Love it or hate it---this is a Masterpiece

Rating: Null/10 (29 July 2005)

I felt initially: Where's the big scope? I want to see more destruction! Where's the rival to Independence Day?
Then I realized Spielberg made a conscious choice. (From a Cinematography standpoint, he cemented that statement with the *very* clever moving van shot as the family is making their escape.) Spielberg's statement: You and Iare sticking with Cruise's character. The focus is never going to leave him. Which is exactly what Spielberg did. We were in the dark because Cruise's character was in the dark. We were guessing just as much as he was. Half the time we/he really couldn't tell for sure what was going on: which is exactly how we'd be in a state of war like that.
(Which, on another side note, is almost exactly how the original novel reads!)
Spielberg opted to make a human experience War movie instead of a flash-bang sci-fi crowd-pleaser. The is art and drama...the CGI wasn't there to wow us (though it was well done)...it was there only when necessary to tell the story. The aliens were secondary to the Story, which is really about our deepest fears and how different people respond when pushed to the edge. For me, the creepiest scenes weren't with the aliens, they were with the mobs of people and with Tim Robbins' character.
(One more book note: Robbins' character is a combination of two major players in Wells' novel.) It's a Spielberg classic, conjuring up his best directing alongside Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Schindler's List. Interestingly, this movie plays out almost like a culmination of all three: the raw panic & fear of Jaws, the "one man's story" of Close Encounters, and the horrors and dehumanizing effects of war in Schindler.
Spielberg didn't make this movie to play to the crowd or please the masses. He simply told the story the way he wanted it told.
Again, just my opinion ... Love it or hate it: it's still a masterpiece.