Great Summer Film!

Rating: 9/10 (7 July 2005)

When first going into "War of the Worlds," you might be going to see Tom Cruise, or you might be going for Steven Spielberg, or you could just be going along for the ride, but when you leave, you'll want to go back and see it again!
This movie is fantastic when wanting to see an action adventure movie, with touching scenes containing how far a father would go to protect his kids from aliens that are extremely hostile towards the earth, and everyone in it. Tom Cruise plays Ray Ferrier, a divorced man who's more of a kid than it seems at first glance. One weekend, he's forced to watch his kids, Robbie, played by Justin Chatwin, and Rachel, played by Dakota Fanning. Considering Ray is an extremely irresponsible adult, the kids are not thrilled.
After Robbie takes Ray's car without permission, (or a license) Ray walks out front to see neighbors staring straight up above his house to see a cloud with a huge hole in the center with flashing lights, that almost looks as if it's an opening to a different galaxy. He goes inside to have Rachel take a look. As he views from the backyard of his house, the dark cloud shoots off multiple strikes of lightning, in one single spot, not too far from his home. When the storm finally stops, Robbie returns, as Ray leaves to check the single spot out, advising Robbie to stay with Rachel. Unfortunately, he finds the lightning hit spot, where the beginning of the ultimate war lays beneath his feet.
Throughout the rest of the movie, Ray tries to find peace from these deadly invaders, in order to protect his kids, which can become difficult when he hardly knows them. Along the way he runs into difficult objects, such as angry crowds of desperate people, a man in a basement who seems to be mentally insane, and figuring out that running will not protect his children, no matter how determined he is.
This movie has a great story, and has fantastic acting, but at times pulls away from getting to know the characters.
this movie also stars also stars the Lord of the Rings, Miranda Otto, and Academy Award winner Tim Robbins.
Warning: Movie contains similar references to 9/11