A huge disappointment for science fiction fans

Rating: 3/10 (9 February 2003)

An incredibly bad movie. I was expecting science fiction, not a "family drama." Instead of an interesting story of an alien invasion, we get a tedious story of a man trying to find his faith and keep his family together, with some of the trappings of a bad 1950's sci-fi film -- M. Night Shyamalan seems to be attempting an homage of some sort here, and there are even references made to "War of the Worlds."
(Possible spoilers below.)
Instead of finding out what the "signs" mean, or anything about the aliens and their intention, we just know "they come down to do bad things and are beaten by an amazing low-tech solution." Nothing about this film makes any sense, or offers much entertainment. We have aliens capable of star travel, but they need to leave each other messages in corn fields? They're incapable of getting through something as simple as a locked wooden door? They can blend into the background like chameleons, shoot poison gas from their fingernails? They dissolve in water, but didn't reckon on earth being a watery planet? Instead of the suspense and terror promised by the trailers, all we're getting here is a bunch of bad, poorly organized cliches.