Hated it! Who can care for this family !!!

Rating: 3/10 (2 July 2005)

This could spoil this movie for those intent on seeing it. This movie smells like the spew that comes out of the alien tripods (if you could smell it). Tom Cruise didn't have to stretch to portray an inept person since it is the way he behaves in real life. I found myself wanting to cheer the aliens on to kill off the dysfunctional family in this movie. As a matter of fact I could have cared less about any of them and Dakota Fanning as a screaming brat was most annoying, her brother(in the movie) is one of the poorest written characters I have ever seen. I can't blame the actor, any talented actor would have had a hard time with the character, although he seemed to overact in places and be totally comatose in others so I attribute this to the uneven way the character is written. Tim Robbins getting his was the one highlight of the film. Ultimately though it made you dislike the main character even more.
Spielberg is capable of so much more, this movie made A.I. look classic. This movie had none of the intensity or human interest of the 1953 classic and with all the long shots of the tripods the special effects were better in the 1953 version all things considered.
This movie barely resembled the storyline in the book except fora couple of major points and the sad attempt at indicting the military as a bunch of inept yahoos is a thinly veiled. Let's keep the politics out of the movies and make an interesting movie not a pile of over hyped steamy dung. I was in the military and was offended by the portrayal.
Don't waste your time (132 minutes) or money!!!!! If you have to see it wait for the DVD it won't take long!!!!!