A fun and exciting summer popcorn movie!!

Rating: 10/10 (6 July 2005)

I know there are lots of Spielberg and Cruise haters...but after reading some of the reviews here, I'm wondering if there aren't 2 versions of "War Of The Worlds" released simultaneously the way some have reviewed this movie. It's unfortunate that, in this day and age, most moviegoers have to watch movies, such as this, in those pint size theaters with marginal sound and tiny screens. I saw it at the Ziegfeld Theater which I recommend for anyone living in NYC. That's how I wanted to see this movie as I did Raiders, Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Jaws, Die Hard and Jurassic Park.
The acting was good enough, the visuals were excellent, the sound was incredible (at the Ziegfeld) and I'm truly grateful that Spielberg didn't conform to the "now" style of action directing...which I despise. Nowadays, most action directors continue to use that horrendous flash/quick editing style for the action sequences. Unfortunately you can't tell what the hell is going on, so ultimately it's just distracting.
One of the big pluses of the movie was that it was UNDER 2 hrs....yippee!! I wish more action and sci-fi directors would follow suit. After watching the sleep-inducing and overlong "Revenge Of The Sith" and "Batman Begins", "War Of The Worlds" was a breath of fresh air. There was more suspense and thrills in the first half-hour of "War Of The Worlds" than both of those aforementioned pictures put together. Remember, this is a summer popcorn movie. See, I wasn't looking for something thought provoking or with loads of character development....watch "Crash" if that's what you want.
"War Of The Worlds" was loads of fun, despite the smarmy ending....reminiscent of the 70's and 80's summer flicks.
For all the people who nitpicked this movie apart for unbelievability and plot holes...who cares? Did you do the same to "Die Hard", "Raiders...", "Temple Of Doom", "Jaws" and "Back To The Future"..all great summer popcorn movies with more holes than a 10 ft. wall of swiss cheese.
Lastly and sadly, for all the people who said it's unbelievable that the people in this movie would watch the alien invasion instead of running away...remember 9/11? I was there and everyone was watching the horror and even filming it...no one ran until the buildings started collapsing. Spielberg did it in the movie just as it really happened. And to those nitpickers who keep ridiculously asking why so many people in the film aren't running away from the tripods...well, they've seen people zapped right next to them whether they ran or not...maybe not running is a good thing.
A fun summer blockbuster film!