Visually and viscerally amazing, but lacks a compelling narrative.

Rating: 6/10 (3 July 2005)

War of the Worlds is quite a spectacle, dark, claustrophobic, menacing and often quite frightening. Reminiscent of The Terminator, I found myself feeling quite unsettled at times.
However, these aspects can never be the core of a movie, only the dressing to support a real story, with involving characters, plot development and emotional involvement. Unfortunately, this War of the Worlds is significantly lacking in these. There is an odd sense of detachment and uninvolvement of the characters with what is happening around them, and we the audience feel the same. There is no real explanation for what is going on, there is very little science-- it all just kind of happens and it is over.
Since this movie is based on a classic novel, it shouldn't have been hard to do. The 1953 movie, with the best special effects of any 1950s movie I have seen, is really superior in every way.
It's unfortunate, because what is good about this movie is very good -- if only Spielberg had fleshed it out more it would have been a knockout.