War of the Worlds [Blu-ray]

Director: Steven Spielberg Steven Spielberg

Overview

An ordinary man has to protect his children against alien invaders in this science fiction thriller, freely adapted from the classic story by H.G. Wells. Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a dockworker living in New Jersey, divorced from his first wife Mary Ann (Miranda Otto) and estranged from his two children Rachel and Robbie (Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin), of whom he has custody on weekends. On one such visitation, looking after the kids becomes a little more difficult when, after a series of strange lighting storms hit his neighborhood, Ray discovers that a fleet of death-ray robotic spaceships have emerged nearby, part of the first wave of an all-out alien invasion of the Earth. Transporting his children from New York to Boston in an attempt to find safety at Mary Ann's parents' house, Ray must learn to become the protector and provider he never was in marriage. Also starring Tim Robbins, War of the Worlds was directed by Steven Spielberg, who had been planning the project for years, but set it aside until a wave of "alien invasion" films (led by Independence Day) had run its course.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/01/2010
UPC:	0097360749342
Original Release:	2005
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Dreamworks Video
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:57:00
Sales rank:	14,763

Special Features

Revisiting the invasion; The H.G. Wells legacy ; Steven Spielberg and the original War of the Worlds ; Characters: the family unit; Previsualization; Production galleries; Designing the enemy: tripods and aliens; Scoring War of the Worlds; We are not alone; Galleries; Theatrical teaser trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Tom Cruise	Ray Ferrier
Dakota Fanning	Rachel Ferrier
Justin Chatwin	Robbie Ferrier
Miranda Otto	Mary-Ann
Rick Gonzalez	Vincent
Yul Vazquez	Julio
Lenny Venito	Manny the Mechanic
Lisa Ann Walter	Bartender
Gene Barry	Grandfather
David Alan Basche	Tim
Camillia Monet	News Producer
Michael Brownlee	TV Reporter, Osaka
Marlon Young	News Cameraman
John Eddins	News Van Driver
Peter Gerety	Hatch Boss
David Harbour	Dock Worker
Miguel Antonio Ferrer	Brazilian Neighbor
January LaVoy	Brazilian Neighbor's Wife
Stephen Gevedon	Neighbor with Lawnmower
Julie White	Woman
Mariane Ebert	Hysterical Woman
Rafael Sardina	Mechanic's Assistant
Amy Ryan	Neighbor With Toddler
Ed Vassallo	Intersection Guy
Mike Arthur	Intersection Guy
Danny Hoch	Intersection Guy Cop
Morgan Freeman	Narration,Narrator
Sharrieff Pugh	Man Studying Street
Erika LaVonn	Photographer
Tom Kenny	SpongeBob SquarePants
Christopher Evan Welch	Photographer
Christopher Gilbertson	Additional Voices
John Michael Bolger	Man Holding Woman
Omar Jermaine	Man Holding Woman
Robert Cicchini	Guy in Suit
Jim Hanna	Bus Driver
Adam Lazarre-White	Crowd Onlooker
Vito D'Ambrosio	Crowd Onlooker
Laura Zoe Quist	Crowd Onlooker
Ana Maria Quintana	Crowd Onlooker
Mark Manley	Ferry Worker
John Scurti	Ferry Captain
Becky Ann Baker	Disaster Relief Volunteer
Mariann Mayberry	Mother
Ty Simpkins	3 Year Old Boy
Jerry Walsh	Smart Guy
Tommy Guiffre	National Guardsman
Daniel Franzese	National Guardsman
Ed Schiff	Older Man
Amy Hohn	Panicky Woman
Daniel Ziskie	Informative Guy
David Conley	Ill-Informed Guy
Daniel Eric Gold	Conspiracy Buff
Booker T. Washington	Conspiracy Debunker
Maggie Lacey	Upset Mother
Eric Zuckerman	Doomsday Guy
Joaquin Perez-Campbell	Young Soldier in Tank
Dendrie Allyn Taylor	Well Meaning Mother
James Dumont	Well-Meaning Father
Travis Aaron Wade	Soldier
Benny Ciaramello	Soldier
Ricky Luna	Soldier
Columbus Short	Soldier
Kent Faulcon	Soldier
Jorge Pallo	Army Private
Suanne Spoke	Businesswoman
Kirsten Nelson	Businesswoman
Melody Garrett	Older Woman
Lauri Johnson	Older Woman,Boston Survivor,Ray's Neighbor
Takayo Fischer	Older Woman
Shanna Collins	Teenager
Elizabeth Jayne Hong	Teenager
Art Chudabala	Man in Basket
Jeffrey Hutchinson	Man in Basket
Dempsey Pappion	Man in Basket
Johnny Kastl	Boston Soldier
Juan Carlos Hernández	Boston Soldier
David Gere	Survivor
James Boss	Refugee
Martin D. Dew	Looter in Diner
Joe Duffy	Refugee fleeing Martians
Miho Nakamura	Passenger
Vladislav Kozlov	Survivor
Channing Tatum	Boy in Church
Jason Latief Anderson	Refugee
Dustin Ardine	Refugee outside the Diner
Cass Asher	Soldier
Alan Kemper Armani	Survivor
Tim Burd	Burned Victim
Paul Bunnell	Boston Survivor
Joseph DeBona	Newark Deliveryman

Technical Credits

David Koepp

Josh Friedman

Steven Spielberg	Director,Director
Damian Collier	Executive Producer,Executive Producer
Paula Wagner	Executive Producer,Executive Producer,Producer
Kathleen Kennedy	Producer
Colin Wilson	Producer
David Koepp	Screenwriter
Josh Friedman	Screenwriter
Addison Teague	Sound Effects
Piero Mura	Sound Effects
Hamilton Sterling	Sound Effects
Randy Dutra	Special Effects
Ron Judkins	Sound/Sound Designer
Tom Cruise	Producer

Editorial Reviews

An updated and very loose adaptation of the influential science fiction novel by H. G. Wells, this visually sumptuous film directed by Steven Spielberg not only has the apocalyptic scope one would expect but also focuses on individual human emotion in a way that makes the horror and terror more readily comprehensible. Tom Cruise portrays a divorced New Jersey dockworker whose upwardly mobile ex-wife (Miranda Otto) gives him weekend custody of their two children (Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin) and heads for Boston. Hours later, alien invaders who have been hiding underground in mammoth machines of war begin to surface and set out to obliterate Earth. The bulk of the film is devoted to Cruise and his kids’ flight from his working-class neighborhood -- the site of one such alien unearthing -- with the previously irresponsible parent instinctively rising to the challenge of protecting his offspring. The effects astound, as one expects in a Spielberg film; and the Josh Friedman-David Koepp screenplay offers some very powerful sequences, which the director realizes with his trademark precision and emotional clarity. Perhaps the most striking subplot involves father and daughter, who seek temporary refuge in the home of a quietly deranged man (exceptionally well played by Tim Robbins) who may also be a pedophile. This brief, uneasy respite comes to a startling end when an alien patrol combs the dwelling for survivors; the masterful handling of this lengthy, almost wordless sequence leaves no doubt that Spielberg was just the right guy to direct the film. It's an impressive motion picture in every respect, made with extraordinary attention to detail and utterly, shockingly realistic in its depiction of an Earth laid waste by alien invaders. For sci-fi fans, it's a not-to-be-missed item that sacrifices none of its effectiveness by being shrunken to the dimensions of a TV screen.