Ray Ferrier: "It's just like the 4th of July."
Rachel Ferrier: "No, it's not."
Steven Spielberg adapts HG Wells' century-old sci-fi thriller for the big screen in a stunning blend of awesome special effects and accomplished storytelling.
Tom Cruise is the divorced dad fighting to save his two kids from an alien invasion force that aren't the cute "phone home" variety but a nasty bunch, striding the Earth in vast "tripods", turning all-comers to dust with one blast of a dessicating killer ray.
Even a cop-out ending couldn't mar a terrifyingly effective movie with Spielberg working his magic, particularly during a stomach-knotting scene where a ferry is upended by a spiteful tripod.
Tim Robbins also chilled as a creepy survivalist who has his own methods of dealing with the threat.
