Sci-Fi & Disaster

Rating: Null/10 (30 August 2007)

There is something special about this film...my three viewings of it have brought huge joy. The original War Of The Worlds (1953) will always have a place but there is room for another version where the alien ships have towering legs and the score is done by John Williams (you must hang around for the end credits as the pumping old- fashioned Williams score finally plays without actors talking over it).
Instead of the usual guy and gal we see in these block busters, it is father and kids. The three main players perform very well however during the early parts of the film before the lighting strikes it is a bit of a struggle to see Tom Cruise playing the concerned father (too soap-like). But once the "storm" appears we just go along with the thrill ride...once that alien craft appears it improves!
War Of The Worlds is a sci-fic movie, a disaster movie, an action movie, a movie about a family, a military movie, and a movie that shows that CGI effects are not always a bad thing when used the right way. And, as I mentioned before, the old-fashioned John Williams score is a knockout, it has shades of overly-dramatic Williams music done for producer Irwin Allen in the 1960s and 1970s. In a nutshell, War Of The Worlds is how a block buster should be made, you are in the hands of true movie-makers.
Added note: Australian viewers might be interested in an early scene in this film when Oz is mentioned in casual conversation.