Review: 4K Release of Spielberg's 'War Of The Worlds' Shines, Terrifies Like Never Before

Steven Spielberg had a hell of a year in 2005, with the release of both "War of the Worlds" and "Munich," two films that took on a much darker tone than the director's most famous works. Watching something like "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" immediately sweeps you up into the magic of special effects and the wonders of humankind coming in contact with alien life. But it was "War of the Worlds" that laid bare the idea that humans are not ready for an extraterrestrial event, and are far more ignorant about the assumption that we're the superior race. I remember being arrested with fear when I originally watched the film opening weekend when I was 12 and, to my surprise, much of that fear still prevails.

The film now looks better than ever at home with a new 4K Blu-ray release, a video transfer that's leaps and bounds better than the great standard Blu-ray, and a new Dolby Atmos audio track that will make your sound system shake. While there aren't any new special features for the film's 15th anniversary, this is sure to be the definitive release of the movie.

Spielberg took his obsession with bad father figures to the next level in "War of the Worlds," with Tom Cruise playing Ray Ferrier, a divorced man who can't connect with his two young kids – Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and Rachel (Dakota Fanning) – whatsoever. The kids are dropped off at Ray's apartment in New Jersey for the weekend by their mother, who will be spending time with her new husband and his family in Boston. But soon, a freak lightning storm triggers aliens to wake up and wreak havoc on the world.

The first hour of "War of the Worlds" is a nonstop barrage of set pieces that further plunge all the characters into fear and paranoia. Spielberg noted that one of the main reasons he wanted to make the adaptation of the original H.G. Wells novel is because David Koepp's script matched so much of the paranoia that ran rampant across the U.S. after 9/11. But in classic fashion from the director, that likeness isn't rendered overt enough to drown out the character work. Rather than show how these humans react to the stimuli that come with an alien invasion, it envisions a world where helping out your fellow man may mean your death.

I can't speak highly enough of the new 4K transfer, as it yields hearty film grain and depth of color that the film hasn't seen since first being committed to physical media. There's a sharpness to the color palette (grays and blacks) that really shines on this 4K Blu-ray. Although the film really takes a nosedive into schmaltz after that first hour, this endures as one of Tom Cruise's finest performances. Special features include:

� Revisiting the Invasion
� The H.G. Wells Legacy
� Steven Spielberg and the Original 'War of the Worlds'
� Characters: The Family Unit
� Previsualization
� Production Diaries
� Designing the Enemy: Tripods and Aliens
� Scoring 'War of the Worlds'
� We Are Not Alone
� Galleries
� Trailer

"War of the Worlds"
4K Blu-ray, Blu-ray & Digital
$29.99
https://www.paramountmovies.com/movies/war-of-the-worlds-2005