War of the worlds

Year of release : 2005

Run time : 1h52m

Genre : Sci Fi / Action / Thriller

Cast : Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins, Miranda Otto, Morgan Freeman

Director : Steven Spielberg

The movie is based on H.G. Wells' 1898 novel "The war of the worlds".

Ray is a crane dock operator in Brooklyn, New York. When the movie opens he just finished his 12 hour shift, and his ex wife came with her new husband and their 2 kids, as it's his turn to spend time with them, and she lets him know she'll spend the weekend at her parents' home in Boston.

The news keep on talking about power outages and earthquakes in Ukraine. Ray turns off the tv, and asks his son to play baseball with him. His son pretty much hates him and calls him Ray. He doesn't seem to be such a great father, as he goes to sleep after his kids just arrived, and he had no food in the house! When his 10 year old daughter asks him what are they going to eat, he tells her to order!

Later in the day, when Ray goes out, he sees the neighbors take pictures and film the sky. Looking at the sky, it seems dark and burning, while a wind gust starts blowing towards the storm,and lightnings start striking in the same place. The lights go off, and so do the phone lines; and the cars don't work anymore.

Earthquakes start happening in the places where the lightnings hit (Ray's son said he counted 25 times! ), and the asphalt starts cracking, with buildings cracking and falling apart, as the earth where the lightning stroke turns to dust, and a sort of alien machine exits!

We see everything from Ray's point of view, as he is witnessing this first hand, trying to see what's going on. The moment the alien machinery is set in motion, it starts striking people down, turning them to dust!

When he gets home he is in a state of shock, and when he snaps out of it, he is telling his kids to pack food, but he doesn't have any, and steals a car, as the aliens wreck havoc around them.

Ray drives to his ex wife's place, as his daughter screams for her, but there's no one home, although all the lights are on.

They hide in the basement (while the kids,especially Rachel wants to sleep in her bed because she has "back problems" ), as they think the aliens attack, and in the morning, they realize a plane crashed on top of their house.

A tv news team is looking for food through the remains, and the woman tells and shows Ray the aliens came down with the lightning in the pods which were buried underground long ago.

Ray takes his kids, and drives the car on the back roads on the Hudson, so no one would see he has a working car. They do reach the Hudson river, and a mob is ambushing their car in order to steal it.

 

I personally enjoyed the movie, l liked how it was filmed, how we see everything from Ray and his kids' perspective. I liked how when the aliens started k1lling people, it's shot through devices, like cameras, or the review mirror of a car!

The characters keep the movie together, as as a viewer you are invested in what's happening to them, and want to see them make it!

Ray has character growth, as he starts as an absent father, who doesn't seem to care much (he wants to feed his daughter who is allergic to peanut butter, peanut butter!), to one who is protecting his kids, and does his best to keep them alive and safe.

20 years ago, when I first watched the movie, I hated the character Robbie, and I still disliked him now, as he is unlikeable. He hates his father and tells his sister their father doesn't care about them, but he's the one who leaves his sister with his father, while he runs away to the military, who take him to his mother's house, where he's safe! His sister even says to him the first time he wants to leave, not to leave her, for she'll have no one to take care of her! And he still leaves her! He doesn't care about her, although he pretends he does! All he cares about is himself, he's so selfish!

The opening and closing narration is done by Morgan Freeman.

The acting was great, everyone from Tom Cruise to Dakota Fanning, who had to act scared and scream, Tim Robbins, who's character was a bit crazy..give 100%.

The visual effects were great, still stand the test of time. There is the asphalt cracking, houses cracking and splitting apart, and people turned to dust.

The soundtrack was good, eerie.. I loved how it sounded when the alien machines appeared, and the sound the alien machinery made - spooky, scary. Towards the end when it became symphonical it kinda lost me..

The movie received positive reviews, and grossed 603.9 million dollars at the box office, against a budget of 132 million.

It was the 4th highest grossing movie of 2005.

CinemaScore audiences graded the movie a B+.

The movie was nominated for many awards, including 3 Oscars, 2 for Best Sound, and 1 for Best Visual Effects; and even a Raspberry Award for Worst Actor for Tom Cruise!

Rating : Worth a watch!