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Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto, Justin Chatwin, Tim Robbins ... see more see more... , Rick Gonzalez , Yul Vázquez , Lenny Venito , Lisa Ann Walter , Ann Robinson , Gene Barry , Morgan Freeman , David Alan Basche , James DuMont , Daniel Franzese , David Harbour , Amy Ryan

An ordinary man has to protect his children against alien invaders in this science fiction thriller, freely adapted from the classic story by H.G. Wells. Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a dockworker livin... read more read more...g in New Jersey, divorced from his first wife Mary Ann (Miranda Otto) and estranged from his two children Rachel and Robbie (Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin), of whom he has custody on weekends. On one such visitation, looking after the kids becomes a little more difficult when, after a series of strange lighting storms hit his neighborhood, Ray discovers that a fleet of death-ray robotic spaceships have emerged nearby, part of the first wave of an all-out alien invasion of the Earth. Transporting his children from New York to Boston in an attempt to find safety at Mary Ann's parents' house, Ray must learn to become the protector and provider he never was in marriage. Also starring Tim Robbins, War of the Worlds was directed by Steven Spielberg, who had been planning the project for years, but set it aside until a wave of "alien invasion" films (led by Independence Day) had run its course. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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45% liked it

31,022,289 ratings

Critics

74% liked it

250 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 56 min.

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Release Date: June 29, 2005

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DVD Release Date: November 22, 2005

Stats: 1,175,979 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,175,979)

  • thmtsang
    March 24, 2012
    thmtsang
    Sci-fi movie about an alien invasion. Tom has to protect his estranged kids.
  • phubbs1
    February 29, 2012
    phubbs1
    Effects wise this is a very very good film, like all modern sci-fi films, it looks awesome and very realistic. The aliens and their mechanical tripods are slick, shiny and uber cool looking :) whilst the fungus like growth they produce across everything looks brilliant and fully ... read morebelieveable, superb effects, kudos.

    But that's it, the acting is the usual over the top, wide eyed blockbuster fare you expect from these high dollar flicks, Cruise is just Cruise like in all his films haha no difference, the kids are good but they have that annoying thing going on which I can't quite explain haha the only decent acting really is Robbins, dependable is the word.

    As for this flick against the old one its hard, this new film is great looking of course and more complete due to what can be done but the old film is charming and has that classic movie aura about it that always seems to make them come across well. The quaint effects also are so very likeable hehe the look of the ships, that green hue, the red lasers :) so good.

    Both are good and have their pluses and minuses, this is a good flick for sure just overrated methinks.
  • TheGame90
    February 12, 2012
    TheGame90
    This was a good movie. But I disagree with a lot of things about it. First of all. Why do we follow a bumlike man who's not on good terms with his children....and why does everything look so grey and just dead? It's the war of the worlds. As it is displayed for me...I just feel t... read morehat....go a head and destroy us all...it's a hell hole anyway...It's us against them...try showing our good side....then we can turn on eachother when times are though. Another thing I disagree with is that the aliens make there first apperance way too early....come on....build the drama....did Planet of the Apes teach you nothing? Now...we see them at the start of the movie....And about half through...it's not interesting anymore...Cause the first halft was good...the second....I couldn't care less...And as far as Spielberg goes....I just wanna say that he did some really good things in this movie....but he did some bad stuff to.....so...it's not really a bad movie...but the whole overall feeling is just bitter..and I wouldn't really recomend it recomend it. And Tom's son should have died...that was the best part of the movie....but no...we can't have that in a Spielberg film
  • spielberg00
    December 23, 2011
    spielberg00
    Itâ(TM)s rewarding to see director Steven Spielberg return to the alien studies for which we know him best. His earlier films CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND and E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL were classic (and much less intense), but seeing him revisit such a marvelous concept ... read moreis phenomenal. The running up satisfier about this adrenaline-heavy thriller is that it is not merely an adaptation of H.G. Wellsâ(TM)s classic novel; it is a 21st century twist, narrated reverently by Morgan Freeman. It was also one of three versions of the story in 2005 (!), all remakes of the 1953 film THE WAR OF THE WORLDS.

    Full Review: http://wp.me/p1Urcx-zz
  • xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    December 12, 2011
    xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    They're already here.

    Saw it again! Excellent movie! This movie hardly has any flaws, it is epic as well as amazing. I could watch it many times again. Love it!

    Ray Ferrier (Cruise) is a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. When his ex-wife and her new husband drop... read more off his teenage son Robbie and young daughter Rachel for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm suddenly touches down. What follows is the extraordinary battle for the future of humankind through the eyes of one American family fighting to survive it in this contemporary retelling of H.G. Wells seminal classic sci-fi thriller.
  • fb100002090596996
    September 6, 2011
    fb100002090596996
    The plot is average. The acting, although very realistic, it's not very natural. The effects... oh lord. This is a good "oh lord"... This movie has the best effects of all time. There is no comparison, I just can't see any other movie with these effects. It's just a bit too good,... read more actually. This makes things much better. The movie is indeed a hit or miss, but it's also indeed thrilling. This is what most alien invasion movies are, thrillers. Most as in, the exception being Men in Black, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, erm, well, uh, 2001: A Space Odyssey... and yes... the movie is about aliens (The monolith (chocolate bar thing, for most) is an alien). So, is it good? Yep, and not over-welling on action like Independence Day, neither. This is the Golden Cheese.
  • YosemiteSamFan
    August 6, 2011
    YosemiteSamFan
    I enjoyed it on first viewing. It has a strange look to every scene, even before the aliens attack, there's an overuse of cyan (blue/green) unnatural tinting, plus an artificial grain effect. The blood-red weed and purple alien heat rays look glow against the cyan landscape.Money... read more was put into the great alien look of it all. Actor-wise, Tom Cruise was a bit generic concerned dad-of-action in this one. His little daughter Dakota Fanning either stared wide-eyed or screamed uncontrollably, making her not too cute. The teenaged son... well, he didn't really fit into the family unit. While this movie wasn't strong on characters, I watched with amazement and horror all the alien destructive forces. The scene where the alien lander first crashes in the road and cracks up the streets and buildings is frightening. It must've been a wet invasion, because there weren't many burning buildings throughout. Yup, this movie has some frightening sequences done well. I like how we actually do get to see the aliens, in a brief basement scene not unlike the Signs one. There were fun tributes to the original, with a similar alien claw design and the crazy guy living underground (Tim Robbins), even if it was only a basement. I'm surprised the authorities didn't do more or there weren't more media reports of what was going on. The movie was the lonely and crazy journey of Tom Cruise and his kids through a creepily ruined and changed landscape. Their final destination I won't reveal, but it was a relief as the credits rolled. Good for a rental, but I wouldn't want to own it.
  • skeletonking101
    August 2, 2011
    skeletonking101
    Out of all film remakes, this is one of the best to me, and I definitely prefer it over ther original that bored me to death. The effects are top notch in this film and Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning do great jobs as the Father and daughter trying to escape from this alien armaged... read moredon on the planet. It is also a faithful adaption to the original novel (which is one of my favorite books,) and does the same thing the original film did, that make the film take place at the time it was made and not the time the novel was written. The apocalyptic scenes of people being turned to ash and the destroyed buildings add to the fantastic detail and CG spectacle to this film, also the aliens are very interesting looking, and the Amphibian-like moving martian war machines are fantastic to look at and the roar it makes is very threatening and intimadating to listen to. Also Morgan Freeman as the narrartor, nice touch.
  • fb729949618
    July 31, 2011
    fb729949618
    Saw it in theatres and opposed to others, I actually liked it. Could it have been better? Sure but it was pretty well done.
  • CloudStrife84
    July 6, 2011
    CloudStrife84
    Call me crazy, but I have a hard time understanding why so many people dislike this movie. Granted that Tom Cruise is mentally deranged and ought to be thrown into the looney bin (he even tried recruiting people to his scientology bull**** during the shooting of this film) , but ... read moreas an actor he does his job exemplary and as is true for the rest of the cast here. Alien invasion stories is obviously nothing new, but Spielberg has brought his own touch to it that to me felt very fresh and inventive. Especially as you follow the turn of events from the perspective of an innocent family. Another strong point - and much of the reason why I love it so - is that it feels genuinely realistic. You truly experience the terror along with its characters - to me also heightened on a personal level as it reminded me a lot of some vivid nightmares I've had. The only part that falls short of greatness is the overly rushed ending, which felt a bit unsatisfying and left me with many questions unanswered. Other than that though, it's an incredibly thrilling sci-fi gem with perfect directing and state-of-the-art special effects. Definitely within the Top 5 among my all-time favourite Spielberg movies.

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Critic Reviews

Jonathan Rosenbaum
June 8, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Spielberg's calculations turn out to be more prominent than any effects they could possibly produce, and the less pretentious 1953 version by producer George Pal emerges as more likable. Full Review

Ken Tucker
May 12, 2006
Ken Tucker, New York Magazine

Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds is huge and scary, moving and funny-another capper to a career that seems like an unending succession of captivations. Full Review

Andrew Sarris
July 14, 2005
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

Overall, the film is too lacking in feeling to provide a recognizably human experience. Full Review

Michael O'Sullivan
July 7, 2005
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post

War of the Worlds is taut, gripping and surprisingly dark filmmaking. Full Review

Peter Travers
July 7, 2005
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

H.G. Wells wouldn't recognize his 1898 alien-invasion novel, The War of the Worlds, in Steven Spielberg's updated film version. But Wells could probably relate to the ensuing fear and panic.

Rex Reed
July 7, 2005
Rex Reed, New York Observer

There's stuff to make you go 'Wow!' but nothing you'll remember the next day.

David Denby
July 5, 2005
David Denby, New Yorker

It's as if the aliens landed and everyone died so that Tom Cruise could grow up one more time.

Richard Roeper
July 5, 2005
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

[B]y far the biggest, loudest and most elaborate adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic. Full Review

James Berardinelli
June 29, 2005
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

War of the Worlds may not stand up well to careful inspection and it may not be the smartest science fiction film brought to the screen, but it is an intense, visceral experience. Full Review

Owen Gleiberman
June 29, 2005
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

War of the Worlds is an attack-of-the-aliens disaster film crafted with sinister technological grandeur -- a true popcorn apocalypse. Full Review

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Facts

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    • Rachel Ferrier: Are we dead?
    • Narrator: From the moment the invaders arrived, breathed our air, ate and drank, they were doomed. They were undone, destroyed, after all of man's weapons and devices had failed, by the tiniest creatures that God in his wisdom put upon this earth. By the toll of a billion deaths, man had earned his immunity, his right to survive among this planet's infinite organisms. And that right is ours against all challenges. For neither do men live nor die in vain.
    • Robbie Ferrier: Is it the terrorists?
    • Ray Ferrier: No... this came from someplace else.
    • Robbie Ferrier: What, you mean like Europe?
    • Ray Ferrier: NO, ROBBIE! NOT LIKE EUROPE!
    • Ray Ferrier: [inspecting Rachel's splinter] It's gonna get infected.
    • Rachel Ferrier: No it won't. When it's ready, my body will just push it out.
    • Rachel Ferrier: I'm allergic to peanut butter.
    • Ray Ferrier: Since when?
    • Rachel Ferrier: Birth.
    • Ray Ferrier: Don't worry honey, lightning never strikes twice... oh! [lightning strikes second time]
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War of the Worlds Trivia

  • What Two Movies Does Dakota Fanning Play In?(Out Of The Following)  Answer »
  • In what recording, (that has now been made into a film) was Richard Burton the voice of the Journalist  Answer »
  • Which of these movies is NOT based on a novel or short story by Philip K. Dick?   Answer »
  • How do the pod things in 'War of the Worlds get to earth?  Answer »
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