Not since Jaws has Spielberg made a more frightening picture!

Rating: 10/10 (10 July 2005)

Okay, frightening maybe overstating, but I found it to be pretty scary and quite disturbing. War of the Worlds does contain many elements that does not even let your heart have time to drop to the floor. It basically rips the heart from your chest when the intensity begins on the screen.
I don't want to give too much away, but don't expect these aliens to be cuddly like the ones Spielberg presented to us with Close Encounters of the Third Kind or E.T. (which both are excellent films). These aliens show no mercy and show that they don't as they destroy everything and 'zap' everyone in their path.
Unlike 'Independence Day', the destruction is focused on one family and their small town in New Jersey. This element makes it even scarier because it shows that it is happening to all of us average people and not just the major cities. I hope that makes sense.
The special effects are of top quality and the acting by all cast members (Tom Cruise included), is great. I actually thought that Cruise and Dakota Fanning had really good father/daughter chemistry.
The bottom line is that this is a fun movie to watch, however, there are some pretty morbid scenes that make you cringe (or at least they made me cringe). I do believe that we could have expected a little bit more from the movie, but it's still a great movie for what it is. Some scary things to look for without giving away the plot: A tripod sound (you'll know it when you hear it), scenes involving a river, a ferry, and a railroad crossing, the attacks, the 'harvest'(again, you'll know it when you see it), and the social breakdown, which is morbid within itself.
Before I end, I have heard a lot of crap talk about how bad this movie is and how Spielberg is a hack, Tom Cruise is a loon, Dakota Fanning is annoying, what have you. I personally love Spielberg and I have not loved all of his movies (A.I. for me was hard to swallow, not to mention 1941...which wasn't too bad). I don't care what Tom Cruise does in his personal life and I still don't think he's as bad as people says he is, we're just seeing what the news tells us. I still am a fan and who cares about all of that other junk that could ruin this movies potential.
Thanks for reading and enjoy the show!