H.G. Wells' Novel for the 21st Century.

Rating: 8/10 (30 June 2005)

I was originally reluctant to see this film. My first assumption being that it would totally tarnish the essence of H.G. Wells' novel, perhaps modify and create a happy ending that tied up all loose ends, waved a few flags around at the climax for added patriotism, and to top it all off, fixed up that long lost broken relationship with two ex-lovers, reunited due to the catastrophic events of the story. My second reluctance was Dakota Fanning being cast in the film, and I envisaged her glaring out to the audience with her usual 'know everything about everything' pose, or as Denzel Washington once put it on 'Parkinson', "..ten going on forty."
Both of these assumptions were quickly diminished within the first 20 minutes of the film.
Instead, I was almost glued to my seat in what has to be a highly suspenseful yet surprisingly faithful modern adaptation of H.G Wells' Sci-Fi classic. Some reviewers have been making references to the CBS Radio Show dramatization, plus the 1953 classic film. Both were masterpieces in their own right, yes, but I never felt that either of these stayed faithful to the original story. The CBS radio program seemed much like the novel transformed into a public news broadcast, which was admirably done, so much so that it scared a number of American people into believing it was all too real. George Pal's 1953 version just seemed to me to be an average 1950's glamorized Sci-Fi horror flick. I do believe it did follow the book on some counts, but swung away from it on many other occasions, too. Kudos goes to Spielberg for his slight reference to the film, including some cameos from the 1953 classic.
**SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT**
With some regard, I suppose you could also judge this film as your typical CGI-Boosted-Aliens-Attack flick, and for those who haven't read H.G. Wells' book, it may seem to fit perfectly into that genre. Many might be disappointed with the film's abrupt ending - there's no grand-scale, climatic, good triumphs over evil conclusion in this film. Like the original story, the chaos ends as abruptly as it begins.
And just like the original H.G. Wells' tale, I was left stunned at the amount of correlations and similarities between the characters of the film, and those of the book. I saw shadows of the artilleryman in the female CBS news reporter, her cold overtones emphasizing the futility of man's weapons against the invaders, but also her determination in continuing with her duties, despite all the hopelessness that surrounds her and her colleagues. There was the rather obsessive (and slightly crazed) recluse who'd lost his family, digging his makeshift 'tunnel' to start mankind all over again, a crazed dream that Ray (Cruise) knows is hopeless. There's the classic ferry exodus too, and the frightening realization that the tripods are just as deadly over sea as they are land. (No 'ThunderChild' remake though. Re-commissioning of the USS Missouri, anyone?) And although we (thankfully) don't see some ridiculous premise about Ray running about on-screen to save his estranged ex-wife, we do see a slightly similar lost and found story from the original book with Ray and his son Robbie.
Usually, I'm not easily stirred by suspenseful films, but my hat goes off to the creators of this contemporary remake of the science fiction classic, as this film had many moments where I was either glued to the back or sitting on the edge of my seat. I never thought it would have been possible to recreate the alien death-ray to appear so terrifying, yet ILM has pulled another hat trick with that one. Nail-biting stuff.
If you're going to see this film, you're familiar with the original book and looking for a not-so-dissected Hollywood remake, or if you're looking for a suspenseful alien invasion film and you're not too concerned about continuity gripes like camcorders filming after a massive electromagnetic pulse, then I highly recommend that you give Spielberg a shot, and watch this film on what it was meant for: the big screen.