I quite like Spielberg’s 2005 remake of War of the Worlds, starring Tom Cruise. Sure, the mixed reviews have some merit—there are pacing issues and a few tonal wobbles—but any serious effort to keep a literary classic alive and breathing for new audiences earns extra points from me.
Different viewers come for different reasons, and that’s part of what makes the film work as a gateway. Some are pulled in by the jaw-dropping special effects and the sheer spectacle of those towering Tripods rising out of the ground like mechanical demons. Others show up for Cruise’s trademark intensity and magnetic screen presence; even when his character is at his most flawed and frantic, he’s impossible to look away from. And then there’s Dakota Fanning—still a child at the time—who delivers one of the most raw, heartbreaking performances of any kid actor in a big-budget sci-fi film. Her terror feels unbearably real, and she more than earns the attention she gets.
But whatever the entry point—frivolous or not—the real victory is that H.G. Wells’ core message gets relaunched to an entirely new generation: humanity’s terrifying vulnerability in the face of superior technology, the fragility of civilization, and the humbling realization that we are not the apex predators we like to believe we are. In an age of drones, AI, and ever-advancing weaponry, that warning feels as urgent as it did in 1898. Spielberg’s version may not be flawless, but it keeps the conversation going, and that’s worth celebrating.
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