Steven Spielberg with his mediocre film

Rating: Null/10 (2 April 2006)

War of the Worlds/2005/**
Main Stars: Tom Cruise Dakota Fanning Justin Chatwin
This film is the Steven Spielberg version of 1953's "The War of the Worlds". Obviously the Steven Spielberg version has better effects (by Industrial Light and Magic) because of the fact this film was made in early 2005 while "The War of the Worlds" was made in 1953. The story for both films actually came from a book by the famous author, H.G. Wells and then became a radio show and the radio show said that aliens were coming to earth. At the beginning of the show, however, the DJs' said it was all a joke. But some people didn't hear the beginning of the show and tuned in when the show had been going on for a while and thought they were really serious about the aliens. Of course, everyone found out it was fictional after a few years (or even more or less time) and that's what started 1953's "The War of the Worlds". Back to "War of the Worlds" Let's just say this was not what I was expecting. This had a totally different storyline to it then what I saw and thought from the previews. Yes, yes the special effects were great (assisted by Steven Spielberg, who is also the director of this film) but the story was most definitely lamer than what I hypothesized. I know now not to hypothesize what the movie is going to be like. Now, this film is mainly about aliens (the third film Steven Spielberg has directed that involves aliens along with "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "E.T."). You see "E.T." is an extra terrestrial that comes to earth but from a more peaceful planet. While the aliens' ships from this film have been underground (under the streets, lawns, etc. in the earth) for over a millennium or two or three or four or five and the aliens themselves come down in capsules from the sky and enter the ships. They are not quite as harmless and peaceful as our little brown friend named E.T. Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is the main star of this film that discovers a severe lightning storm happening in the sky near his apartment. The other stars are Rachel Ferrier (Dakota Fanning) and Robbie Ferrier (Justin Chatwin). The three of them have to find a way (somehow) to survive and escape from the notorious aliens and storms the aliens themselves cause. I have to say this was not Steven Spielberg at his best nor was it Tom Cruise in his best performance. I would say it was Steven Spielberg at his mediocrity. Tom Cruise in his mediocre performance. I mean what happened to Steven Spielberg's "touch" in his films. He doesn't have it as much as he did with the classics "Duel" (Spielberg's first directorial film), "Jaws", and "Close Encounters" and other films in that time frame that he made. As Spielberg starts to age and get older, his movies start to rise in mediocrity. I wouldn't be surprised if his last film was a flunk. In this case, the story is basically "hiding" and nothing else. And the only highlights in this film were the acting (not bad) and the special effects (impressive) but I do have to give credit to the people that made this film because I can see this was a big, big budget film and most likely cost a lot of money to make. But to me this film (entertainment wise) was only marginally entertaining. Movie directed by Steven Spielberg.