Having received the DVD of Spielberg's War Of The Worlds for Christmas, and a week off of work, I finally sat down to watch it. Firstly, while I can't stand Tom Cruise and have not enjoyed a single film of his to date, he did OK in this role. I suppose having a recognizable name in the cast helps backers write big checks. The visual conceptual work and execution was first-rate. I liked the fact that hommage was paid to both Wells and Pal. Morgan Freeman's voice for the opening and closing narration was a surprise- in my mind I always hear Richard Burton reading the lines from Jeff Wayne's musical version. One can quibble over the "science" of the film and it's basic premise (and has been, to death), but since Spielberg's goal was something other than aliens dropping from the sky, he certainly succeeded on that point. I was able to suspend my disbelief and take the film as it was offered. I try to avoid violent films as a rule (only caving-in to family pressure when I just can't get out of it), so this one made me very uncomfortable and I had a very hard time staying in my seat; I nearly bolted for the quiet sanctity of the workshop more than once. Knowing the ending helped me stay put. Now at least I can say that I've seen the film. One might think that anyone interested in astronomy would as a matter of course run to any film with a space or sci-fi connection, but in my own case the former doesn't automatically lead to the latter as it did in my youth. With this film I can honestly say that by not rushing out to see it on the big screen I didn't cheat myself out of anything except criminally-expensive theater treats. 35 inches was big enough. 2-1/2 stars out of 4. Now here's the spoiler for anyone living in a box for the last hundred years: The aliens die from bird flu, or maybe Legionaire's Disease, it wasn't made totally clear in the film. __________________________________________ Yahoo! DSL Â Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less. dsl.yahoo.com