Americanised, but faithful to Wells book

Rating: 7/10 (1 March 2008)

Sci-fi cinema came full circle in 2005 when Steven Spielberg adapted an updated version of HG Wells' classic novel. Although some elements of the original text remain omitted in this version, it is still nonetheless a far superior one than we could have expected.
Things were not helped at the time of it's release by Cruise's public meanderings a la Oprah, but the film still managed to generate sufficient interest and in the hands of a legend in cinema, you cannot expect anything but the extraordinary.
This film trumps the 1953 Pal version and makes for a more realistic approach. The cuddly square dance and small-town feeling of that film is ditched for a more urban approach, with dockland worker Ray Ferrell (Cruise) heading home for the weekend to look after his two children on behalf of his ex-wife. His attitude towards his kids is clearly evident in an early scene when in response to his daughter's question as to 'what are we supposed to eat?', is a simple, brusque 'Order!!' Things begin to take shape when lightning bolts repeatedly strike the New Jersey area, prompting the shut down of all electrical good, including his car which his elder son has nicked. Ray immediately grounds him and then follows others to a point at a junction where cracks begin to appear, increasing with intent to suddenly explode and reveal a tripod machine closer in spirit to the book than the manta ray shapes of the 50's version and wasting no time zapping residents. Ray and his children decide to flee with others to a safe haven.....
Spielberg conjures up some memorable sequences to behold and some of the images are haunting to say the least (the train on fire and the river littered with bodies are two such memories that stick in the mind), but the ferry sequence is one of the most suspenseful ever committed to film and evokes memories of JAWS in 1975.
Although not as faithful as one might have expected, this New Millennium version does deliver the goods.