Good points and bad points

Rating: Null/10 (6 December 2006)

To be fair, Spielberg has a difficult task; how to avoid clichés while making an adaption of the book that STARTED the clichés? Well, the first thing you do is read the book and see where the movie got it wrong.
In the 50's movie, there's nothing scary about the Aliens. the Tripods are the only Tripods in the universe that don't have legs. And all they do is float slowly and blast things off-screen.
In the new movie, the Tripods actually come up from underground. This IN ITSELF is an interesting idea, as is the explanation that the martians had been planing an invasion since before Humans became civilized, but it completely contradicts the Deus Ex Mechana ending.
Spielberg, unlike the 1953 version, actually made the Martians and the Tripods scary. Even the heat rays don't seem at all like Star Wars, they basically these beams of white light that instantly cremate humans. this leads to a very creepy scene where Tom Cruise frantically bushes the dust out of his hair, knowing what it used to be.
In the 1953 version, there was one scene where a periscope/snake/neck thing (presumably attached to one of the Tripods) goes inside a house to spy on humans. In the old movie it looked like a vacuum cleaner.
This happens again tn the new version, but way better. normally I can usually tell when something's CG at first glance, the way it moves is usually a dead giveaway. however, I couldn't see anything wrong with the snake/periscope/eye/thing. It may have actually been MORE fake if it was animatronic. This part of the movie is extremely creepy, not unlike the Velociraptors in Jurassic Park. The thing can HEAR everything but only has one eye. The humans must avoid making even the slightest sound, but must also sneak around the snake-like thing to avoid bing seen by it. This is complicated by the fact that there's a survivalist psycho who thinks he has even a slight chance fighting superior aliens with an ax.
The main difference between the 50's version and the new version is like the difference between Godzilla and the scene in Jurassic Park in the kitchen. Godzilla isn't that scary. He might be scary if it was YOUR building being damaged by his tail, but he's not scary, really. His KIDS are scary, though.
The whole movie is like the kitchen scene in Jurassic Park, You're only aware of what Tom Cruise knows. When he's running and has no idea what the Tripods are doing behind him, neither do we. To the point where we don't really see enough of the Tripods.