Not bad but not really good either

Rating: 7/10 (3 October 2008)

This is actually relatively true to the original HG Wells original. However there are additions and while this worked really, really well in Lord of the Rings, the additions here are not good.
The story stays the same, a man in the city (this time New York and not London) is witness to and flees the initial attack of ETs. Unfortunately, Spielberg decides to embellish this by giving this man, played by Tom Cruise, a dysfunctional family to tow around. What I'm sure is supposed to be parental concern severely handicaps the movie.
Also, since aliens attacking from the sky has become such a cliché, Spielberg decides to have them come from underground. They apparently . . . "ride lightning", yes, I'm not making that up, down into the ground to pilot attack craft that they buried there long, long ago.
Right there. That is the point where believability is lost and cannot be regained for the rest of the film.
This is followed by an passenger plane crashing into the house they are staying in but harming none of them or even scratching their vehicle; the son leaving his sister  who he does seem to care for, for almost certain death just so he can see the explosions of the military vainly attacking the aliens; and then promptly surviving somehow to arrive in the one part of Boston where nothing happened to his grandparents house BEFORE Tom and Dakota can even get there.
Granted, none of the things above are explained.
On the plus side, the acting was good. Some have complained about the zombie like people and the shocked expressions around (maybe they filmed them just after they saw the script revisions) but I'm guessing that Joe Average, as Tom was supposed to be, would be pretty shocked and while I don't know from personal experience, I would guess that 10 year old girls do scream a lot when horrified.
Also, as I said, Spielberg did stick pretty close to the book. The bit in the cellar did happen pretty much that way, as did the ferry disaster and the aliens all dying from diseases (seems a little silly these days but back when it was written, germs were still new and mysterious).
The specials I thought were top rate and I don't feel like I want two hours of my life back.