War of the Worlds

Plot synopsis:
Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a divorced union container crane operator with few skills as a father. Ray's ex-wife (Miranda Otto) drops off their rebelious but coming of age teenage son Robbie (Justin Chatwin), and meek 10-year old daughter Rachel (Dakota Fanning) for a weekend visit with their father in New Jersey. (Filmed in Bayonne in the shadow of the worlds longest arch bridge.) Ray is a self-absorbed individual who feels imposed upon by having to baby sit his own children. Then something happens that will change their entire lives. An unusual and violent lightning storm hits the town. In the intersection down the street, Ray sees a huge three-legged war machine rise from beneath the street. The machine begins to fire and incinerate everything and everybody. The Martians have begun the war by attacking Earth with only one goal in mind, destroying everything in sight. Ray becomes a real father when he decides to protect his children and take them to their mother house. Ray grabs his handgun and a few supplies and steals a minivan from his friends service station, begging the friend to come with them, but leaving him behind when he doesn't understand the danger and refuses to get in. The mother and her new husband have already left for Boston so the Ferriers hole up in their house. Overnight, the Martians show up around their and cause great destruction. A news van is outside and the reporter informs Ray the Machines are in all cities. They decide to try to make it to Boston They start running for their lives and are just ahead of the Martians, when they get caught up in a frantic mob of people in upstate NY who are also fleeing the machines. The mob tries to get in the car or take it away from them. In a Mexican standoff, Ray relinquishes the car to an armed gunman in exchange for letting him get Rachel out of the car. Ray drops his gun which is picked up by another mobmember who shoots the other gunman. They manage to get on a ferry as several more machines rise in the distance and the ferry leaves before it's full. A machine rises from the river and overturns the ferry but the Ferriers swim to shore. Robbie follows an Army unit into battle against Ray's wishes but he cannot stop him. Ray and Rachel are taken in by a sole man holed up in the basement of his rural house. Machines are all around and they send a camera tentical into the basement where they are holed up to look for humans which they avoid by moving and hiding. Then some Martians come in personally to investigate, but they're called back to the ship before they find the humans. Ray and the homeowner dispute over how to handle the situation. The machines have increased in number and are everywhere, and they can not be destroyed by our military. They make it to Boston and the Martians start dying from various sickness caused by germs that humans are built up immunity to, but the Martians don't have. Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)=================================Ray Ferrier is a dock crane worker who leaves his shift in Brooklyn and drives home to meet his ex-wife, Mary Ann, and his two kids, Robbie and Rachel, at his home in Bayonne, New Jersey. When he arrives, late, they are all waiting for him. Ray sees that Mary Ann is pregnant. After a few minutes of debate, over the children sharing a room and Robbie's homework assignment due on Monday, Mary Ann and her new husband leave for Boston to visit her parents for the weekend.Ray mildly orders his son to play catch with him in the back yard. Ray notices that Robbie now wears a Boston Red Sox hat; Ray is a Yankees fan. While the two play catch it becomes clear that father and son share a strained relationship. After a brief argument, Robbie allows one of Ray's throws to fly past him and break a window in the basement. Rachel comments that Ray "won't reach" Robbie by being belligerent. Rachel asks what they should have for lunch and Ray coldly replies "you know, order." Ray goes upstairs to his bedroom to get some sleep.When he wakes up several hours later, he finds Rachel watching cartoons in the living room. She also informs her father that Robbie has taken off with his prized Mustang. Ray becomes furious and rushes out to the street to find Robbie. People have gathered on the street. Ray also sees everyone looking to the north of his block where a strange storm appears to be swirling in the wrong direction. Ray goes into his backyard, taking Rachel with him. The wind picks up, but blows towards the storm. Suddenly, several bolts of lightning begin to strike the ground, some hitting dangerously close to Ray's yard. He and Rachel rush back into the house for shelter and find that every clock has stopped and the power is out. Ray's watch has stopped and his cellphone is dead. After telling Rachel to stay in the house, he goes outside and finds Robbie nearby; his son had taken his car downtown and left it there when it stalled. Ray orders Robbie to watch his sister until he comes back. Ray passes by an auto repair shop where the owner, Manny, tells him that the starter is burned out on a minivan he's looking over. Ray tells Manny to replace the solenoid.Ray walks downtown to the site where the lightning struck. A crowd has gathered around a large hole in the street. Ray touches a piece of the cracked pavement and finds that it's unusually cold. Suddenly the ground under the hole surges upward and everyone scatters. A car that fell into the hold is thrown out. A huge machine on three stilted legs bursts out of the hole and observes the crowds. It lets out a loud blast like a fog horn and as the crowd continues to scatter, it begins to incinerate dozens of people with blasts of heat beams; people are turned instantly into ash when the beams strike them. Ray runs, escaping through a department store; as he does, the ash from an unfortunate victim covers him. Ray hides behind a building and watches the monstrous machine walk by. He is reminded of Robbie and Rachel when a man runs by carrying his own child.Ray returns home in utter shock. Barely speaking to his kids and washing the ash from his face and hair, he tells them both that they're leaving immediately. Ray has Robbie take everything in his refrigerator and Ray retrieves a small pistol, tucking it into his belt. They go to Manny's garage and climb into the minivan the mechanic had been working on; since he'd replaced the solenoid, the car is able to run. Manny thinks Ray is joking with him until Ray tells him in a serious tone to come with them. As he tells Ray to get out of the car, the nearby Bayonne Bridge collapses. Ray speeds off while his kids become panicky, especially Rachel, who has a problem with enclosed spaces. Robbie tries to calm her. Ray tells Robbie about the machine and the destruction it caused. Ray plans to take his kids to a safe place, hopefully their mother and stepfather's house.Arriving at Mary Ann's house, they find it deserted. The trio have a brief argument over what to eat and Ray takes them down to the basement where they'll spend the night. After a few hours of restless sleep, Ray wakes up and hears a commotion outside, which becomes a deafening roar. The three rush into the basement's utility room and lock the door against a wall of flames.When Ray wakes up several hours later, he walks upstairs to find most of the house demolished. The commotion from the previous night was caused by a plane that had crashed in the neighborhood. While Ray walks by, he sees a man in the wreckage of the plane, cleaning out the food service carts. Ray finds out that he's a cameraman for a news network and is there with a woman reporter. The woman tells Ray that the reports about the tripods are all the same, once they start moving, no more reports or news come from the area they attack. The woman eagerly asks Ray if he's a survivor of the plane crash; when he tells her he isn't, she and her crew hastily leave.Ray gathers his family and they set out again in the minivan. They drive for a while and pull over when Rachel needs to relieve herself. She defiantly walks farther than Ray wishes her to and stops by a creek. While she looks at the water, she sees dozens of human bodies floating by. She is terrified by the sight until Ray suddenly finds her and scolds her for wandering off too far. Back at the truck, and Army convoy passes by. Robbie seems overcome with anger and wants to join them in their counterattack against the invaders. Ray tries to reason with Robbie, telling him that the idea of them joining up with the Army is ludicrous.Ray lets Robbie drive for a while so he and his daughter can get some sleep. They come to a small town where evacuated people have gathered. The crowd quickly becomes hostile toward Ray's family and wants their vehicle. Ray and Robbie are forcefully pulled from the truck and beaten by the mob. Rachel panics and Ray, gathering his senses, uses his gun to force the crowd to retreat a bit. Moments later, he is forced to drop his pistol when another man, determined to take the truck for himself, holds a pistol on Ray. Ray is permitted to get Rachel out of the truck and walk away. The crowd again becomes violent and the man who took the minivan is attacked.The family continues to walk with the crowds of evacuees. At a railroad crossing, a train zooms by, the entire length of it is on fire. At a ferry crossing in Athens, New York, the family waits to cross the river on one of the boats. Ray meets a woman he knows who has her own daughter in tow. The sound of the alien call is heard nearby and the crowd of people begin to rush the ferry. Army guards close the gates and deny Ray, his friend and their kids entry. The see a way to bypass the gates and make it to the boat, but only Ray and his kids are able to board. Robbie sees that several people are trying to climb over the ferry's ramp and goes to help them. As the boat crosses the river, another tripod rises from the river and attacks, turning the ferry over and spilling cars and people into the water. Ray and the kids surface and swim for shore as tentacles from the tripod grab people out of the water. Ray and the kids make it to the opposite shore. While they steal away, they see garments floating down from sky.Still walking, the family passes by a battle between the aliens and the Army. Jets zip by overhead and Robbie somehow becomes entranced by the battle, which is unseen and taking place over a hill. Robbie approaches it while Ray and Rachel yell for him to come back. Robbie ignores them and is stopped at the top of the hill by Army personnel. Ray leaves Rachel under a tree and confronts Robbie, telling him that he doesn't need to become involved and that his sister is very worried about him. Robbie insists that he needs to see the battle and Ray reluctantly lets him go, accepting that he can't stop his son's obsession and needs to protect his daughter. Ray picks up Rachel just as a final assault of helicopters fails to stop the tripods. The last thing Ray sees after Robbie rushes over the hill is a tripod looming over a wall of fire. It also becomes obvious that the tripods have a protective shield covering them that repels all bombardment. Just then Ray and Rachel are called by a man who owns a nearby house. The owner, Olgilvy, offers them sanctuary in his basement. However, it becomes clear to Ray that Olgilvy is mentally unstable and plans to tunnel out of the basement.A series of loud noises from upstairs prompt the group to hide. A snake-like probe is sent into the basement. The group narrowly avoids detection and the probe is withdrawn after a few minutes. Later, three of the aliens enter the basement - they are three-legged and very curious. Ray also stops Olgilvy from shooting them with his shotgun, knowing the noise will attract more of them. The aliens leave when their horn sounds.Ray also discovers that the aliens are covering the landscape with a mysterious and rapidly-growing red vine and they are using blood harvested from humans they've captured to fertilize it. At this revelation, Olgilvy becomes extremely agitated, digging frantically in his basement and muttering "Not MY blood!" repeatedly. Ray realizes that if Olgilvy continues to act the same way, he'll only grow worse and they'll all be found. Ray tries one last time to calm the man but fails. Ray has Rachel put on her headphones and listen to her music while he confronts and kills Olgilvy behind a closed door. After he emerges from the room, Ray and Rachel fall asleep. When Rachel awakes, she sees the alien probe has returned and they've been discovered. Ray uses an axe to cut the eye of the probe off, however, Rachel has fled the house. Ray rushes out in time to see her captured by a tripod. The tripod attacks Ray, who hides in a nearby Humvee, and he's flipped over. The tripod loses interest in him, however Ray uses a grenade from a belt he finds to get it's attention. It uses a tentacle to lift him into an underslung cage filled with other people. Ray finds Rachel, who's in deep shock. While Ray figures out how to escape, a large valve opens overhead and sucks up one of the captives. The valve then tries to capture Ray, who takes the grenade belt with him. His fellow captives keep hold of his arm and drag him back. When Ray lands in the cage, he shows a soldier that he'd pulled the pins from two of the grenades. They explode inside the tripod and the cage is released, falling onto a nearby tree, freeing everyone.Ray and Rachel make it to Boston. While being directed by more soldiers, Ray notices that the red weeds are dying and that a tripod has come down. Another nearby tripod sounds it's horn and everyone flees. Ray notices that a small flock of birds have landed on the tripod - it's shield is not functioning. Ray relays this discovery to a captain standing by, who orders his platoon to bring up Javelin missiles. Several rockets are fired at the defenseless tripod, which collapses, demolishing a building. The evacuees and soldiers approach the tripod, which opens a hatch, spilling a bright orange fluid. An alien arm with a pink hue (instead of the steel-gray color Ray had seen on the aliens in the basement) falls out limply. The aliens are dying of some unknown cause.Ray walks Rachel to his in-laws' house. His ex-wife and her new husband are there, along with her parents. Rachel runs to her mother. Robbie steps out of the house too and he an Ray embrace.The narrator's voice returns and informs us that the aliens had killed billions, however they were defenseless against disease-carrying bacteria to which humans have long been immune.

Tags: violence, action, murder

Review:
In other words, special- effects-wise, it isn't just about visuals but the audio as well.Although the story of the father (Tom Cruise) and his two estranged (is anyone pictured married in films nowadays?) kids is so-so at best, the film is all about the action.
Reserving comments on minor difficulties which would reveal too much; (except, the narration was unnecessary); the "War of the Worlds" is excellent entertainment.******** War of the Worlds (6/13/05) Steven Spielberg ~ Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin, Tim Robbins.
And not in the same way Tom was upstaged by the gorgeous little boy in Jerry Maguire through sheer 'awww' factor, Dakota is both cute and one of the most talented actresses I've ever seen.The special effects were amazing, (the first lightning storm was the PERFECT way to get the audience on the edge of their seats, the rest of the movie made sure we stayed there) the thrills were non-stop and executed brilliantly - I nearly broke my fiancé's arm during one particularly nerve-wracking scene - and whilst some of the characters were inevitable clichés - the rebellious teenage son, for example - the story evolved at a fast enough pace that you didn't have time to get irritated by them.I thought the ending came a bit suddenly and with perhaps not quite enough explanation but overall I really enjoyed this movie - and I'm not usually a fan of alien blockbusters.
The film concerns upon the survival of human specie , the fundamental theme results to be the humanity confrontation and the main enemy : an alien invasion at an exceptional world happening .It's a fabulous story , and very well narrated , about a deadly alien attack , a father who wants to save his children : Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin , at whatever cost .
There's a sub-plot concerning a father whose greatest thoughtfulness turns out to be the children's security, his hard struggle for the family protection .Cruise and Spielberg told the film being dedicated to their children and the intimate feeling among themselves .
In fact, the scene was shot from inside the house, and Cruise was shot in reflection against the window - so there is no problem here other than the reviewer not thinking what they were seeing through.Now on to the review...This film follows Tom Cruise - playing a not-very-adult divorced father - and his two kids through the Wellsian version of The War of the Worlds.
Cruise, whose character is not really built for heroism, digs deep into his soul to protect his children as they attempt to make it to Boston to reunite with his estranged wife and her new family.Before I discuss the technical merits of the film, and the lavish production values, I feel that I need to make a comment on Dakota Fanning.
If you're going to rate a film on pure spectacle, this one would easily get a 10 - it's utterly astounding.The acting is uniformly good, and the idea of showing the film purely from the perspective of Cruise's character - so the audience knows nothing that he doesn't know - works extremely well.But there's no plot, no underlying logic behind *anything* that happens, be it human or alien-initiated - every single plot decision seems to have been taken from the perspective of 'wouldn't it be cool if...' or 'Let's shock people with the nastier sides of human nature now' or 'Now we must give our hero a tough decision'...
Everything to make this a science-fiction classic masterpiece were present; Spielberg's directing, a great concept, ILM special effects, Tom Cruise as the main character and lots of other professionals involved both in front and behind the cameras.
Basically the movie is only about Tom Cruise and his two children running and driving from city to city, from the aliens and their destructive Tripod-machines.
Always a bit of trepidation going to see a remake of a major movie - The original was quite good (for its time).I think part of it is the "I know what's going to happen" feeling and so I approached War of the Worlds in this light.However I was entirely delighted with the movie, the updated story line, and the excellent special effects.
In this updated adaptation of H.G. Well's classic, we revisit alien territory already familiar with Spielberg (with evergreens like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and E.T.), except that this time around, the aliens are not an iota friendly and wastes no time proving its point with its laser beams.Cruise plays Ray, a middle class salaried worker whose ex-wife (Miranda Otto, in an underused role) leaves their estranged kids with for the weekend.
Spielberg teases you with indirect shots of the tripods, from mirrors and reflective surfaces, never letting you see from a first person's perspective for too long, keeping in pace with the initial suspense built.Terrorist attacks were mentioned in conversation, and perhaps this movie also serves as a timely reminder of always being prepared, with emergency equipment, stashes of food, and familiarity with emergency procedures.This film could take the easy way out and focus on the big explosions ala Independence Day, but since that was already done, we get to focus on the smaller picture, that of the survival of the family unit in crisis, and I applaud this approach.
Most times we do not have complete information, and need to make split second life determining decisions.However, the pace slackens toward the end of the movie, and steers us back with reminders that this is after all a summer action blockbuster, with predictable endings, some plot loopholes and worse, rushed explanations.Tom Cruise doesn't get to flash his pearly whites so often here, as we see a transformation from irresponsibility, and in his son's opinion, cowardice, to courageous dad whose children are his first priority.
Well not too much to add beyond all that's been said here already, except:1) once again, Spielberg explores family dysfunction and parent abandonment issues, this time shoehorning it into an apocalyptic action movie.2) alien machines that should be busy destroying world population centers instead choose to chase Tom Cruise through New Jersey...down side streets, to his ex-wife's house, on a ferryboat, in his minivan.
This film doesn't present a corny alien invasion episode with bad acting or unrealistic situations like Independence Day does, but it puts you right in the characters shoes and does not exaggerate the concept at all.
From the angle of the camera (eye level to make it feel like you right there staring at the tripods), to the brilliant cinematography and breathtaking special effects (the opening scene where we see the tripod rise from the ground is astonishing and just freaky), this movie grounds what could have been a very "out there" film.
Lost and forgotten are the times you created marvelous movies like 'Close Encounters', 'The Color Purple', or 'Schindler's List'.When we put aside the special effects in your film (that money nowadays can buy in abundance), there remains a hollow shell with poor acting, a flawed story, a ton of logical errors, and - what I reproach most - you've actually got nothing to say to the audience.
Tom dose not seem to get a long at all, when Ray falls a sleep and then he find out that Robbie as taken off with car.As leaves the house, he see people standing in middle of the road looking at sky, seeing some of really odd cloud, they rush to the back garden to see more, then some of lighting storm, and it was not normal lighting storm, (The special effect for that great,i loved it).As Ray leaves and seeing everyone rushes to were the lightning as hit about 10 times and then see this Tripod that came from underneath the ground that starts to kill people.The rest of movie is about father and kids trying to survive for rest of movies while the Tripod destroy everything around them.Great acting from the whole cast, as already said the special effects was absolutely brilliant.I give this movie 9 out 10.
It's somewhat discomforting that one of our generations finest filmmakers has produced something deserving the same treatment as the Gamera series, Lost Continent and the Crawling Eye (OK, I rather liked that one when I was a kid), but that's what happens when you combine a completely illogical premise with irritating characters and a story so full of holes and absurd occurrences that one wonders if the crew ever watched the final product before releasing it.Let's see if I've got this right.
This gives the big picture view that gets short shrift in the 2005 edition.Spielberg's choice to tell the story from the point of view of a random citizen caught up in the maelstrom has possibilities, but suffers from the injection of the superfluous subplot involving Ray's (Cruise's character) parenting issues.
But, it's a lot better than Spielberg's edition, which comes off more as a vehicle to sell lunch boxes and action figures than it does as an example of good film-making.
When the son is determined to go off and fight the aliens, all I could think was, "Great, 1 down, 2 to go, and now maybe the real story (of a war between the worlds) will begin." It's usually a big mistake to make your main characters and hero totally unlikeable and lacking in charm - I didn't care if they were all pureed into alien V-8 juice.
After striking lightning once with Minority Report, the creative duo set out to tell the story of an alien invasion from the point of view of a father and his two children, who are trying to find their way to shelter, and security, within the mass mayhem that follows the invasion.Cruise plays Ray Ferrier, a working, divorced man, who witnesses an extra terrestrial attack during what was meant to be another weekend he spent with his kids  son Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and daughter Rachel (the obnoxiously precocious Dakota Fanning).
The screen shows us tanks and soldiers running over the hill towards a battle against the alien tripods, but they never take us to the other side of the hill, to show us what's really going on.Watching the movie, I couldn't help but compare the dust Ferrier was covered in with photos from Ground Zero on the day of the attack.
But then again, the film excelled in so may other fields  acting, atmosphere, special effects  that I was willing to overlook the usual Spielberg disadvantages (let's face it, the man doesn't know how to end a film) and enjoy the overall view as a haunting mirror to the way our society behaves during this frightening first decade of the 21st century..
After see her in this movie, Dakota is no doubt going to have a great acting career as she gets older.The third thing that I enjoyed was that Spielberg gives us a true meaning of war and fear.
This film has Tom Cruise running around scared the whole time with kids you kind of hope the aliens kill anyway.
Even though I expected WotW was going to be bad, I somehow thought Tom could save it.If you haven't read the book, or seen the 1953 movie, or you are easily impressed by bright, shiny objects, you will probably like this movie.The 1953 movie is waaaaaay better story-wise, and not bad effects considering the year.
Already feeling inconvenienced due to his parental inadequacies, things are further complicated by the arrival of aliens, who after a lighting storm awakes them from the earth, start to lay waste to America.Having failed to ignite the box office in his customary way with his last two directorial outings (The Terminal & Catch Me If You Can ), Steven Spielberg, arguably played safe with his next film.
The movie has great action, Excellent special effects and truly terrorizing sound and ambiance effects of the alien invasion, but the subtle, entertaining and gripping element of the movie isn't really the "war", violence or a man vs.
It put me on a little cloud knowing I was part of it.I got the script and as it was expected of me rose some points needing changes, or some explanation and made a list like so: 1- With the Tsunami experience we know people do not understand danger is here and completely lack self preservation instincts, but here it says the street has been hit by lightning, then starts collapsing, cracking, erupting, the buildings are too; a very odd looking flying machine comes out of this quickly followed by another this time standing on three feet, still people do not try establishing any safe distance with the phenomenon until they start being vaporized.
Nathan Pacheco War of the Worlds Film ReviewThe science fiction action film, directed by Steven Spielberg, is probably one of the most "eye-catching" movies out there.
Not every day you encounter bloodthirsty aliens, so to act as if it was a real event, takes so much time and talent to really make you believe it was actually happening like the actors did in this movie.
Since the last movie they made which it was Minority Report, they took the remake to an exhilarating next level in the film "War of the Worlds".It stars Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin, Tim Robbins, etc.Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a working class man living in New Jersey.
Sometimes you can get away with it, but more often than not they fail miserably, succeeding only in disappointing the fans of the original in the process.If SS wanted to do a angsty, dysfunctional family drama set against the backdrop of an alien invasion he should have just made up his own story, rather than bastardizing the work of someone else.It's ironic that when you consider this movie in comparison to the George Pal version from the 50's, suddenly George's messing with the plot doesn't seem so bad, at least I enjoyed that movie even if it also largely ignored the bulk of H G Wells original plot.Steven, give me back the two hours of my life wasted on this movie!.
Tom Cruise proves again and again he can act, but Dakota Fanning steals the show from him in this one, she is brighter then the effects in this movie.The story is a good take on the classic "war of the worlds" tale, concentrating more on the humans and never visiting the "why" of the aliens in much detail.The special effects are awesome and really add to the movie, I loved the opening sequence when we first see the invaders...wow.This is Steven Spielberg so you know all production values are high bar and that is all that needs to be said there.This is a fun exciting and only in one spot a bit silly (the Tim Robbins bit) movie.I highly recommend it to any sci-fi fans..
Also, the most subtle element is the fact that while the guy struggles (runs, hides, etc.) to protect just his family, only bad things happen, while the moment he "realizes" (without any reason as far as I am concerned) that he "must fight" and "make personal sacrifices", everything starts going well.Stilberg's subtle style and the special effects made this movie viewable to the end.
He got back on track with Catch Me If You Can. I think the aliens are better in War of the Worlds than Independence Day. I hope this movie gets nominated for an Oscar.
There is so many mixed reviews about War of the Worlds, and being a non sci-fi fan, I thought maybe I should give an outsiders point of view (no pun intended).It's Ray's (played by Cruise) turn to look after his teenage kids for the weekend.
Sounds typical but it isn't, for the best part of the film, Spielberg has the viewer on the edge of your seat, moment after moment, scene after scene.While Ray and the kids don't move in the direction you might think is best logical, the story does provoke many questions, one would have to face in this highly unlikely situation.Probably the most gripping of all the scenes, would be Ray and his daughter trapped in a house basement with Ogilvy (Tim Robbins).
Sure, the effects are amazing and when the aliens are attacking, you wont care about much else; but he grounds the story in minute details too often, and the story of Tom Cruise and his estranged kids just isn't enough to form a solid backbone for the movie.
I think they were waiting for human technology to advance to the point where we could create spectacular computer graphics images to make them look cool, because the ultimate goal of the filmmakers is apparently just to show off what they can do with CGI, without any thought of actually coming up with a good story.The special effects in this movie are amazing.
If you like great visuals this is the film for you, if you want a movie that actually has a story, best save your dollars.
Fourth, is that he gave JP a spectacular CG though completely irrational ending(how exactly does a T-rex sneak up on super smart raptors without making a sound?) while in WotW he does the opposite, and fifth, as stated before, is that Spielberg seems less interested in summer popcorn genre films after doing Schindler's List and it shows in his direction.His last real attempt was the Lost World--which I think, despite its flaws was one of his least forced movies in decades.
However, maybe the movie would have worked better had it expanded the story to involve more characters and encompassed more the broader effect of the invasion outside of Cruise's family.All in all, a total waste of talent and an even clunkier mess than the marauding invading aliens..
WOTW seemed like it could have been done by any action movie director - Michael Bay maybe :-SOK not much time but things that got to me:1) If the aliens coveted our planet for a million years, why didn't they just take over before humans existed?