War of the Worlds

    War of the Worlds
    2005

    Synopsis

    Ray Ferrier is a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. Soon after his ex-wife and her new husband drop off his teenage son and young daughter for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm touches down.

    Your Movie Library

    Cast

    • Tom CruiseRay Ferrier
    • Dakota FanningRachel Ferrier
    • Justin ChatwinRobbie Ferrier
    • Miranda OttoMary-Ann
    • Tim RobbinsHarlan Ogilvy
    • Rick GonzalezVincent
    • Yul VazquezJulio
    • Lenny VenitoManny the Mechanic
    • Lisa Ann WalterBartender
    • Ann RobinsonGrandmother

    Recommendations

    • 100

      Los Angeles Times

      Working in the spirit of his predecessors but with the kind of uncanny special effects they could barely dream of, Spielberg has come up with an impressive production that is disturbing in the way only provocative science fiction can be.
    • 100

      Miami Herald

      Contains all of the hallmarks of classic genre Spielberg: It shows you things you've never seen before, instills an accompanying sense of awestruck wonder, and delivers long stretches of heightened, delirious excitement that remind you why people started going to the movies in the first place.
    • 90

      Variety

      A gritty, intense and supremely accomplished sci-fier.
    • 90

      Slate

      It's the human struggle that makes this a sci-fi masterpiece.
    • 83

      Seattle Post-Intelligencer

      It's impossible to praise too highly the verve, skill and authenticity with which Spielberg brings off his alien invasion.
    • 80

      The Hollywood Reporter

      Might be too realistic for its own good: The film takes perhaps a little too much glee in its abilities to manufacture mayhem. That being said, the ride is extraordinary.
    • 75

      Philadelphia Inquirer

      For the first 100 minutes of his 117-minute film Spielberg holds the audience in a grip of fear. When Ray and Rachel take refuge in the storm cellar of a survivalist (a miscast Tim Robbins), the director's grip relaxes only a bit, but the film never recovers from this excursion into the Gothic.
    • 70

      Village Voice

      Although it's thoroughly retooled, H.G. Wells's scenario doesn't allow for many soft landings, and the extreme respect for havoc on view quite properly keeps the Spielbergian cutesies to a minimum.

    Loved by

    • Ninjula
    • LauraG.

    Seen by