Edge of your seat - Spielberg at his best!

Rating: 10/10 (28 June 2005)

Look first things first..this is a remake of the 1953 War of the Worlds movie starring Gene Barry. A classic movie and the special effects for it's time were quite good.
Having said that, this new War of the Worlds is not your Daddy's War of the Worlds. Sure in our age of movie magic, special effects have to be better...but WOW!! I don't think I'll be able to watch this on DVD with my surround system because my neighbors will surely lose their picture off their walls because the sound was incredible.
The movie starts off with some character development and that shows poorly for Mr. Cruise. With his recent negativity in the news lately, it only makes you dislike him even more but that's good acting and scripting too! He's just not a good father and doesn't seem to want to try to be either.
His children are with him only because it's probably in the divorce agreement. They really don't know him and he surely doesn't know them, but he's about to spend some quality time with them soon enough! Once the strange storms start up around the world....all hell breaks loose. I don't want to give much away here but again if you know anything about movies and the original, there is a martian invasion. But did they just come down now or have they been here for years? That's the question. Once they are here however, Tom Cruise realizes that now, more than ever..he needs to be a father...a hero..and mainly to his children. That won't be easy but you'll have to see how he does for yourself.
Cruise was very convincing in his role but Dakota Fanning as usual, stole the show. This young lady is going to be a phenomenal star (as if she isn't already). She has out shined such veteran stars as Denzel Washington, Robert De Niro and Sean Penn. Watch for a best actress nomination for this young star!
I loved this movie and though the ending was a bit abrupt, there really wasn't much more Spielberg could have done with it. As far as remakes go however, this is one of the best you'll ever see! Check it out and prove me wrong! Enjoy! Sam