Not your average alien invasion film. War of the Worlds is a blood fest.

Rating: 4/10 (30 June 2005)

This movie was very disappointing. Furthermore, in my opinion it was down-right disturbing is some scenes.
A lot of people are comparing this to Independence Day, which I would say is a better film. Independence Day was a light-hearted movie with a feel-good ending. It had a ton of action and was very well-rounded. Of course it wasn't a masterpiece, but it was entertaining. I don't have so much praise for War of the Worlds. There are just too many scenes with masses of people in desperation, about to be massacred. There was way too much shock and awe in this film and I question the reason for it. Was Spielberg trying to use the same technique as in Schindler's List, in the film? I really had to turn my head in some scenes. In fact, I continually saw parents escorting their children out of the theater.
Still more, there are no great scenes that stand out from the rest. No great protagonist or scenes of the human race coming together to defeat the aliens. What you see is very contrary to what you'd hope for. Its a very pessimistic movie. And the ending? What a let down. It was there only because the movie had to end.
This is basically a horror movie. Its the worst Spielberg movie ever made.