Sloppy,badly thought out rendition of a classic

Rating: 1/10 (9 July 2005)

I approached this movie with some trepidation but was willing to give it a chance. After all it was a modern reworking of a classic. I DID NOT expect to be slapping my forehead in horror at the pure Hollywood type schmaltzy ending. Also my "suspension of disbelief" was stretched to breaking many times
1) Tom Cruise escapes vapourisation when everyone in the street is killed 2) He presumably runs all the way home and is as fresh as a daisy and no one at home has noticed the noisy emergence of the Martians 3)He steals a car and is able to drive speedily through New Jersey between nicely laid out rows of broken down cars. 4) A passenger jet crashes on to his house, leaving his car intact. He then drives through the wreckage and on his way. 5) Oh, yeah the schmaltzy ending
6) The premise that the Martian machines had been put underground millions of years ago. Did someone lose the invasion plans. Did the martians hibernate, perhaps they were busy elsewhere. Look how far we have advanced in the last 100 years. Are we expected to believe the martians have been stagnant for millenia
7) I would have pretended to support Tim Robbins and then hit him with a shovel when he least expected it. Why would he face-off with him when his kid could have been left in Tims care if he lost.
8) His kid survives the fireball
9) They are submerged in freezing water, get out and walk off allowing their clothing to dry off on their bodies. Gee the Ferriers are really resilient
Damn, I'm becoming too picky..
The performances of the actors were average, I could not engage with the characters. Perhaps adding another half our of character development would have helped. I did feel sorry for Rae with his needy daughter and his suicidal son, but I feel this was inadvertent
I have heard this film has been touted as one of the greatest science fiction films ever made. It isn't, it falls far short! It cannot compare with 2001:A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, The Day the Earth Stood Still
My apologies for the quality of this review. It is my first and I found it very cathartic. I have seen many bad movies but I was expecting more from a director and actor of Spielberg and Cruises' stature.