War of the Worlds – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

War of the Worlds

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

movie2005

42%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

Spielberg's post-9/11 alien nightmare: technically brilliant, emotionally exhausting, and way too intense for the age group that thinks it sounds cool.

6.6/10

76%

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War of the Worlds

movie

PG-13, 2005

42%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

Spielberg's post-9/11 alien nightmare: technically brilliant, emotionally exhausting, and way too intense for the age group that thinks it sounds cool.

6.6

76%

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Screenwise Verdict

War of the Worlds is technically impressive and genuinely scary—Spielberg knows how to stage terror. But it's also relentlessly bleak, emotionally punishing, and offers almost no relief from the dread. The tripods are iconic, the sound design is nightmare fuel, and the first act is gripping.

But here's the thing: a lot of kids (and parents) think 'Spielberg alien movie' means E.T. or Close Encounters. This is not that. This is 116 minutes of watching Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning run, scream, and witness mass death. The ending feels like a shrug—bacteria saves the day, not human heroism—which is faithful to H.G. Wells but dramatically unsatisfying.

If you've got a teen who loves intense sci-fi and can handle sustained terror, this delivers. But if they're looking for fun alien action, point them toward Independence Day instead. This one's more trauma than triumph.

Age Fit

This is firmly 13+ territory despite the PG-13 rating. Younger kids will be traumatized, and even teens who are sensitive to sustained terror should skip it. Adults who appreciate Spielberg's craft and can handle bleakness will find plenty to respect, but it's not exactly fun.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

Spielberg's alien invasion is relentlessly bleak and terrifying. Tom Cruise's Ray is a deadbeat dad thrust into nightmare mode—there's family bonding through survival, but it's wrapped in panic attacks, screaming, and watching people get vaporized. The tone is pure dread with minimal moments of warmth or cooperation. Kids spend most of the runtime traumatized.

Imaginative

The tripod design is iconic and genuinely unsettling—those horn blasts became cultural shorthand for alien terror. Spielberg's visual craft is top-tier: the initial emergence scene, the ferry attack, the basement sequence with Tim Robbins. It's H.G. Wells filtered through post-9/11 anxiety, which gives it a specific imaginative texture even if it doesn't invite much creative play or wonder.

Safe

This is a PG-13 that earns every bit of that rating. People are disintegrated into ash clouds on screen. There's a plane crash into suburban houses, mass panic, bodies floating in a river, and a deeply disturbing basement scene where Ray has to stop a man from getting them all killed. The sound design alone—those tripod horns—will haunt kids. No gore per se, but the implied violence and relentless terror make this unsafe for younger or sensitive viewers.

Enriching

There's substance here about human fragility, societal collapse, and how ordinary people respond to existential threats. The father-daughter dynamic shows growth under pressure. But it's not particularly nuanced—mostly it's 'run and survive.' The ending (bacteria saves humanity, not human ingenuity) is faithful to Wells but feels anticlimactic. It's more visceral experience than meaningful takeaway.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Spielberg's direction is masterclass—the initial tripod emergence and ferry attack are unforgettable set pieces
Those tripod designs and horn blasts became instant sci-fi icons
Tom Cruise sells the everyman-dad-in-over-his-head thing surprisingly well
Dakota Fanning's sustained scream performance is... committed
Explores societal breakdown and human survival instinct in a visceral way

⚠

What to Watch For

People get vaporized into ash on screen—it's not gory but it's deeply disturbing
Relentless terror with almost no breaks; the entire runtime is panic and dread
The basement scene with Tim Robbins gets dark—implied violence that's worse than shown
Bodies in rivers, plane crashes into houses, mass chaos—it's a lot
Kids who think 'alien movie = fun' will be in for a rude awakening

Conversation Starters

"How do you think you'd react if something like that actually happened?"
"Why do you think the aliens were defeated by bacteria instead of by people fighting back?"
"Ray wasn't a great dad at the start—did the invasion make him better or just more desperate?"
"What was scarier: the tripods or how people turned on each other?"

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