A belly full of spices; but a meal totally devoid of nourishment!

Rating: 3/10 (11 July 2005)

I suppose the best way to characterize my feelings about this technical exercise in special effects is to cite a very perceptive remark made by Frank Lloyd Wright many years ago when asked for an assessment of American television. His response was that television was "chewing gum for the eyes!" So, to paraphrase that great visionary let me say that Spielberg's "War Of The Worlds" is chewing gum for the brain - nothing more!
Hollywood now has an astonishing arsenal of special effects devices which are put to good use in this pathetic excuse for serious cinema. I am old enough to remember seeing the 1953 edition of this "invasion from Mars" story as a young boy. This film just doesn't measure up after you realize that it is little more than a catalog for what the special effects guys can do. Impressive though they may be, my brain can still do better!
The subplot of how this catastrophe helps bring a dysfunctional father back into the lives of his children consists largely of closeups of facial expressions of the actors. As a matter of fact, I had the feeling when leaving the theater afterward, that working on this turkey might explain Tom Cruise's recent bizarre behavior and comments about psychiatry and health issues. Could it be that working on this film has triggered his own bizarre behavior on topics about which he knows nothing; or should we just lay the blame on the brain-rot that comes from buying into bizarre pseudo-religions?
I can't remember any dialog, any music, substantial plot development, or virtually anything else except the chewing gum special effects overkill that took up two hours of my time.
In closing let me say that this product may just possibly win an Oscar for special effects making it appear historically much more important than it is. Yet, most of the great unwashed masses of people searching for sensual stimulation will rave about how "great" this film is. But then, they also think today's commercialized screaming is acceptable as musical art too!