A BLOCKBUSTER.... summer has arrived!!

Rating: 9/10 (22 July 2005)

Tom Cruise has definitely lost a few points with me lately with all of his "anti-psychiatry" rhetoric, but I wasn't going to let that stand in the way of seeing this new Steven Spielberg flick. I like Sci-fi, and it has been rather slim pickings in recent years. (sorry, I only considered the first 2 episodes of "star wars" sci-fi; the rest seemed "same plot, different planet" and I didn't bother with the last 2, or is it now the 2nd and 3rd?) Anyway, it's 85 degrees today here in Maine and with 95% humidity, it's a very easy sell to pay $6.50 to sit inside an air conditioned theater for 2 hours and see the premier of "War of the Worlds." We all know the story, Orson Wells reading it on the radio, later a Hollywood film that depicts aliens coming to earth. Ironically the previews for another film at this theater, "New World" that will open later this year, has a scene with the native Americans watching as the European masted ships arrive, the first 'alien' invasion. This "War of the Worlds" is a new story. We see it from the perspective of Cruise, a divorced parent whose 10yr old daughter and 16yr old son are staying with him for the 4th of July weekend. Their mother has remarried and it is clear the kids have a better relationship with their step dad. Cruise is a longshoreman, a master at his craft, but a miserable failure as a parent. His apartment is less than tidy, there's a motor in the middle of the kitchen, his refrigerator is empty.
We don't have to wait long for the invasion and literally 'all hell breaks loose.' We spend the next 90 minutes gripping our chairs, wondering how or if humankind will survive annihilation. The special effects are nothing short of stunning, but are only the backdrop for the human drama, not the film. Will this end with the earth becoming a July 4th charcoal briquette? Or will America once again save the world? You will have to see for yourself, I was entertained from beginning to end. The "Blockbuster" we have all been waiting for has arrived, now summer can begin. (visit their awesome website War of the Worlds for preview and images.)