Guide Note

War of the Worlds is a science fiction world disaster film that is based on the novel by H.G. Wells, and on the 1938 radio show of the same name. Released on June 29, 2005, War of the Worlds grossed $64,878,725 on opening weekend at the box office.

Fast Facts

1. Released on June 29, 2005
2. Written by: H.G. Wells (Novel), Josh Friedman and David Koepp
3. Directed by: Steven Spielberg
4. Narrated by: Morgan Freeman
5. Staring: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto, Justin Chatwin, Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman
6. Run time: 118 minutes
7. Budget: 132 Million
8. Domestic Total Gross: $234,280,354
9. The film received 3 Academy Awards for, Achievement in Sound, Achievement in Sound Editing and Achievement in Visual Effects

Ray Ferrier, played by Tom Cruise, gets his kids for a weekend visit. Soon after their arrival an unusual lightening storm occurs. Shortly after this lightening storm Ferrier sees a three legged machine emerge from the earth and destroy everything in its path. Ferrier scrambles to save his children from the alien invasion before its to late.

"War of the Worlds" is a big, clunky movie containing some sensational sights but lacking the zest and joyous energy we expect from Steven Spielberg. It proceeds with the lead-footed deliberation of its 1950s predecessors to give us an alien invasion that is malevolent, destructive and, from the alien point of view, pointless. They've "been planning this for a million years" and have gone to a lot of trouble to invade Earth for no apparent reason and with a seriously flawed strategy. What happened to the sense of wonder Spielberg celebrated in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," and the dazzling imagination of "Minority Report"? — Roger Ebert