A Nice Contribution to the "War of the Worlds" Legacy

Rating: 8/10 (12 December 2006)

One of the main contentions with Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" is that the movie did not speak to some great societal problem, that it was for pure entertainment and nothing more. If the characters and action in H.G. Wells' novel spoke to problems with his society at the time shouldn't Spielberg have done the same? I think Spielberg's movie is fine as is. Spielberg pays homage to not only H.G. Wells' book but the 1938 Orson Welles and Mercury Theatre broadcast and the 1953 Haskin movie as well. Spielberg captures in this 2005 presentation the basic plot line of the book, the panic that the Welles radio presentation caused, and some great scenes from Haskin's movie. Overall it is a nice contribution to the "War of the Worlds" legacy, and Spielberg should make no apologies.
As far as a theme goes for this movie I think that the most apparent one would be that trials can cause growth and renewal. Spielberg includes a nice symbol of this in the tree at the outset and concluding scenes of the movie. Another symbol, that could also go for the Wells' book as well, is the red weed, symbolizing death, and its dying symbolizing life which again loosely ties into the theme.
In H.G. Wells' book the protagonist most likely symbolized morality, and Ray in Spielberg's movie effectively captures the climactic scene from the book that puts the protagonist's morals to the test.
One aspect of the movie that I greatly enjoyed was the believability of the beginning scenes. The setting and acting at the outset allowed me to enjoy the rest of the film. The acting throughout the movie was pretty good; Ray and Rachel's characters were pretty believable, although Ray seems a bit cliché in my mind, but I don't know why. Robbie in my opinion was not exceptional, but not bad either.
Overall the movie bolsters the sci-fi genre (specifically the alien invasion strain). - Nice work Spielberg.