Not great by any stretch of the imagination

Rating: 4/10 (4 July 2005)

Having been dubious of the fact that Steven Spielberg was producing this 'epic' remake, I went in thinking this is gonna be disappointing and boy, did it disappoint.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Steven Spielberg's films but they all tend to have a nice and fluffy ending - all's well that ends well type of theme - but this film lays it on thick.
First of all casting Tom Cruise in a film like this was a bit of a shock. Did it really require a big name actor to carry out something like this ? not that I am a massive fan of Tom Cruise although he has done some great films. I felt it didn't....
The opening scene on how the martians are introduced to us is spectacular, breathtaking - but it is one of those films that starts on a high and spirals big time.
War of the Worlds as I understand it is about the battle of 2 worlds for supremacy ... which it is not - it's a stereotypical disaster movie.....
Seen Armageddon, Dante's Peak, Volcano, that film where the end of the world comes because of changing climate...name escapes me....
..Well congratulations - you have seen War of the Worlds too.
My preconceptions were something along the lines of Independence Day - but obviously not as bad .... over a period of 3 films to make this an epic. Where the first one we get our arses royally kicked, the 2nd we start to get a foothold and the 3rd where the martians finally die......This would be worth seeing...Where's Peter Jackson when you need him ???
There are however good points to this dire attempt:
1. Tom Cruise does play a half-decent role 2. Tim Robbins is as always, very believable and excellent. 3. The opening scenes were by all accounts awesome (although I never quite worked out why some electrical items - even the car worked within an electro-magnetic field which as I understand it fries anything electrical or mechanical whether it is plugged in or not)
Other than these points, I am struggling.
If you wanna go waste your money go for it, I would personally wait for DVD or for it to appear on Sky/Cable.
It is a watch, but that's about it.
If you wanna see a great film this year, go see Revenge of the Sith (if its your thing) or Batman.