A weak ending, but a truly terrifying preceding hour and a half make this well worth it

Rating: 9/10 (10 July 2005)

*May contain a slight spoiler*
Steven Spielberg can be a bit of a mystery. He can be the brains behind happy, comedic films such as 'The Terminal' and 'Catch Me if You Can' or the brains behind distressing, utterly violent films such as 'Jurassic Park' or 'Saving Private Ryan'. Or, he can be the genius behind horror films 'Minority Report' 'Jaws' and yes, 'War of The Worlds.' Well, Minority Repor was creepy. Jaws was tense, and made you wonder. What about War of The Worlds? Well, in my opinion, downright terrifying.
A warning to parents first (living in either the UK or USA). Take no notice to the 'PG-13' or '12A' rating. Honestly. I was shocked. There simply is some material here that is totally and utterly inappropriate for children. Not even the much raved about 'blood-sucking tentacles' the fact that a father and young child- scrap that- the whole world, is in terrible danger. I can imagine being eight and being absolutely scared out of my pants. Communities are destroyed, as freakishly big aliens cause chaos. Even as an older person, it makes you ask questions- is it possible? In conclusion, no, but this film takes an impossible thing and turns it into an utterly terrifying trip full of death, horror and blood.
However, that wasn't a bad description of the films horror. It sets out to scare you, and does, be it in a tense way or with sometimes ear-shattering unexpected pace. If it's not whole cities being demolished, it certainly is a poor family of two in a basement with a weirdo getting menacingly pursued by blood sucking tentacles and rather frank pictures of aliens.
I would've given this film perfect marks, were it not for the ending. It wraps it up with a totally impossible happy ending that really does wonder what Steven Spielberg was thinking. Not only was the ending impossible, too much is left unexplained, as if the director had to rush to cram it all in into 15 minutes. Despite that, this really is a scary, scary film.
***/ out of **** (3 and a half out of 4)