Steven Spielberg's War Of The Worlds Is Still A Terrifying Survival Thriller

Steven Spielberg's Most Underrated Survival Thriller Is Still Terrifying 21 Years Later Published Oct 18, 2026, 12:20 PM EDT Padraig is a Senior Features Writer and has been part of Screen Rant since 2017. Padraig is a writer, editor and retired Game of Thrones extra who has been writing about movies and TV online for over a decade. He has also written for The Irish Times, Den Of Geek, Little White Lies and many more. It's pronounced Paw-rick, BTW. Sign in to your ScreenRant account This blockbuster remains Steven Spielberg's most underrated survival thriller - despite being weirdly forgotten over 20 years later. Despite being a very capable horror director, few of Steven Spielberg's movies neatly slot into the genre. Jaws is the definition of a creature feature, but most critics file it under the "adventure" section of the DVD aisle. It's the same thing with Spielberg's Jurassic Park movies or even Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which all feature genuinely terrifying sequences yet still escape the horror label. In the past two decades, the filmmaker has stepped back from the more traditional blockbusters he was such a craftsman of, with 2005's War of the Worlds feeling like a quiet end of an era. An adaptation of the classic H.G. Wells novel, this Tom Cruise movie follows an ordinary guy who must keep his two children safe when alien tripods suddenly emerge and lay waste to everything in their paths. War of the Worlds grossed over $600 million (via Box Office Mojo) and received mostly great reviews, but disappointment over its (admittedly) anticlimactic finale has seen it considered a lesser effort from Spielberg. War Of The Worlds Turns An Alien Invasion Into A Terrifying Fight For Survival In general, War of the Worlds' third act needed work, but that doesn't take away from the visceral power of the first hour and change. The movie smartly places audiences in the perspective of a regular guy (played by the very normal and regular Tom Cruise) and his kids, including Dakota Fanning's Rachel. There are no cutaways to concerned generals or scientists staring at news footage and strategizing how they're going to take the invaders down. Instead, once the alien war machines emerge, Spielberg turns War of the Worlds into one long, terrifying chase, where Ray and his children feels from one setpiece to the next. Prime Video's 2025 adaptation of War of the Worlds starring Ice Cube has been labeled one of the worst sci-fi movies of the century. Spielberg proves once more to be a master of staging an action scene, from the first attack where Ray sees crowds of people reduced to ash, to the assault on the ferry. Ray is even forced to take a life later in the film to protect his daughter, and while the film is still a crowd-pleasing blockbuster, Spielberg isn't afraid to go dark when the story requires it. Steven Spielberg's Movie Is Even More Disturbing Because Of How Real It Feels Image credit: Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection Alongside movies like Cloverfield, War of the Worlds was part of a group of blockbusters that began to tackle 9/11 in a coded way. From its sequences of panicked, bloodied crowds fleeing clouds of dust to Ray and his family walking past billboards filled with missing persons photos, Spielberg's film is very much leaning into imagery that felt all too vivid and real to audiences. There is a sense of reality to War of the Worlds that comparable alien invasion efforts - like Independence Day - just don't have. It is admittedly tricky to totally buy a superstar like Cruise as Joseph Q. Everyman, but the film has an admirable lack of gloss that makes it hit harder. Possibly the most chilling sequence is the way a crowd of civilians turns violent whilst trying to steal Ray's car, signaling how fragile social order can be. The fact that War of the Worlds is a darker, meaner ride than other Spielberg blockbusters like Raiders of the Lost Ark could be the reason it's somewhat forgotten now. As thrillingly staged as the action can be, it's not as much fun as some of the helmers other work. That, and the final ten minutes really let the air out of the tires. War of the Worlds is a flawed work, but it proves that even lesser Spielberg is better than most would-be blockbusters. There is a sense of desperation and hopelessness to this 2005 alien flick that still resonates 20 years later, and it's more than worthy of rediscovery. Source: Box Office Mojo Release Date June 29, 2005 Runtime 116 Minutes Director Steven Spielberg Writers Josh Friedman, David Koepp, H.G. Wells