A great thrill-ride from start to about 20 minutes before the finish---8/10

Rating: 8/10 (1 July 2005)

Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds is a classic alien invasion flick. Not too much time is wasted before the aliens invade and start zapping humans into dust and flipping cars over. Tom Cruise plays Ray, a regular guy with regular family problems who is trying to get his son and daughter the hell out of dodge. Now that we got the story out of the way, let's get to the goods. The alien tripods are huge and terrifying, with superlasers and tubes that suck blood, a far cry from E.T.'s bicycle and Reeces Pieces. Spielberg's cinematography is amazing once again, from wide shots of the aliens destroying cities to a river of corpses. This is his most gorgeous film since Minority Report (while A.I. was also pretty to look at, it was painfully boring and confusing). The non-stop thrills includes an alien attack on a boat of refugees, the family hiding in a basement from a huge alien eyeball, and Cruise actually being swallowed by one of the tripods. The pace is lightning quick, Cruise is as good as ever, Fanning is proving to be better than most adult actresses, and the action is non-stop. A really great movie...
And then comes the ending. The standard Hollywood cop-out, spic and span ending. Not only does the film include one of the weakest and anti-climactic ways to defeat an invading alien force (Can't the aliens just destroy us for once) but all the main characters live, even after making you think one of them is dead in an emotionally powerful scene. This almost ruins the movie, but the rest of it is so good, i can forgive. Maybe.
However, this is still a blockbuster alien invasion epic with amazing special effects (ILM strikes again) and great performances. This is a must-see in theaters. The price is worth it for enhanced picture and sound. Enjoy the ride.---8/10