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War of the Worlds By David DiCerto Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) -- In his kinder, gentler "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," director Steven Spielberg mused that if there is intelligent life in the cosmos it isn't necessarily hostile. Five years later, "E.T." provided us with further assurance that cold, black space had a warm heart. In the apocalyptic "War of the Worlds" (Paramount), Spielberg offers a close encounter of a different -- less benevolent -- kind. Forget cute and cuddly; these aliens are out to exterminate us. Adapted from the 19th-century sci-fi classic by H.G. Wells, "War of the Worlds" is a dark, scary and distressingly violent thrill ride that delivers edge-of-your-seat excitement and knockout action sequences. Sure, it's basically a 1950s' B-movie dressed up with an A-movie cast, director and budget. And, yes, the script has problems (implausible and illogical plot elements and an anticlimactic ending). But as summer popcorn fare it succeeds where so many other blockbusters have failed. It is also arguably the most impressive of Spielberg's recent films. "War of the Worlds" opens with Morgan Freeman's ominous narration informing us that our planet had been watched by intellects "greater than our own ... vast, cool and unsympathetic." Keeping to his storytelling formula of ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances, Spielberg quickly introduces us to Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise), a divorced dockworker and deadbeat dad of two estranged kids -- angry teenage son Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and precocious daughter Rachel (Dakota Fanning) -- who are dropped off by Ray's now-remarried ex-wife, Mary Ann (Miranda Otto), for a rare weekend visit just in time for the alien invasion. After briskly setting up the domestic friction, the film gets down to the real business at hand. A mysterious electrical storm provides cover for the extraterrestrials to "ride" lightning bolts down to Earth and burrow deep below ground, only to eerily re-emerge in gargantuan tripodal doomsday machines which had been buried for millennia. Brilliantly orchestrated, it is among the film's most chilling sequences. The space invaders quickly lay ruin to Ray's Newark, N.J., neighborhood (wreaking similar havoc around the globe). Ray packs the kids in the only car still running and flees Jersey for Boston, where Mary Ann is visiting her parents. Visually, Spielberg is at the top of his game, doing what he does best: creating riveting cinematic roller coasters. The nightmares envisioned are both spectacular and terrifying. Among the more suspenseful sequences are a nighttime massacre at a crowed ferry station and a deadly game of hide-and-seek in a farmhouse cellar with Ray, an unhinged survivalist (Tim Robbins) and a slithering alien probe. With their squidlike tentacles, death rays and blood-curdling bellows, the metallic monstrosities are truly menacing, though the aliens themselves are actually a bit of a disappointment. The mass-scale mayhem -- which includes scenes of the towering tripods vaporizing fleeing humans or cherry-picking them with tendrils to process as fertilizer -- is much too intense for children (and maybe some adults). However, the most disturbing episode does not involve the aliens at all, but rather an off-screen murder heard, but not witnessed, by a deeply traumatized Rachel. Originally published in 1898, "War of the Worlds" was penned as an indictment of imperialism. Orson Welles' infamous 1938 radio broadcast of it tapped into fears over the growing specter of real world war. The 1953 George Pal movie version -- starring Gene Barry and Ann Robinson (who appear in brief cameos in this film) -- did the same with Cold War anxieties. Though the new film avoids any political (or religious) references, it nevertheless plays on audiences' paranoia following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Shots of displaced masses wandering among the carnage and walls plastered with missing people flyers conjure memories of the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Whereas "Minority Report" (Spielberg's last collaboration with Cruise) raised complex moral and ethical questions, "War of the Worlds" is simply a story of survival. The set pieces unfold in episodic fashion, loosely strung together by the film's "journey" narrative. What elevates "War of the Worlds" above empty special-effects spectacles is Spielberg's knack for grafting compelling human drama into his techno-wizardry. At its emotional heart, it is a very small, personal story about one father trying to reconnect with his children and keep them safe. The message imparted is that -- whether the threat comes from the night skies or a culture-of-death ideology -- what matters most is the love that binds families together. The film contains intense sci-fi violence, including mass destruction and slaughter, disintegrated bodies, a murder with extenuating circumstances and child peril, as well as scattered crude language and profanity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. - - - DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. END Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. 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