excellent sci-fi film

Rating: 9/10 (15 July 2005)

I never saw the original so I don't know how the stories differ but this version was really good. The special effects were amazing. It really seemed like all those people were fleeing the tri-pods and getting zapped. It looked like Cruise was literally running only feet from falling debris.
Cruise plays a dad who is a real jerk to his young daughter and older son. They are visiting him for the weekend in the city when the lightening storms start. From there we see tri-pods coming out of the ground and causing havoc. It was awesome.
They escape in the only working vehicle on the way to Boston where his ex wife is. They stay the first night at his ex's house and end up with an airplane outside the front door. So their trek continues and they meet up with more tri-pods and eventually his son goes off. So Cruise and his daughter take up in this crazy guy's basement for some tense scenes.
And I won't say how it ends because you should be surprised. And I liked that finally there is a disaster movie that doesn't have the President and scientists and skipping all over the place. It focuses on one family.
FINAL VERDICT: This is the story of how one dad goes from jerk to hero during an alien invasion. This is the must see film of the summer. The special effects were simply outstanding.