I have four words for this film—“Special effects” and “Dakota Fanning!” The special effects carry the new War of the Worlds film by far. Spielberg does a great job with the machines that the aliens use. The aliens themselves are believable, and the alien fire power is awesome. But like many films these days, this one is a bit too graphic. The theme of this remake is basically the same as the original film and radio broadcast except that we follow the war through the lives of Ray, his son Robbie, and his daughter Rachel. Cruise plays the very unlikable man, Ray, who is not only easy to hate at the beginning, but is also a terrible father. As the aliens start the war between the worlds, mankind rapidly sinks to survival of the fittest mode with every man for himself. Even Ray is forced to do the unthinkable when the chips are down, and he and his daughter find themselves in danger. I didn’t find myself relating to the characters at all though. I thought Dakota Fanning did a marvelous job as Ray’s daughter, Rachel, but that alone doesn’t save the film. I didn’t find myself rooting for one side or the other. I was just a casual observer not drawn into the story. The only thing that kept it interesting was the special effects. This war was left unfought and the film would have been better off unmade.