War of the Worlds

Rating: 10/10 (14 June 2012)

Nathan Pacheco
War of the Worlds Film Review
The science fiction action film, directed by Steven Spielberg, is probably one of the most "eye-catching" movies out there. The amazingly talented star Tom Cruise takes the lead role. Tom Cruise really gets you to believe that he is actually the character Ray Ferrier, a divorced dock worker separated from his children Rachel and Robbie (Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin) and living separately from them. As his ex-wife drops their children off for him to look after for a few days, the planet is invaded by bloodthirsty aliens and the earth's armies are defeated. As this is all happening, Ray tries to protect his children and flee to Boston to rejoin his ex-wife. When Ray is visited by his ex-wife, she drops off their children, Rachel and Robbie, at his house as she is going to Boston to meet her parents. When Robbie takes Ray's car out without his permission, Ray goes out to search for him and notices a strange white cloud in the air. The cloud isn't any ordinary cloud, this cloud was sending "electromagnetic pulses" in the form of lightning. This is also called an EMP. It disabled all electronic devices in the area, including cars, forcing Robbie to return home without knowing what was going on. Lightning struck the ground and Ray went to go investigate. He then finds a huge hole in the middle of the ground, and a huge 3 legged robot alien appears. After emerging, the alien opens fire with destructive heat rays. vaporizing bystanders and destroying everything in sight. Ray manages to leave and the alien destroys the entire city. As the aliens move on to different parts of the city, state, and world, Ray still encounters many obstacles. Ray finds the only working car and tries to flee the city. He is stopped by a raging mob. ray is escorted out of the car, being held at gunpoint. As this is happening, the mob attack the vehicle with Ray's kids still inside. Ray again manages to escape this scene without injury as the man with the gun begins to shoot everyone in sight. Ray and his kids find an abandoned basement to hide in. While hiding in the basement, they witness the Tripods spreading a strange red weed substance over the ground, and avoid detection by aliens who arrive to explore the basement. The following morning, the man who was hiding with them, Ogilvy, suffers a mental breakdown after witnessing an alien harvesting blood and tissue from a human to fertilize the weed. Ray, trying to protect his and his kid's life, kills Ogilvy to silence him. From here on end, it is a constant battle to save the life of his children as well as his own. He does intend to encounter more obstacles along the way, but that is the life you have to face to escape flesh eating, bloodthirsty aliens. The acting in this movie is absolutely outstanding. Every scene, every hour, every minute, and every second, each actor really makes you believe and inspire each role they play. This movie looks as if it takes a lot of skill, talent, patience, and time to act as well as each individual did. Not every day you encounter bloodthirsty aliens, so to act as if it was a real event, takes so much time and talent to really make you believe it was actually happening like the actors did in this movie. This entire movie from beginning to end was just eye-catching, breath taking, and fingernail biting. The acting in this movie will make you want the cast to either make a number 2, or make another movie together because they did such a good job. Phenomenal, amazing, fantastic, terrific, and intense were the first few words that popped into my mind after watching this movie and trying to develop the mindset of each individual actor. One of my favorite scenes when the cast did a phenomenal job acting is when the aliens started to take over the earth. When the aliens started killing and destroying everything in site. The actors put on such a believable act and really made you believe that they actually see what is going on and that it is actually happening to them. The background music was so well chosen for every scene. The director put a special instrumental song to inform the civilians the aliens were approaching. When the aliens were either approaching or were about to, the civilians knew what was happening and began to get afraid and scream. I think the director chose this type of music because it makes you feel a little tension is about to rise and you know something bad is going to happen. The type of music chosen really fits the mood set for the film. If it was a happy song, it would fit any of the scenes because every scene is destructive. Personally, I think the background music is well chosen for this movie. My overall reaction to the film is that it is my personal favorite. I like every minute and second of the movie. It really makes you jump to the edge of the seats and leaves you wanting more. From beginning to end my heart was pounding, wondering what will happen next. The cast did an overall outstanding performance. I also think the quality of the film was excellent. As I said before, all in all, the movie was thrilling and I would really like for there to be a part 2. I highly recommend that you go see this film if you are the type of person who likes to see a action packed science fiction. If you are the type of person who likes to leave the movie wanting more, talking about the movie for days, and goes see the movie twice, this is the movie for you. Personally, I would give this a 5 star rating (10/10).