War of the Worlds

Name: War of the Worlds
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Drama, Thriller
Released: June 29, 2005
Duration: 116 min
Rating: 73
Cast: Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins, Tom Cruise

2005

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 1257 Ratings

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7.5

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7.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 1257 Ratings

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War Of The Worlds

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Movie Details & Credits

Paramount Pictures | Release Date: June 29, 2005 | PG-13

Starring: Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins, Tom Cruise

Summary: A contemporary retelling of H.G. Wells's seminal classic, the sci-fi adventure thriller reveals the extraordinary battle for the future of humankind through the eyes of one American family fighting to survive it. (Paramount Pictures)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Drama, Thriller

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 116 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Kenneth Turan

Working in the spirit of his predecessors but with the kind of uncanny special effects they could barely dream of, Spielberg has come up with an impressive production that is disturbing in the way only provocative science fiction can be. Read full review

Todd McCarthy

A gritty, intense and supremely accomplished sci-fier. Read full review

Kirk Honeycutt

Might be too realistic for its own good: The film takes perhaps a little too much glee in its abilities to manufacture mayhem. That being said, the ride is extraordinary. Read full review

Shawn Levy

Alas, Robbins is far more interesting than Cruise, and you wonder what the film would have been like if their roles were reversed -- if Robbins were the loser in search of redemption and Cruise the agitated freak in the basement. Read full review

Dana Stevens

Acting is not really the point of this movie, which seems to arise above all from Mr. Spielberg's desire to reaffirm that he is, along with everything else, a master of pure action filmmaking. Read full review

Lou Lumenick

Now that this technically impressive - but seriously flawed and self-referential - remake is finally in theaters to swell the July 4 weekend box office, conversation will doubtless shift to the lamest ending yet to a Steven Spielberg movie. Read full review

Stephanie Zacharek

Extravagant in movie terms but stingy in emotional ones, it embodies all of Spielberg's bad impulses and almost none of his good ones: It's a grand display of how well he knows how to work us over, and yet the desperation with which he tries to get to us is repulsive. Read full review

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User Reviews

Juanolo

Apr 2, 2012

First off, I would give this a 9.5 out if 10. Acting is good. Not amazing, but everyone does a good job. Score was really good. Had an incredible story. It also has really good special effects and great set pieces. Overall, this is a really good movie. Great movie, and one of my favorite TomFirst off, I would give this a 9.5 out if 10. Acting is good. Not amazing, but everyone does a good job. Score was really good. Had an incredible story. It also has really good special effects and great set pieces. Overall, this is a really good movie. Great movie, and one of my favorite Tom cruise movie. Highly recommended.… Expand

13 of 16 users found this helpful133

SebastianB.

Nov 23, 2005

This was a great movie! excellent special effects, and Tom Cruise did a great job in this movie

0 of 0 users found this helpful

MatthewJ.

Aug 30, 2005

Great movie...in the vein of other great horror remakes like Invasion of the body snatchers and the thing!

0 of 0 users found this helpful

eva3si0n

Aug 11, 2023

War of the Worlds is an expensive Sci-Fi action disaster film. Star cast, eminent director and good literary primary source. What could go wrong? And it's enough just to transfer the action of the film to modernity. And here's a kind of disaster movie from Spielberg. But there is no scale,War of the Worlds is an expensive Sci-Fi action disaster film. Star cast, eminent director and good literary primary source. What could go wrong? And it's enough just to transfer the action of the film to modernity. And here's a kind of disaster movie from Spielberg. But there is no scale, Wells wrote War of the Worlds before the World Wars, he had no idea what it would look like. This movie begins to fall apart like a house of cards. Special effects are not surprising even by the standards of the early 2000s. There is no scale of what is happening. So it turns out that War of the Worlds cannot but show a catastrophe, not a fantastic show something due to primitiveness, not to surprise with scale. Also, the main character (who was well played by Tom Cruise in general) without a characteristic and the surrounding people sometimes behave inadequately. And the end of the film is as delusional and meaningless as the film itself. War of the Worlds is a bad disaster movie. As a Sci-Fi movie, it's not bad, but it's clearly not Spielberg's best work.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

calhounite

Dec 20, 2013

Guess the overacting was appropos given this was a cataclysmic alien invasion, but when the supposedly hyper-advanced super sophisticated beings show up as naked savages suspension of disbelief ends.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

KeithY

Nov 29, 2005

I agree with another's remarks, but she was pretty harsh. This movie deserves at least a three. It's funny to read all the half-baked critics who just want their name seen next to Spielberg and Cruise for once. The acting was so bad, I found myself annoyed at how stupid the alien I agree with another's remarks, but she was pretty harsh. This movie deserves at least a three. It's funny to read all the half-baked critics who just want their name seen next to Spielberg and Cruise for once. The acting was so bad, I found myself annoyed at how stupid the alien was that it couldn't just squash Tom Thumb in the first 5 minutes. The scenes in the cellar were absolutely laughable, these Spielberg's tripods were dumb and dumber. I really wanted to like this movie, honest! Starts off quite well, but it went all downhill after about 20 minutes into the movie - Did Spielberg go on vacation and let someone else take over after the first few minutes? Things I hated about this movie 1) Severe plot holes - Usually I don't let a plot hole or two ruin the movie, but this was ridiculous. Plot holes throughout meant that the story just didn't make sense and wasn't believable at all 2) The main characters - Very unlikeable. The audience couldn't care less if they lived or died. The acting was okay, for what they were given to work with. I still have faith in your acting abilities, Tom Cruise. I know you'll do better in your next movie. 3) The pacing in the film is extremely uneven 4) The ending! Very uninspiring and a total let-down. It's as if the director suddenly got bored and didn't care that he was slacking off, thinking hoping that the start of the film will at least get it good reviews. All in all, don't bother with this movie. But if you're still curious and hoping that all the bad reviews were wrong, get it on DVD. It's a renter at best!… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful

midig8r

Aug 22, 2005

Stop! Don't waste your money on this piece of garbage. Cruise and Spielberg can't rescue this. No story, half done special effects, overused cliches, and, did I say waste of your time? As a long time SciFi fan, I felt I overpaid seeing this POS at the 2 buck discount theater. See Stop! Don't waste your money on this piece of garbage. Cruise and Spielberg can't rescue this. No story, half done special effects, overused cliches, and, did I say waste of your time? As a long time SciFi fan, I felt I overpaid seeing this POS at the 2 buck discount theater. See the original...much better!!… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

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89	#89 Best Movie of 2005
11	#11 Most Discussed Movie of 2005
21	#21 Most Shared Movie of 2005