Re-make No.1,781,691.........

Rating: 1/10 (28 May 2006)

Stop me if you've heard this one before:
The Earth has been overrun with Aliens with little to no motivation beyond the complete extermination of the Human race.
Well, that's the PLOT outta the way.
The acting?
Well, Tom Cruise (CHECK!) plays Tom Cruise (CHECK!), in a Tom Cruise movie (CHECK!). No big shock there.
As for Dakota Fanning, I really wanted to put a "KILL ME FIRST" sign on her. She spends the entire movie S-C-R-E-A-M-I-N-G. She screams at her father, she screams at her brother, she screams at the Aliens, she screams when she's reunited with her mother. And when there is a lapse in the movie (and there are many) she screams as a filler. Does she even talk in normal decibels?
When was the last time you saw refugees running TOWARD an ensuing battle? Well, Ray's teenage asshole son is inexplicably caught up in the patriotic rush to destruction along with a lot of other unknown dead-from-the-neck-up civilians. We're also faced with refugees streaming out of one large alien-ravaged city (NEW JERSEY) only to stream into another alien-ravaged city (BOSTON). Go figure.
Meanwhile, the aliens for reasons unknown, have taken to invading the rural areas at a concentration of one Tripod per acre. While on their coffee break from all the HARD HARD work, the aliens find the cellar of an old farmhouse fascinating. Then, when the steam whistle blows, it's back to work snaring/drinking/eating/vaporizing humans.
As for a nice happy-happy ending, Mom and her family are safe and sound in their untouched upper-class Boston neighborhood (they appear dressed for an imminent "War of the Worlds" party.)
I guess War of the Worlds rounds-off Spielberg's - "New Millennium SCI-FI Turkey Trilogy"...A.I., Minority Report, and now this utter sh*t-fest.
War of the Worlds (2005) - takes more minutes off your life than smoking.
Trust me........AVOID.