Arguably Dakota Fanning's Most Memorable Film

Rating: 5/10 (4 October 2016)

I haven't seen this movie in a very long time. I saw it two times back in 2005 and 2006. That being said, I find it very hard to believe how long ago that was? It doesn't feel that long ago, and this is definitely a movie you'd remember being so graphic and with all the intensity. Dakota Fanning used to be a very talked about child actress. She was like 10 when she was in this movie. This will make some of you feel old, but Dakota is 22 now. I can just be like, "huh" when I put into consideration how long it has really been. I also ought to say that Dakota's younger sister Elle Fanning seems older in a lot of the movies she's played in, than a lot of the movies like this we remember Dakota in. Elle Fanning seems more talked about and she seemed to mature pretty fast. She was like 12, in two movies we might have seen her in, Super 8 and We Bought A Zoo, again being older than Dakota when she played in this movie.
Going on with the movie, alien invasions of Earth not coming in peace but intending to destroy the planet have long since been movie and book plots. This movie shares the name with a radio broadcast done during The Great Depression where aliens from Mars were terrorizing New York City. They announced before the radio broadcast that it was fake, but some people tuning in later believed it, and some of them even evacuated.
This movie is probably supposed to be about that alien invasion, and while the trailer makes it look like the aliens are from Mars, I don't think they were supposed to be from Mars. We've searched Mars and it seems evident there isn't life on Mars. I don't think the planet the aliens are from is ever mentioned or even how far out in the universe it is?
Basically, this movie is about a divorced Dad played by Tom Cruise, Ray Ferrier. His son Robbie and daughter Rachel are visiting. There's an alien invasion while they're visiting and the action mostly just focuses on the family. If I can remember correctly, almost every scene besides the introduction and ending were scenes the main characters were in, mostly Ray, as if it was a movie from their Point Of View. They always seem to be at the center of the action. It's also interesting how as destructive as the aliens are worldwide, there are some areas where it feels like they didn't strike when we get to a different location.
All in all, this is a memorable movie, graphic and violent. I wouldn't entirely recommend it though, because it wasn't too good either. The first half seems okay, but the second half isn't too good. The second half seems a little more sad and graphic than entertaining action, or humor. Also, I feel almost as if there's no real plot besides a family and world trying to survive an alien invasion, and we don't get to know the family too well, but they seem like your typical family in that situation. Though, the tripods in the movie were scary and the noise they make is scary and memorable.
One other thing is this movie shares some similarities with a more recent movie about an alien invasion The Fifth Wave with Chloe Grace Moretz. One similarity is the aliens turning off the power. I think that movie was better written, better explained, and more entertaining than War Of The Worlds. I'd recommend that movie instead. For some entertainment value and for the wow feeling of this movie, I leave it with a 5.