HG Wells classic gets the Spielberg treatment . And its Scary !

Rating: 8/10 (15 July 2005)

War of the worlds is a grim, doom laden thrill ride in which Spielberg uses his usual directorial showmanship to give us his interpretation of HG wells alien invasion story. And its a scary interpretation indeed !
Tom cruise is great as flawed father ray ferrier, desperately trying to get his kids to safety but its pre teen wonderkid dakota fanning who walks away with the best performance title in this show.The way she shrieks, freaks out and blubs is so real that you really feel the need to give her a big hug and go "shh shhh shh shh, its okay ! here have a pudding pop..."
The set pieces featuring alien war machines stomping through cities and obliterating everything are astonishing and terrifying spectacles but ironically the the most chilling scenes features the general public going berserk in an attempt to escape the alien invaders .
The only problems with this war of the worlds is the same problem that plagues Spielberg's other works- his penchant for sappy sentimentality .It creeps up in moments that i wont go into in order for this review to remain spoiler free, and it distracts form an other wise excellent film.
All in all though, its great stuff that makes you realise how how good HG wells and Spielberg are at scaring people.