Spielberg makes a good movie, but not great one. No excuses for him.

Rating: 7/10 (5 July 2005)

War of the Worlds contains enough suspense and good acting that this movie should be hailed as a "good" movie. The "tri-pods" are effective and scary, and the haunting attack scenes are well done. But what went wrong in this film ? I have a list:
1. The ending. Bravo for staying true to the original film / H.G. Wells, but it seemed rushed. Take your time, this is a perfect time for Spielberg to follow Wells version, and show the aliens attempt to communicate. Show their downfall in force. Instead we just get a glimpse with some commentary by Morgan Freeman. And also the "happy" reunion with the family. I could of forgiven this ending , had he actually took his time with the ending. He didn't.
2. Yes, this movie does show the "panicked" view of the attack. Nobody knows anything, nothing is really explained. But the more you think about the aliens and what they did, the harder it is too swallow. They travel thru lighting rods to their underground ships.....hmmmmm. Where did this lightning travel from ? How come nobody happened to stumble upon these ships ? Had this movie been based in the 1800's, I would believe, but today ..........naaahhh. We have satellites and machines too now.
2b: The overall invasion. In the original, they travel from space, comets , and wreak havoc. We assume this is their first visit. In this one, we have to assume they have been underground for thousands if not millions of years. Don't you think they would of attacked before man advanced so much ? We can fight back now. Also, didn't they test the air ? They have this complex eco-system with red vines. Talk about bad research on their part. Killed by germs.
A better ending would of been : The aliens die of germs, but germs released by us. We actually did find the ships and were preparing for this day. Big government conspiracy cover up. It would stay true to the original, with a major dose of reality and "Area 51" feel to it. The government though, of course, was not aware of the alien's true power.
Overall, it's worth seeing and Spielberg still knows how to make a great movie. It's scary, creepy, suspenseful and memorable. But Spielberg did seem to get lazy on us. What could of been a classic, was only above average. Bravo to some directors, but for Spielberg. No excuses for him. We expect more.