Very good--Very disturbing

Rating: 8/10 (1 July 2005)

I have been a fan for the most part of Steven Spielberg's work. I enjoyed the 1953 "War of the Worlds". I have read Wells' novella several times. I like sci-fi and horror, and have never really been bothered by sci-fi gore and fright.
Having said that, I think Spielberg's take on "War of the Worlds" is quite good (yes, fans of the picayune have repeated about the camcorder). I am impressed by the cinematography (Janusz Kaminsky again doing a great job). In fact, in certain regards, it is much more true to Welles' novella than the 1953 film was (down to the design of the alien machines as tripods, and the focus on a small group of people as the world comes to an end while watching your species get savagely wiped off the face of existence....and all are powerless to stop it). The 1953 film focused a lot more on the military's lack of success (mimiced to a certain extent in "Independence Day". Save for one scene, this is not a factor in this film.
Welles' original novel dealt with the forecasting of mechanized 20th century war, and how destructive it would be. I don't think this film makes quite the same statement about 21st century warfare, though it is intereting that Spielberg chose to ramp up his film a full two years in advance of its original release date...Orson Wells did his radio play as World War II was preparing to kick off, and the 1953 film was in the wake of Korea as the Red Scare swung into full swing. In a sense, we are there again, and I suspect that Steven Spielberg is taking advantage of the national mood to make a film that ten years ago would have lacked the resonance.
I think of any film that Steven Spielberg has ever directed, this film has far more in common with "Saving Private Ryan" than "E.T." or "Raiders of the Lost Ark". I found the imagery to be incredibly disturbing at times. I don't mean to make this sound negative....just a comment from someone very much not used to feeling that way in a film. I felt very tense while watching it, and hours afterwords still had some difficulty clearing my head of what I saw.
I was not crazy about some of the acting, and felt that there were some technical holes that developed in the plot. If you are the type that watches sci-fi for the technical aspects, you may be dragged out of the theater after yelling at the screen too many times. This is not that kind of sci-fi film.
I was amused by a comment claiming that the alien machines resembled those from previous sci-fi films. Considering that many of those films turned to H.G. Welles for inspiration, and that this is where Spielberg returned for his inspiration, this is not a time to be criticising Steven Spielberg.
After watching "Saving Private Ryan", I felt empty because I was left at the end with an "incomplete" feeling. I decided later that perhaps the film was not supposed to have a clean ending where there is a tidy message and lecture on what it all means, except that war is chaos...confusion...obliteration...insanity: a human experience that leaves you empty. This film left me with that same feeling.
I strongly urge parents to see this film before allowing younger children to watch it...this is not your average PG-13 film.