Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds Gets Independence Day Trailer Mention
Steven Spielberg’s 2005 War of the Worlds gets framed as a tense action thriller in independence day coverage that also points readers to its cinematic trailer. The piece centers on Cruise’s character, an immature, divorced hotshot with custody of his kids for the weekend, and on the film’s nonstop scramble to survive.
Tom Cruise plays that father, while Dakota Fanning plays his daughter. The story turns, in the article’s words, into grabbing and running and ducking and hiding and trying to fight back, with all of humanity on the run.
Spielberg and Cruise
The film is presented as a collaboration between Cruise and Spielberg, with the 2005 release carrying the weight of H.G. Wells’s 1898 novel in the background. The article also says the movie remains a tense action thriller throughout, which is the core reason it still gets revisited alongside the trailer.
That framing keeps the focus on the film’s immediate motion rather than on plot mechanics. The article describes Cruise’s character as someone whose custody weekend is interrupted by a larger disaster, then quickly shifts to the smaller, more personal struggle of a father and daughter trying to keep moving.
Roger Ebert’s criticism
Roger Ebert’s criticism is given real space, and the article says most of it is valid. Two lines carry that case: “The thing is, we never believe the tripods and their invasion are practical.” And, “It’s a war of the worlds, all right — but at a molecular, not a planetary level.”
The article also says the tripods and their invasion are not practical, which leaves the film caught between spectacle and plausibility. A scene in which an alien tentacle explores a ruined basement is singled out as mirroring a better scene in Jurassic Park, reinforcing that Spielberg is working in familiar visual territory even when the story is most unsettled.
War of the Worlds trailer
The trailer mention gives the piece its practical hook for readers who may want to revisit the movie rather than just read about it. The article treats War of the Worlds as a cinematic experience defined by pressure, movement, and the sense that no one is standing still for long.
For readers deciding whether to rewatch it, the article’s answer is straightforward: this is Spielberg and Cruise in a tense action thriller, with Dakota Fanning in the middle of it and the trailer there as the quickest way back in.
