pulse-pounding sci-fi thriller

Rating: 10/10 (1 August 2005)

With his stunning remake of H. G. Wells' "War of the Worlds," Steven Spielberg has created one of the most intense and terrifying visions of the coming apocalypse in motion picture history. Here is a film that makes "Independence Day" look like a Sunday school picnic or a casual stroll through Central Park on a warm sunny afternoon. The utter darkness of this film is rather amazing considering the fact that Spielberg practically cut his teeth as a director on benign (albeit brilliant) sci-fi fantasies like "Close Encounters" and "E.T," movies in which visitors from outer space were seen as emissaries of peace rather than invaders bent on destroying the human race (I don't think it's merely a coincidence that the unnerving sound the alien machines make in this film resembles some of the notes from Bernard Herrmann's score for "The Day the Earth Stood Still"). In "War of the Worlds," the aliens are anything but benign; they are cruel, vicious, bloodthirsty and unstoppable, creatures more akin to the ones in "Jaws" and "Jurassic Park" than those in "Close Encounters" and "E.T." And, indeed, there are far more echoes of scenes from "Jurassic Park" in "War of the Worlds" than any other previous Spielberg work. "War of the Worlds" is certainly a case of Spielberg returning to his more "primitive" roots, for after his recent ventures into the world of cerebral sci-fi ("A.I." and "Minority Report"), the director pulls out all the stops in this film, turning out a full-throttle, no-holds-barred orgy of non-stop death and destruction. In "War of the Worlds," Spielberg has found the perfect source material for his roller coaster ride mentality and it pays off beautifully for all concerned. As always, Spielberg turns a mere "genre" picture into a work of art.
Tom Cruise stars as Ray Ferrier, a working class stiff living in northern New Jersey who seems barely able to take care of himself, let alone the teenaged son and eleven-year-old daughter who have come to stay with him while their mother is away in Boston visiting her parents. Ray is obviously anything but a model parent, having alienated both children, particularly his son, with his absentee parenting style and casual indifference to the lives they are leading. All that is about to change, however, when, without any real warning, the earth suffers a massive invasion by creatures from outer space whose killer machines have been lying dormant underground for seemingly millions of years. As the monsters wreak havoc upon the planet, Ray flees with his children, searching for a place of safety in a world suddenly turned upside down and apparently headed for extinction and annihilation.
Spielberg has wisely chosen to paint Ray in less than heroic terms. In addition to the fact that he has trouble assuming the role of protector and comforter for his own children, he is often at a loss as to what to do to escape the threat and ensure their survival. The director has Cruise work against type here, helping us to identify with his plight in a way we might not have were he conceived as a more conventional heroic type. Although it's a little hard to accept Cruise as such an uncaring father, we go along with the premise, knowing that he will eventually become closer to his kids though the life-threatening situation in which they find themselves.
As this is a Spielberg film, it goes without saying that "War of the Worlds" is a model of state-of-the-art visual and sound effects, and that the director exploits every moment for its full intensity and impact. This is as tightly-wound and suspenseful a thriller as I have seen in years. But what really puts it over is the way in which Spielberg manages to bring an end-of-the-world eeriness and paranoia to so much of the film. The first half, in particular, is almost unbearable to watch, so unsettling is the sense of inexplicable dread and doom that hangs over the work, so intense our feeling of powerlessness before the unknown. About a half hour into the picture, I realized that this film was striking chords in my psyche that most movies never even come close to touching. Spielberg really makes us feel what it would be like if everything we took for granted were suddenly snatched away from us and we were forced to confront a menace we didn't understand and against which we had no defenses. In a post-9/11 world, that is a very chilling and powerful concept indeed.
Cruise and young Dakota Fanning do a beautiful job playing off one another in their many scenes together, making a real connection with us in the audience. Tim Robbins is effective as a somewhat crazed survivor who allows the family to hide in his farmhouse, even if the scenes there, though good, turn out to be the weakest in the film.
Some people have objected to the rather abrupt ending of the movie, but anyone familiar with the Wells original knows that Spielberg is merely being faithful to the author's own vision. It seems rather petty to be getting on the man's case for his fidelity to a well-respected source when movie makers are so often criticized for not remaining true to their material.
"War of the Worlds" is that rare genre film that seeps into your bones, taps into some of your most primal fears, and makes you look at the world in a different way the moment you step out of the theater. But then that has been Spielberg's hallmark as a director all along. Chalk up another triumph for the master.