Release Date:
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
In 1975, Steven Spielberg's Jaws invented the blockbuster summer movie. Now, exactly 30 summers later, he hasnt lost his touch. In fact, he may have even surpassed himself with the dark visions in War Of The Worlds, Hollywoods latest attempt to scare audiences to death adapting H.G. Wells' classic story of an alien invasion. Spielbergs previous take on otherworldly creatures in Close Encounters, E.T., and even the incoherent A.I was that they were cuddly, friendly little things you wouldnt mind double dating with. The director has changed his tune, creating a well realized planet of alien doom and glooma hell on Earth where if we dont watch our back, some titanic fingered, marble-eyed goo machine will eat it for lunch.
Daddy, is it the terrorists? cries 11-year-old Dakota Fanning as the first explosive salvo is sprung on an unsuspecting Boston. In Spielberg's not-so-brave new world we are vulnerable to attack, whether it be launched from Mars or Iran. That tension is what makes a potentially ludicrous contemporary retelling of Wells tale, now centered on a deadbeat dad (Tom Cruise) trying to save his kids from vaporization, so compelling. Although the special effects are every bit as thrilling as you would expect, its the quiet scenes of dread that are most effective, particularly one in a house where Cruise, Fanning, and Tim Robbins silently try to evade one of the snooping tripods looking to exterminate its next human victims. Yes, weve seen this stuff before, but give credit to Spielberg for adding a social context to these fearsome extra terrestrials, making them all something to really phone home about.
Daddy, is it the terrorists? cries 11-year-old Dakota Fanning as the first explosive salvo is sprung on an unsuspecting Boston. In Spielberg's not-so-brave new world we are vulnerable to attack, whether it be launched from Mars or Iran. That tension is what makes a potentially ludicrous contemporary retelling of Wells tale, now centered on a deadbeat dad (Tom Cruise) trying to save his kids from vaporization, so compelling. Although the special effects are every bit as thrilling as you would expect, its the quiet scenes of dread that are most effective, particularly one in a house where Cruise, Fanning, and Tim Robbins silently try to evade one of the snooping tripods looking to exterminate its next human victims. Yes, weve seen this stuff before, but give credit to Spielberg for adding a social context to these fearsome extra terrestrials, making them all something to really phone home about.