War of the Worlds

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Da Nugster Joel N dakota fanning's rachel was annoying. great standard spielberg fare although i think it hasn't aged well. the ending still feels like a cop out. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/13/25 Full Review Patrick C I found myself asking what marks this Spielberg film out as inferior to classics such as 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' even as I was watching it, quite enjoying the craft yet ultimately uninvolved in the drama. Partly it was down to Tom Cruise, whose ongoing success as a lead actor has long been a mystery to me. He is as wooden as the tripods are metallic. Perhaps another reason is whereas 'Raiders' seemed to flow beautifully as a piece of cinema, in this case one could almost visualise the storyboards for every scene. I could at no point forget that this was a very skilful construction. There were moments of genuine beauty - the flames amid a grey cityscape worked wonderfully well, and there were scenes when the tripods were placed at such a distance as to create a real sense of awe. But far too often I felt the special effects were employed in such fast-paced sequences that they lost practically all their potential to make the viewer go "Wow." Some slower scenes worked much more successfully, such as the serpentine eye in the basement. As is often the case with the director's films, the most affecting moments came when he could employ his great gift for working with children. Dakota Fanning stole the show in the acting stakes, making Cruise seem like a cardboard cutout by comparison. So all in all an enjoyable romp, but way short of being up there with the films that made his reputation. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 08/13/25 Full Review Matheus T Eu assisti A Guerra dos Mundos quando era mais novo e guardava boas lembranças dele. Ao rever esse clássico, no entanto, minha impressão mudou: o começo é bom, mas o desenvolvimento é arrastado, e só no final a história volta a ficar realmente interessante. Nota: 6,0 Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/11/25 Full Review Alejandro F. One of my favorites ever. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/11/25 Full Review George B War of the Worlds is proof that great visual effects can't save a deeply irritating story. The Martians' tripods and the destruction they wreak are genuinely spectacular, and their reveal is a great demonstration of Steven Spielberg's ability to build tension. We're off to the races with Martians blowing stuff up within about 15 minutes of the title card, and Tom Cruise is also at his peak "running away from things" performance. So far, so good. Then, the film introduces its single-greatest threat: Tom Cruise's children. While the aliens are busy vaporizing cities, the real test of humanity's endurance comes in the form of Tom Cruise's daughter, played by a young Dakota Fanning, whose only response to every crisis is a non-stop, ear-splitting scream. Not to be outdone, his son's character is a walking embodiment of teenage angst so potent you start to wonder whether the aliens aren't actually the film's misunderstood heroes who are trying to do the world a favour by getting rid of him. By the end, I wasn't rooting for the family to survive. I was hoping the Martians would do us all a favor and silence the kids so I could finally enjoy the apocalypse in peace. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/10/25 Full Review Bailey L. It’s a classic and it’s a fun watch! The ending gets a bit confusing however Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/10/25 Full Review Read all reviews

War of the Worlds

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