There were a lot of subtle things that I liked about the movie:

There were stretches where there wasn't a soundtrack, no music at all...only the sounds of destruction, the disturbing sounds that the alien "tripods" made (god, that was unnerving)...or silence. It helped create the feeling you were taking part in the invasion moreso than just watching it...

For once in a "disaster" movie, the main character doesn't end up being the hero and saving the world...he's just a shlub, fucking up as often as he succeeds.

The action scenes don't end up showing a neverending succession of famous landmarks and buildings being destroyed...instead, it shows ordinary, everyday neighborhoods and communities. Again, you feel more like it's happening to you because you're seeing familiar areas being affected. When you watch the White House or the Hollywood sign get destroyed, it doesn't pull you in quite as much or effect you on a subconsciously emotional level, and you end up feeling more like a spectator.

A lot of the action involving the "tripods" is pushed to the side, so to speak, instead of placed front and center on the screen (which would be typical)...which also helps give it that "You Are There" feeling, because if this were really happening to you, you wouldn't stand in the middle of the street staring while these things come rampaging thru town (which is how many disaster movies shoot their actions sequences)...you'd be constantly on the run, catching glimpses of the destruction, hearing the loudness of it surround you, and feeling nothing but fear and panic. Spielberg shoots a lot of the actions sequences in this manner...and it works.

Again, the special effects were tremendous...I never once found myself thinking "well, that looks like a model" or focusing on the obvious use of CGI...in fact, more times than not I found myself thinking "How the HELL did they do that??"...


The bad??..lol

The "family" ending was too pat...pure Spielburg cheese. And as someone mentioned above, how convenient that the part of Boston Cruise and family were heading to was left in relatively pristine condition compared to the ferocious destruction that takes place for 90% of the movie up until then...

The aliens themselves...they just didn't create the fear that their "tripod" machines do. Instead, they seemed...ordinary, perhaps? And showing them didn't really add anything to the movie, and in fact took away from it. Better that they had been kept from our view until the end.

Tim Robbins...unfortunately, during his brief time on screen, Tim Robbins never stopped being Tim Robbins in my eyes...and there are probably dozens of lesser known actors who could have pulled off his part just as well, if not better. I just didn't buy his character.

A few too many logic holes in the script...for instance, when Cruise takes his kids back to their mom's home after the first wave of attacks (mom isn't there), he decides to feed them food they packed from his house instead of eating food that's already there in the kids' own home...which is made even worse because all he has brought with him is peanut butter and condiments. And the kids don't just walk over to their own fridge and grab food, either...I couldn't quite get that part..lol

Byron said:

I was going 2 post my thoughts on the film as well, but U just wrote every single 1 of them. Less work 4 me, thanks!

I really liked this movie, it even made me like Tom Cruise again!