Better than the majority think

Rating: 8/10 (20 August 2005)

As I am writing this War of the Worlds has a 6.8 average with 35,000 votes. The sad thing is that it deserves better. Tom Cruise turns in a good (but not great) performance as the dad trying to save his two kids in the massive alien invasion. Not up to The Last Samurai or Mission Impossible, but still convincing. Young Dakota Fanning is the stand-out here, and she has been standing out against some pretty big names recently.
Watch for Gene Barry as "grandfather" at the end of the movie. He was in the original "War of the Worlds" back in 1953. His co-star (who I did not recognize) plays "grandmother".