Far-fetched

Rating: 1/10 (7 July 2005)

The H.G. Wells novel, "The War of the Worlds" is a woven craft of storytelling and terrifying in it's delivery. The Steven Spielberg movie by the same name made me wonder why I canceled my dentist appointment to go see it. OK, I was going to use the term "plot holes", but after reading several of the comments, I will concede the issue and just say, far-fetched (but you know where my heart lies).
This movie is fractured pieces of scenes that have difficulty tying it all together. **Small spoiler** Out of the gate, the premise goes into "left field" by suggesting the machines were pre-buried. Who thought THAT one up? Certainly not H.G. Wells. I can certainly understand and appreciate artistic license, but not to the point of garbling the whole reason for the invasion.
All of the actors were poorly directed. Dakota Fanning (Rachel) has so much talent to be wasted in mindless stares and tired, overused "go for the effect" camera angles. Justin Chatwin (Robbie) delivered the best performance and he had a few great lines to work with. The other main actors/characters simply didn't live up to their talent potential. Of course, a better script and directing would have helped, so I won't ding them too much.
There was too much convenience for getting around a ravaged city and countryside. This has been discussed in other comments.
What part of human nature says that people are going to just stand around and quietly watch while a giant machine pops out of the ground and lays utter waste to everything within several city blocks? I think a sight like this would be appropriate motivation for most people (even the "I've seen it all" New Yorkers) (no offense) to quickly RUN AWAY and maybe SCREAM, even just a little.
Summary... the script was lame, the acting was lame, the directing was lame, even the score from the mighty John Williams, was NOT memorable. The special effects were... OK (but you can't expect FX to pull your fat out of the fire all the time).
Mr. Spielberg... I want my money back.
4/10