Review 734: War of the Worlds (2005)
Based on the science fiction novel The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells; Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a blue collar dock worker who, when an alien invasion threatens the future of humanity, must race to keep his family safe At its core, Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds is an anti-war film; throughout the film, civilians run and only try to save themselves and their family as opposed to fighting back against the tripods. There’s an every-man-for-himself vibe to the For his part, Ray doesn’t try to help anyone else on the road. In one scene, he actually delays the departure of a ferry so that he and his kids can scramble aboard. and does away with typical sci-fi action movie cliches like the destruction of famous landmarks and generals standing around a large map pushing ships with big sticks into place trading the former for more localised destruction which helps to make the invasion feel closer to home. Unlike Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E....
