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War of the Worlds

2005

Steven Spielberg

Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin, Tim Robbins ...

5.7

81,820

Sci-Fi. Action. Horror Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. Soon after his ex-wife (Miranda Otto) and her new husband drop off his teenage son Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and young daughter Rachel (Dakota Fanning) for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm touches down. Moments later, at an intersection near his house, Ray witnesses an extraordinary event that will change all their lives forever.

	Author	Review
United States	Todd McCarthy Variety	"A gritty, intense and supremely accomplished sci-fier (...) [An] awesome spectacle"	POS
United States	A. O. Scott The New York Times	"Reasonably entertaining (...) Although the special effects are elaborate and expensive, 'War of the Worlds' has some of the stripped-down ingenuity of 'Jaws' and 'Duel.'"	POS
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"A big, clunky movie containing some sensational sights but lacking the zest and joyous energy we expect from Steven Spielberg.(…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"	NEU
United States	Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader	"The special effects are good, and Tom Cruise isn't bad (...) Spielberg's calculations turn out to be more prominent than any effects they could possibly produce"	NEU
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"A fundamentally unambitious and often quite dull film (...) Viewers of this movie will think they are watching a demo for the tie-in video game (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"	NEG
United States	Bruce Westbrook Houston Chronicle	"This anti-'E.T.' is so rigorously realized it makes 'Independence Day' look like 'Finding Neverland'. What begins as grand-scale spectacle and awe-inspiring adventure becomes a grueling ordeal and a waking nightmare."	POS
United States	Scott Tobias AV Club	"The ending arrives and the dyke bursts, and all that's left to admire is how a great director kept the cracks from showing (...) A false, hollow conclusion"	NEU
United Kingdom	Colin Kennedy Empire	"A greatest-hits package from our greatest living entertainer, there is almost overmuch to admire here, but only the moments that aspire to post-9/11 relevance chill as well as thrill (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS

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