Great movie. Scary, even though you know what will happen.

Rating: 7/10 (22 August 2006)

Her's the deal with this movie - If you look at it closely, it is Spielberg to the "T". With that in mind, elements of almost all of his films are evident throughout War Of The Worlds, and I haven't looked that hard or analyzed every scene, but did arbitrarily notice certain aspects from his other films, of which I loved all of them - even the Columbo episode...But anyway there's something to this movie. IT SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME. I watched it by myself. I knew everything that was going to happen being that I must have seen the original version a gazillion times in my life, but adding the Spielberg aspect is why it became scary. Spielberg has the ability to make sci-fi film scary because of his realistic approach to what makes people tick and what makes them fall apart or what pushes them to heroism. He achieves using that as his greatest ability as a fantastic director. The film taps the instincts and emotions of anyone that can recognize that all of the issues that were the scariest elements in the film translate directly to common disasters that have occurred in recent years. War, terror, airborne illness, brutal abolishment of societies in sweeping and quick successions, etc. The film is great.
Anyone could have played Cruise's part so that is a criticism in fact. But he is who he is, and I have enjoyed everyone of his films too, and that is too bad, maybe someday he'll join the human race again.
Again this film is scary as heck, but great.