The very definition of an anti-climax.

Rating: 5/10 (29 June 2005)

OK, given the fact that they cranked out this movie in a period of 8 months, even though they spend about $135 million doing it, the limitations in production really show.
**Warning: Some small spoilers**
In other words, this movie is kind of lacking. Not enough bang for the buck, and it's is completely missing the climax. You start out expecting that it's gonna build up into some kind of an all out global war, as the title suggests, and the movie will go into that, but what you get instead is scattered, short scenes of a tripods walking around and shooting lasers. Most of the screen time is occupied with very ordinary looking settings, Tom running around, Dakota screeching, and that's about it. A little bit of family values spiced up here and there, but where is the WAR OF THE WORLDS?
There is a scene where that kid runs off to join the WAR, you can ALMOST see that there is a big WAR happening just over the hill top, but they never show anything. You just see the edges of it, the boundaries. Some CGI helicopters, some tanks firing, and rockets flying by. That's it. But the direct massive confrontation between the aliens and humans never happens. I suppose they ran out of money, even though when they started filming it, Spielberg was saying that they would pull all the stops and planned on spending about $300 million. From how this turned out, it shows that someone changed their mind.
In "Saving Private Ryan", the WAR was presented very well. You saw the conflict, you saw the action, and you were right in the middle of it. In this movie, everything feels small scale.
And then, it just kind of ends.
Blah. Save your money.
Laser proof clothes. Haha.
BTW, Roger Ebert gives a very fair review of this movie, so check it out. Some of the reviews here, saying how this is the best movie ever, are some what suspicious. Probably just desperate marketing.
And go play "Half Life 2" instead. It was infinitely more entertaining than this. You get aliens, striders(tripods), WAR, and you get to be are the main hero.