From PASTO, COLOMBIA-Via: L. A. CA; CALI, COLOMBIA+ORLANDO, FL

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In a perfect world, any film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning (Man on Fire, Taken, I Am Sam),would be a marvel. But, alas!... As we all know, live in a perfect world, we do not! The sad reality is this: War of the Worlds is, undoubtedly, a visual stunner...and absolutely NOTHING else.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where the young filmmaker who gave the world cinematic master-works as JAWS, Indiana Jones (along with George Lucas),ET, The Color Purple and Schindler's List, has become a film- industry magnate (co-owner of Dreamworks studio) and where the principal goal is not making great movies, but making great money! Unfortunately, we live in a world where the "Seventh Art" has been relinquished to nerdy CGI techs. That WAR abounds in visually high-impact, jaw-dropping, disturbing and Uber-unsettling scenes, which, at times, may even border on the artistic, is undeniable. But WAR is soulless cinema. It has more of the feel and look of a large- scale, passive video game, where there is no real character development, because everything is completely subordinated to the frenetic and incessant visuals.

It is possible, or perhaps likely, that most video game-lovers will adore this film. Also, if you fancy the release of adrenaline akin to that you get during most theme park rides, WAR just might turn out to be one of your favorites! But this type of activity almost always leaves an unpleasant aftertaste, as does this film.

Barely 10 minutes in, WAR is already busy depicting the arrival, or rather the emergence, in this case, of alien invaders. From the moment of their rise to the surface, the "aliens" are relentless in their campaign of extermination of the human race.

Rachel (Dakota Fanning) appears throughout the entire movie screaming, crying and whining, incessantly, to the point of becoming utterly unbearable. Tom Cruise (Rachel's father) makes a superhuman effort to save his role from disaster, andalmost succeeds! But the dialog is so forced, so contrived and its characters so superficial, so two-dimensional, it ends up being one big 'Mission Impossible' for Mr. Cruise! There is a small respite from the on-screen images of genocide, some half an hour before its abrupt and unceremonious "FIN"When survivalist, Tim Robbins' (Mystic River, The Shawshank Redemption) character, offers his home as shelter to little Rachel and her dad. But the scene does not really fit all that well into the film. It's as if Spielberg and his inner circle made the decision to put some scene, or other, there, and simply failed to find anything better.

Then, in the blink of an eye, all the aliens just up and die, and, in the most surreal, Deus Ex Machina, of ways....they ALL lived happily ever after!!!!! .The only thing missing was: "The END", plastered all over the screen.....50's style! As video games are ubiquitous in today's society, WAR, will surely have its audience, but I would really think twice before watching this sterile vision of a dark, creepy and soulless world with anyone under age 10! Be that as it may, for what it's worth

4*....... ENJOY!?!? / DISFRUTELA!?!?

Any comments, questions, observations, in English o en ESPAÑOL, are most welcome!

'War of the Worlds' had a lot going for it, considering the story, that it was directed by Steven Spielberg and a decent cast on paper. It turned however to be a frustratingly uneven film, with a good first half and a pretty lousy second half.

Starting with what's good, the film looks fabulous, the atmosphere that the cinematography and lighting evoked is just incredible and the special effects are without complaint too. John Williams can be relied upon to compose a good score and he does here, being both rousing and spooky. Spielberg does an impeccable job directing the first half of the film, giving a lot of the first half thrills, suspense and genuine scares.

Tom Cruise does a good job in the lead and Tim Robbins is eerily eccentric. As said, the first half has many great moments and is filled with unnerving suspense and scary chills. Truly imaginative details like the burning train, the birds/tripod scene and the river of the dead bodies burn in the memory for a long while after.

However, the human drama was not as transfixing as it should have been, being hurt by the dysfunctional family subplot being rammed down the throat with no subtlety at all with nothing relatable at all and especially by the kids.

Spielberg has demonstrated before that he is capable of directing great child performances, prime examples being Haley Joel Osment in 'AI' and Christian Bale in 'Empire of the Sun', but the performances of both Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin are incredibly irritating. Not sure which is more so, Fanning's constant screaming or brattiness or Chatwin made to act throughout the film but especially the second half like an indecisively written character who makes stupid decisions and acts rebellious in the most insufferable of ways. The dialogue is often insipid.

After a lot of promise in the first half, 'War of the Worlds' is let down significantly by the second half where the pace slackens (a notable example being that overlong scene in the basement) and the suspense dramatically wilts (such as when the aliens are introduced, and they are not menacing in the slightest) and is replaced by ridiculousness, frustrating character decisions and sentimentality. The Hollywood schmaltz kicks in and keeps assaulting the viewer at full throttle, while the ending is up there as one of film's most false, cloying and anti-climactic.

In conclusion, a frustratingly uneven film that starts off quite well and then completely falls apart. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Stephen Spielberg took the 1953 classic War Of The Worlds and remade it for modern times and the modern techniques of special effects. A lot of things that could not be done back in the 50s are done now to show the havoc that the invaders reek upon the world.

He also did something else that possibly might have offended science fiction purists but I think gave the audience a better identification with the protagonists of the story. Instead of having his protagonists be scientists as Gene Barry and Ann Robinson were in 1953, Tom Cruise is a blue collar divorced father who has his kids visiting him, but custody is with their mother Miranda Otto.

The kids are no prizes and are played by Justin Chatwyn and Dakota Fanning. And Cruise himself is no bargain either. But when danger develops it's his idea to take them from New York to Boston where their mother and maternal grandparents are. The film as it was in 1953 is mostly concerned with their efforts to avoid the terrible tripod machines that the aliens use in their destructive path.

The film does follow the Barry/Robinson escape scenario closely. The two had a scene avoiding the aliens while they were trapped in a cellar. To that Spielberg adds survivalist Tim Robbins. I think Stephen Spielberg feels the way I do that a lot of these survivalists pray for their doomsday fantasy to come true. That was sure the case with Tim Robbins who is quite mad on the subject of the invaders.

Cruise himself centers and anchors the film with his portrayal of blue collar America who just wants for him and his family to survive the holocaust. This classic may yet see a remake or three in the future.