Critic Reviews
War of the Worlds (2005) Rank 2 Reviews
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based on (466) reviews
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CineFile : il Cinema in Rete (Fabrizio Formenti)
La vita di Ray Ferrier è tutt'altro che elettrizzante sotto ogni punto di vista: separato dalla moglie, non è ben visto neppure dai suoi due figli, e non si può dire che egli sia esente da colpe per questo, per via del suo carattere un po' ruvido.
E' ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at CineFile : il Cinema in Rete (Fabrizio Formenti)
In Review (Adam Suraf)
Movie-Vault.com (Mel Valentin)
Boxoffice Magazine (Christine James)
Almost every moment of War of the Worlds is heart-racing, jaw-dropping, knuckle-biting, date-grabbing adrenaline. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Boxoffice Magazine (Christine James)
IGN Movies (Spence D.)
For all its technical beauty, there's something lacking. It often feels a bit like Spielberg phoned the film in or at the very least painted it by numbers. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at IGN Movies (Spence D.)
Uruguay Total (Enrique Buchichio)
(...) La primera media hora de Guerra de los Mundos es una maravilla de suspenso, tensión, horror y drama... ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Uruguay Total (Enrique Buchichio)
Des Moines Register (Jeffrey Bruner)
Make E.T. a bad dude whose momma never loved him and we're talking real scorched-earth policy here ... These guys are dividers, not uniters. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Des Moines Register (Jeffrey Bruner)
Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (Ken Hanke)
What hurts it is Spielberg's dogged insistence on turning it into yet another of his seemingly endless middle-brow meditations on the travails of the middle-class family. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (Ken Hanke)
The New Yorker (David Denby)
It’s the right role for Cruise, but the movie is so devoted to him, so star-driven, that it begins to seem a little demented. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at The New Yorker (David Denby)
Greenwich Village Gazette (Eric Lurio)
It's really amazing how much pathos is generated while there's nothing on screen but violence and mass panic. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Greenwich Village Gazette (Eric Lurio)
efilmcritic.com (Dan Lybarger)
Even hostile invasions need a bit more character and plot development. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at efilmcritic.com (Dan Lybarger)
TV Guide's Movie Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
It unfolds in the angst-haunted shadow of the 9/11 terror attacks and teeters on a thin edge of sheer panic -- the carnage is no gleeful game and the devastation is so overwhelming that human defenses crumble like sand. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
Orlando Sentinel (Roger Moore)
Spielberg is pretty much incapable of making a terrible movie anymore. But he has plainly forgotten a lot of what makes a good popcorn movie since his Jurassic period. Where's the fun? ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Orlando Sentinel (Roger Moore)
Movies for the Masses (Joseph Proimakis)
click to read review [Greek] ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Movies for the Masses (Joseph Proimakis)
New York Times (A.O. Scott)
Steven Spielberg's reasonably entertaining rendering of the 1898 H. G. Wells novel is an elemental story of predator and prey. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at New York Times (A.O. Scott)
Screen Rant (Brian Rentschler)
La Presse, Montréal (--)
Hartford Courant (--)
TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
It unfolds in the angst-haunted shadow of the 9'11 terror attacks and teeters on a thin edge of sheer panic. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
Movie Addict (John Ulmer)
I can only imagine how much better this would have been if they had taken a risk on the ending. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Movie Addict (John Ulmer)
Newsday - New York
Leer Cine (Santiago García)
Xi-online (Jeroen Vormeer)
TeenHollywood.com (Lynn Barker)
In War of the Worlds, Tom Cruise plays dock worker Ray Ferrier, an everyman, hard-workin' dude who toils on the New Jersey docks. He's divorced from his wife (Miranda Otto) who has remarried, and is pretty estranged from his two kids Rachel (Dakota ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at TeenHollywood.com (Lynn Barker)
Boxoffice Magazine
Pop Entertainment.com
MovieMaze (Thomas Straßer)
MTV (Kurt Loder)
[A]s much a disaster movie as it is a straight sci-fi horror film … there are very good performances in the film … but the movie leaves you feeling let-down and quarrelsome. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at MTV (Kurt Loder)
New York Daily News (Jami Bernard)
Go for the extraordinary special effects, by all means, but not if you want to feel good about yourself or humanity. And heed the PG-13 rating, because this movie takes no prisoners. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at New York Daily News (Jami Bernard)
rec.arts.movies.reviews (Mark R. Leeper)
The film is dark and bleak with little real sense of wonder--the thing that should be Spielberg's forte. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at rec.arts.movies.reviews (Mark R. Leeper)
ToxicUniverse.com (John Nesbit)
Cinema in Focus (Denny Wayman and Hal Conklin)
The Spinning Image (Jason Cook)
No one would have believed in the early years of the twenty-first century that our world was being watched by intelligences greater than our own. That as men busied themselves about their various concerns, they observed - and studied. With infinite ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at The Spinning Image (Jason Cook)
Baltimore Sun (--)
Contra Costa Times (Mary F. Pols)
In the second half of the film, the wind starts to go out of Spielberg's sails. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Contra Costa Times (Mary F. Pols)
Tail Slate (Brian Milinsky)
Sacramento Bee (Carla Meyer)
Technically flawless but not especially moving. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Sacramento Bee (Carla Meyer)
Goatdog's Movies (Michael W. Phillips, Jr.)
San Antonio Express-News (Larry Ratliff)
It's tiring, stressful and just plain not much fun to watch a 10-year-old scream in total terror for almost two hours. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at San Antonio Express-News (Larry Ratliff)
Kvikmyndir.com (--)
Premiere Magazine (Aaron Hillis)
...the film's only sublime moments happen in scenes where the population gets blown up. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Premiere Magazine (Aaron Hillis)
Time (Richard Corliss)
The new film is a toss-up with George Pal's very watchable 1953 version: the special effects are even better here, the drama even lamer. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Time (Richard Corliss)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
A big, clunky movie containing some sensational sights but lacking the zest and joyous energy we expect from Steven Spielberg. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
CinemaZone.dk
Vi er så sandelig ikke længere i de uskyldige 90’ere. Hvor Roland Emmerich med glimt i øjet kunne more sig med en fremmed invasion i Independence Day tilbage i 1996, så har alvoren sænket sig over Hollywood og ikke mindst legebarnet Steven ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at CinemaZone.dk
SPLICEDwire (Rob Blackwelder)
A problematic blockbuster with one essential saving grace: It's profoundly frightening in a way that few directors have the talent to capture. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at SPLICEDwire (Rob Blackwelder)
Orlando Weekly (Steve Schneider)
[A] shockingly unimaginative remake. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Orlando Weekly (Steve Schneider)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
"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 ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Groucho Reviews (Peter Canavese)
Has all the mechanized ingenuity of one of those dazzling Tripods, but the bigger they are....it's the gutless ending that renders War of the Worlds most insulting. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Groucho Reviews (Peter Canavese)
Film Freak Central (Walter Chaw)
Spielberg is the only one who can mess up a Spielberg film. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Film Freak Central (Walter Chaw)
Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Duane Dudek)
War of the Worlds is the kind of movie Spielberg can make in his sleep, which may be why it feels like we are sleepwalking while watching it. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Duane Dudek)
San Diego Union-Tribune (David Elliott)
A rather primitive demolition derby, with little of the human solidarity that was corny but meaningful in the 1953 picture. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at San Diego Union-Tribune (David Elliott)
Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) (Greg Maki)
... A visual and technical achievement, but underwhelming on every other level. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) (Greg Maki)
Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
Newly updated but shamelessly hokey, Steven Spielberg's version of the 1898 H.G. Wells yarn about murderous invaders from outer space starts off as a nimble scare show like ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
Tail Slate (Brian Milinsky)
ShowBIZ Data (--)
Cinema Signals (Jules Brenner)
Golly, is it too much to expect more character dimension than this from the director of "Schindler's List"? ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Cinema Signals (Jules Brenner)
F5 (Wichita, KS) (Jake Euker)
The narrative miscalculation is extraordinary and ruinous to the extent that I can't conjure an example of a similarly enjoyable movie being beheaded so efficiently. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at F5 (Wichita, KS) (Jake Euker)
Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Daniel M. Kimmel)
[O]nce you get over your initial sense of awe at the special effects, you're left with the feeling that you're being hit over the head repeatedly. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Daniel M. Kimmel)
EDGE Boston (David Foucher)
Earth goes to war, but Spielberg merely goes back to his aging bag of tricks. ...read the complete War of the Worlds movie review at EDGE Boston (David Foucher)
Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)
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