The Battle of Algiers

Rating: 10/10 (1 July 2005)

This is a film about occupation of another soil, and why it fails. It is told from the point of view of the occupied country. Go rent The Battle of Algiers, a great film that this borrows from, then see this movie again.
Everyone seemed confused coming out of this picture -- trying to make sense of the 9/11 imagery -- "if the aliens are the terrorists, then I think Spielberg is confused as to what he's trying to say."
This is because the aliens are NOT the terrorists. The aliens are the Americans, or the English in the 1800s. Or the French in Algiers (the paper that Cruise's kid is writing is on this subject). This is even referenced obliquely -- the scene where his daughter says "my body will push the splinter out when it's ready." Occupation is immoral, and impossible. This was HG Wells' point when he wrote the book: what is it like to be invaded by England?
Now look at these lines from the movie:
Robbie: Is it the terrorists? Ray: no, they're from somewhere else. Robbie: Like Europe? Ray: no, not like Euorope.
played as a gag, but still accurate. Or more seriously, the aliens are using the blood of the civilians to make the world over in the image of their homeland.
This movie is showing a superpower what it is like to be invaded by a superpower.
Amazing, inspired art by Spielberg and crew, using SF to get at a point which other movies, by their very nature (Fahrenheit 9/11, for instance), alienate people from.