Variety
A gritty, intense and supremely accomplished sci-fier about some distinctly unbenign alien invaders.
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War of the Worlds
Steven Spielberg directs Tom Cruise as Ray, a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. After his ex-wife and her new husband drop of his teenage son and young daughter for a rare weekend visit, a wee problem emerges: aggressive alien invaders from space. Based on the novel by H.G. Wells.
2005116 minsUSA
AdventureBlockbuster
War of the Worlds | Reviews
75%268 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® Score
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Hollywood Reporter
Exploring the dark side of his old films E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Spielberg more than does justice to the granddaddy of all alien-invasion tales, H.G. Wells' still terrifying novel published in 1898.
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The New York Times
Steven Spielberg's reasonably entertaining rendering of the 1898 H. G. Wells novel is an elemental story of predator and prey.
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Los Angeles Times
With War of the Worlds [Spielberg] has made what is arguably one of the best 1950s science fiction films ever.
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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.
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Empire Magazine
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.
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The Age
Bewildered, mildly optimistic, holding out the hope of salvation in spite of everything in a blasted, empty landscape, War of the World is, in the end, and perhaps despite its intentions, a fairly tentative assertion of hope for the future.
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Rolling Stone
H.G. Wells wouldn't recognize his 1898 alien-invasion novel, The War of the Worlds, in Steven Spielberg's updated film version. But Wells could probably relate to the ensuing fear and panic.
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A.V. Club
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.
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Film Threat
Rarely has the term 'Hollywood ending' been quite as appropriate, and seldom has a denouement of that nature come so close to tainting all that came before.
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War of the Worlds | Release Details
War of the Worlds is available to stream in New Zealand now on Netflix and Google Play and Prime Video and Apple TV and TVNZ+.