Cruise And Spielberg Go To WAR With The Help Of H.G. Wells

Rating: 10/10 (5 July 2005)

Ever since its first publication in 1898, H.G. Wells' classic novel "The War Of The Worlds" has intrigued and stunned audiences. When Orson Welles' did his radio version of the book in 1938, it scared half of the eastern United States almost to death. And when producer George Pal and director Byron Haskin adapted it for film in 1953, it cagily tapped into America's Cold War anxieties. And now director Steven Spielberg, after having made alien-friendly movies like CLOSE ENCOUNTERS and E.T., takes on Wells' novel with mega-budget special effects and terror in this new version, designed as something of a commentary on America after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Spielberg's WAR OF THE WORLDS focuses primarily around Tom Cruise, who plays a deadbeat dad to his grown-up son (Justin Chatwin) and daughter (Dakota Fanning). Never all that much of a father, or for that matter a husband to his good wife (Miranda Otto), Cruise all of a sudden must assume that responsibility when alien invaders begin tearing apart New England and New York City. Their arrival is heralded by massive lightning storms over the Big Apple, and then the appearance of tripod-like spacecraft and lasers that incinerate everyone in site. It is up to Cruise to get both Chatwin and Fanning out of New York anyway he can and head towards safety in Boston, where Otto is. But they can't run anyplace the massive alien invaders can't find them. All the might of the military isn't enough to stop the aliens, but there is one thing nobody, not even the aliens themselves, had even counted upon...
Given the weight of expectations, and the reputations of both Spielberg and Cruise, it is not surprising that there are a slew of naysayers regarding this take on Wells' novel, particularly its typically Hollywood happy ending. But as for me, I was riveted during the whole 125 minute run time of the movie; it was consistently suspenseful and hair-raising at all the right moments, and accurately captured the kind of paranoia and terror that might arise from an alien invasion of our planet, and that DID arise from the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Although it definitely reflects the post-9/11 paranoia that has gripped America, Spielberg, like Pal and Haskin before him, also shows a certain cynicism towards unilateral military action, a view held by Spielberg and those of his generation during both the Vietnam era and today.
Marking its return on film is one of Spielberg's favorite themes--that of the irresponsible father figure who must assume total responsibility for keeping his children safe in the face of an overwhelming threat. Spielberg, not surprisingly, handles that theme better than anyone because of its personal resonance to his life; and Cruise plays that cocksure role of his to perfection. Chatwin, Fanning, and Otto do good turns, as does Tim Robbins in a cameo; and Gene Barry and Ann Robinson, the stars of Pal's 1953 classic, have brief cameos at the end as the grandparents.
With an intense screenplay by Josh Friedman and David Koepp, Spielberg's WAR OF THE WORLDS, all controversies aside, is a hugely memorable film and not just another mega-budget Hollywood spectacle.