If only Tom Cruise had been vaporised in the first 5 minutes.

Rating: 5/10 (26 November 2006)

I never saw this movie on the big screen simply because it had Tom Cruise in it and I wouldn't walk across the street to see him do anything let alone "act".
I do, however, usually enjoy the movies of Steven Spielberg and I honestly believe if he had been given a better script to work with, this movie would have been worth the ticket price.
Having read the book a few times, I believe that this movie deviates too far from the story that was told there. I believe it would have been possible to set the story in the current time period but maintain the story that HG Wells told. Giving the main character a family to care for as he made his journey across the country opened up too many sub-plots that couldn't be suitably ended in a two hour film.
The ending seemed rushed as well. To me, it was like the editor had to trim the film down so a scene or two was cut out at the end.
I can't fault the special effects of the film at all. The Martian fighting machines were impressive and the effects of the heat rays was effectively and suitably gruesome.
I hope that someone comes out with a decent War Of The Worlds set in the last years of the 19th Century as HG Wells wrote.