One of Spielberg's Best

Rating: 10/10 (30 June 2005)

Despite only being green-lit in August '04, this movie was put together in just 10 months. At first I thought that it would suffer as a result, but Spielberg has managed to create a masterpiece of modern cinema in a very short space of time.
As you would expect for a sci-fi movie, it has a lot of CGI effects, but they look so believable that they don't seem like VFX at all. They blend seamlessly into the background. The tripods look fantastic, and the devastation caused by the death rays (especially people turning to ash and exploding) is a fantastic example of what computers can do these days.
The "blood sucking" is only hinted at but adds a creepy factor to the invaders, and begs the (unanswered) question; why? Doesn't matter, its the unanswered questions that make it scary, and it is quite terrifying in places; namely the tentacle probe in the basement sequence; I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.
The only plot-hole worth mentioning is; how did Robbie survive to appear at the end? That isn't explained when it should have been. It may have been written into the script, even filmed, but cut from the final movie. Despite that, the rest of the story is consistent, and makes a steady progression from drama to action, to suspense and finally resolution.
Some people have trashed the ending as being too simple, or stupid, but it is a logical conclusion, and that is what matters most. Overall a thoroughly enjoying movie by the master of SciFi!