Good story, very intense, but poorly executed

Rating: 6/10 (6 July 2005)

I came away from War of the Worlds very disappointed. Let me just say up front that I have no problem with the way the aliens were defeated, and recognize that it follows the way the book was written. As written in the book, it is actually a very interesting twist on things. I just have a problem with the way it was executed in the movie. The movie had a breakneck pace almost from the very outset, but the ending just wasn't woven into the story. It felt very much like Spielberg and company ran out of time and money and just ended the movie the quickest way they could think of. Again, I know the book had the same story, I have no complaints against the story, just the way the movie tried to pull it off.
The other problems for me were just way to many holes in the plot. EMP (electro magnetic pulse) is a very real phenomenon that tends to destroy all things electronic. It will pretty much disable vehicles by destroying all the computer systems necessary to run today automobiles. A solenoid is an electro-mechanical system which would be one of the least likely things to be destroyed by EMP. Replacing a solenoid would not cause an EMP damaged car to start working - just ridiculous! To me the biggest unexplained plot hole was why aliens would plant a huge number of weapons on an uninhabited planet so that they could come much much later to destroy the civilization that didn't even exist yet. It just doesn't make any sense. Now, I have thought of some ways you could explain it and make it part of the story, but no attempt was made to do so.
I also agree with the other comments about the very end to the movie. Mass destruction abounds EVERYWHERE in this movie, and yet Boston is basically untouched. Completely EMPTY but untouched. Apparently the only people left in this relatively safe town are all the family of the main character in the film who look like they are about to settle in to watch a football game after thanksgiving dinner.
Sorry but this movie just didn't work for me. I gave it 6 stars because it was appropriately intense and the special effects were good. I thought that acting was actually pretty solid as well, there were just too many things that didn't work that made it hard to not walk out disappointed.