A brilliantly made film

Rating: 8/10 (4 July 2005)

No, this won't go down in my books as Spielberg's greatest movie. He has a couple of films from my childhood that are in close competition for that slot. However, this is solid entertainment and one of the better movies I've seen in a while. I truly can't remember the last time I sat so rigidly in my seat with an awestruck sensation. The action came precisely when needed - just when your senses are starting to calm down and the flow hints at dragging.
I sat here for about an hour this morning reading the reviews. As I read them, I began to get a very good idea of what to expect from the film. It was clear that most of the people that wrote a negative review got hung up on the little details that seem to detract from the plot upon first thought. For instance - how did the one camcorder work when everything else was dead and how did the van start when all the other cars wouldn't. A question probably asked a lot is, "How could a veteran filmmaker such as Steven Spielberg miss such a blatant plot hole?" Well, the answer is probably this - HE DIDN'T MISS IT! In order to accept such a thing happening, you have to understand how electro-magnetic pulses function. The pulse fries any electric circuitry that is close enough to the area to be affected and is NOT SHIELDED. It is feasible that the camcorder in question was in a carrying case that protects from electro-magnetic interference. They do exist. For the van, what the harsh reviewers failed to mention is that the van is at a car repair shop and the damaged part had been replaced. There are no lingering effects of an electro-magnetic pulse. Once a damaged part has been replaced, the product should work again. The other camera that was seen being used was a wind-up camera (not digital) with no electronic circuitry.
OK, moving on. Dakota Fanning's character doesn't scream that much and the only part that she does that might be construed as annoying is when she has the panic attack in the back seat of the van. People, she is an 11 year old girl. My 7 year old daughter is a lot more annoying with her outbursts than Dakota Fanning was with hers. It wasn't that bad and I'd like to see how you would react in similar circumstances.
The ending of the film wasn't really that abrupt either. They do have a nice little final confrontation between one of the affected tripods and the Army soldiers firing Avenger missiles at it. By the way, the soldier that checks on the dying alien that pokes out of the downed tripod is a co-worker of mine here at Fort Irwin. I have to mention the military role in this as well. I really appreciated the fact that Mr. Spielberg showed the soldiers as they truly are - men and women who are just as scared as everyone else, but have a mission to perform. There is one part that I felt was unbelievable and that was at the ferry scene. There is no way that a single line of soldiers was going to keep a terrorized crowd from stampeding them to get aboard that ferry. They would have been knocked senseless and trampled.
The people that did not enjoy this film most likely were expecting a film where everything is laid out before them in explicit detail. That doesn't happen here and I personally think that is what made this such a unique film. This is nothing more than a trip down terror lane with a side helping of spectacular ILM handy-work.