War of the Worlds (2005)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins

As Earth is invaded by alien tripod fighting machines, one family fights for survival in this sci-fi action film.

The classic tale gets a fresh new look thanks to dynamic visuals. This is still one of Tom Cruise’s best performances (in my opinion) and Dakota Fanning is also very good.

The visuals are jaw-dropping. The action and suspense starts pretty early in the film and never lets up. This is non-stop action and excitement from beginning to end, with lots of suspense and great sound effects.

Yes, there were scenes when I thought this is absolutely not possible, and it wasn’t always believable how Ray (Cruise) managed to escape the onslaught, but in general this is one hell of an awesome action thriller. Spielberg thought of everything to maximize the suspense.  ‘War of the Worlds’ is a an all-round top-notch production.

‘War of the Worlds’ received three Oscar nominations for Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and Visual Effects. It won several awards including Best Performance by a Younger Actor (Dakota Fanning), Best Sound Design, Best Action, Visual Effects of the Year, Best Original Soundtrack of the Year, and received 48 nominations in various categories. The film earned nearly $592 million on a $132 million budget.

Would I watch it again? Definitely.