Terrific special effects - usual Tom Cruise acting

Rating: 7/10 (17 July 2005)

In many ways I found this movie to be very similar in the way it treated the subject to the older 1950s version. Neither has much in common with the book beyond the title and the basic premise of alien attack. At least the alien machines are more similar to the book and it also included the fast-spreading red plant.
What irritated me with both this film and the old one was the seeming need to make the alien machines invincible. In the book with concentrated artillery attack the 19th Century humans do manage to destroy one or more alien machines. I think it spoils the story and seems unbelievable to set the action in modern times and with all our modern technology to not be able to bring down even one machine except when Ray gets captured.
It also seems unbelievable that the machines could have been buried underneath the cities on Earth for hundreds of years without us noticing. I would also like to have seen some scenes addressing the political, scientific and military response to such an attack as well as the response in other countries. There is a brief mention that the Japanese managed to destroy an alien machine but there are no details given. It might have heightened the suspense to see such scenes as were included in Independence Day not to mention the 1950s version.
However, I rate this movie as well done because the special effects are pretty good. The CGI graphics don't pixellate too much, except when the camera is panning. Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is pretty unsympathetic and Tom does his usual workmanlike job, neither good nor bad. His daughter is cute and well played by Dakota Fanning (who invents these names?) but his son, Robbie, is a brat. The action doesn't drag and it isn't too long. It might have been nice to explain how Ray and Rachel get from the river crossing to Boston on foot? How far is that?!