Soooo.... As a writer, I have a passion for reading. HG Wells 'War of the Worlds' is probably my favorite book of all time. I've read it countless times and it's been influential on my own work.
I've read pretty much all of the sequel and spin off novels, some are good, some are just okay.
I may be one of the only people what loved the Spielberg movie, and any time I see an adaptation I flock to it. BBC did a so-so TV adaptation a few years ago, and there was a mock documentary (I forget the name) which was fantastic.
BUT...
This weekend I watched the new adaptation on Amazon Prime. It's AWFUL.
Catagorically one of the worst films I've ever ever ever seen.
Spoilers in case you want to watch it... dont' read further.
It stars Ice Cube, who's dreadful. It has Clark Gregg and Eva Longoria in it too. These are low points in their acting careers.
The WHOLE movie is done as a sort of 'what we see on our computer screen' conceit. Bit like a found footage film, but imagine everything being seen through webchat windows, security cameras, etc. It may sound interesting, but it's not.
The aliens arrive, and start to take down the worlds infrastructure, especially the digital infrastructure because apparently they feed on data... yet despite this, Ice Cube still manages to stay connected to the internet the whole time to save the day.
(Talking about saving the day, this film does it with product placement. Remember this is an Amazon Prime movie... Ice Cube manages to save the world because an Amazon Same Day delivery drone delivers a USB key to him that he buys on Amazon... Yup, Amazon is still trucking despite the end of the world.)
The film is a brisk 90 mins or so, and everything kind of happens in real time... so consider that the aliens invade, the military globally fights back and loses, then the aliens are defeated by a hacker and his dad...in 90 mins.
The film is just awful. If you have some time you don't mind never getting back, go witness the awfulness. Otherwise avoid like the plague!