Ray Ferrier is a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. Soon after his ex-wife and her new husband drop off his teenage son and young daughter for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm touches down.
Nominated for 3 Oscars. 16 wins & 49 nominations total
Top Critics Reviews
rotten:
Overall, the film is too lacking in feeling to provide a recognizably human experience.
– Andrew Sarris,
New York Observer,
14 Jul 2005
fresh:
There likely won't be a more gripping film this year than Spielberg's War Of The Worlds, which at its best glides along like choreography with a camera, slowly parsing out information while shrouding the rest in shadow and suggestion.
– Scott Tobias,
AV Club,
26 Sep 2005
fresh:
Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds is huge and scary, moving and funny-another capper to a career that seems like an unending succession of captivations.
– Ken Tucker,
New York Magazine/Vulture,
12 May 2006
fresh:
The film succeeds as pure sensation, an exacting distillation of fear.
– Jessica Winter,
Time Out,
24 Jun 2006
rotten:
Spielberg's calculations turn out to be more prominent than any effects they could possibly produce, and the less pretentious 1953 version by producer George Pal emerges as more likable.