War of the Worlds

This superior popcorn flick revels in the unabashed joy of blowing stuff into oblivion.

The story is affecting, the action scenes are thrilling, the issues are resonant.

Spielberg's calculations turn out to be more prominent than any effects they could possibly produce, and the less pretentious 1953 version by producer George Pal emerges as more likable.

The film succeeds as pure sensation, an exacting distillation of fear.

Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds is huge and scary, moving and funny-another capper to a career that seems like an unending succession of captivations.

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.

If the 1953 film was set in a post-war context and fight against the Soviets, this one is set in the post 9/11 era that shattered the security and stability of the United States. [Full review in Spanish]

The first (and much the superior) hour is a masterclass in escalating tension, with grandiose and brilliantly executed sequences following in rapid succession.

Highly influential, ever innovative, and full of emotion and slick formal trickery, the film lives up to the precise definition of what "Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds" should be.

Cruise is in fine dramatic form and Spielberg's journey to the dark side is superbly realised.