Review – H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds

The last time I watched the Tom Cruise version of this story, I found myself longing for something with a little less Scientology (not to mention a little less Tom Cruise). And though I was willing to sacrifice the big-budget Steven Spielberg special effects in order to get something with a better script, this production turned out to be the evil opposite of what I was in the mood for. Sure, it’s Cruise-free. But in his place we get an old, haggard version of C. Thomas Howell, a guy barely able to mumble his lines. Indeed, if his character had been called upon to do anything more complicated than wander around in a daze as the world collapsed around him, Howell likely wouldn’t have been equal to the task. And though the Scientology is gone, in its place we get a doubt-stricken minister who won’t shut up with his musing about God’s plan and the End Times and so on and so forth. Overall this is one of those lonely little productions that sits on the shelf at the video store and hopes that somebody rents it by mistake. SyFy also showed the sequel, but after enduring this I figured one was enough, so I deleted it. See if desperate