One of Spielberg's worst films

Rating: 2/10 (4 July 2005)

I saw it at the cinema yesterday after having watched the 1953 version on TV the day before. The real story seems to be about a jerk of a father who during the course of the film learns how to be a good father and the aliens are a sub plot. War of the Worlds? or war between LA and Boston? The US Military are making more of an effort against Iraqi insurgents than they do in this film. Ordinary people from street-cleaners to weirdo's in basements seem to have all the scientific data and despite a number of direct references to the 1953 version, the earlier version has a much better story. As for the effects - Independence Day was better and I'm sure that I've seen the Aliens from this one before - I wonder where? Having said that Tom Cruise is excellent but Tim Robbins is wasted and the sound, as well as some of the camera work is good. I had such high expectations, having visited the sets in LA, but it was never going to top the Richard Burton CD. One to wait for on DVD I think.