The aliens die due to the Earth's bacteria! How original!

Rating: 1/10 (30 June 2005)

All the special effects in the world can't justify keeping with H.G. Wells' original ending. I find it insulting that Spielberg would try to impress moviegoers with 21st Century techno-fluff minus an original ending. Think "The Natural" wherein the novel ended with a strikeout and the movies ended with a homerun. It is okay for a movie to change a novel's ending. I read H.G.'s story in Junior High; I didn't need to spend good money to see the same ending augmented by computer enhancements. I'm sure my own laptop could generate the same effects and save me the ticket price. Also Cruise seems to be going through the motions as "Ray"...I'm not convinced that his character really cares about mankind or Dakota Fanning. "Ray" just wants to save his own a**.