Superb panic-flick

Rating: 8/10 (1 July 2005)

Superb special effects lead the way in this film! The eerie, terrifying early sequence in which the lightning storm occurs will scare the pants off you! The scene where panic-stricken New Yorkers nearly car-jack Cruise's family is superb in how it depicts the utter collapse of human society in mere moments.
Best of all are the Martians, and the Heat Ray in particular. Although the way the Ray vaporizes people while leaving their clothes intact is a cool effect, it makes little sense (it seems to cut through metal and wood easily, but not fabric?).
You could drop any actors in this film, and it would be just as good. "War of the Worlds" is not about Ray Ferrier and his family, nor is it about any character in the film. It's a tale of invasion and extermination, told through the story of one family's flight (not even struggle for survival; this is mere flight).
The finale is weak. The scene with the fleeing Lexingtonians seems tacked-on and ill-though out. The military's attack on the ill Martian seems to contradict the film's theme that mankind is utterly helpless in the face of such superior forces. But unlike others, I felt the film's final moments were an apt depiction of the complete and utter weakness of humankind. This is not a movie where human being beat the aliens (a la "Independece Day" or the "Terminator" films). This is a movie about panic, despair, extermination and futility. And the film manages to get that across in the last few moments.