just to amp up the screams, tug some tears and sell a few more million movie tickets -- should be deplored.
Spielberg shows that he remains the master of the form he virtually invented.
It unfolds in the angst-haunted shadow of the 9/11 terror attacks and teeters on a thin edge of sheer panic -- the carnage is no gleeful game and the devastation is so overwhelming that human defenses crumble like sand.
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