DAKOTA > FILMS > WAR OF THE WORLDS

» Movie Details
Release Date: June 29th, 2005
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: David Koepp
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Tom Cruise, Tim Robbins, Miranda Otto, Justin Chatwin
Tag Line: They're already here
Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Runtime: 117 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for frightening sequences of sci-fi violence and disturbing images
Studio: Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks
Box Office: $234,277,056 (US total)
DVD Release: November 22nd, 2005
Official Website: War of the Worlds
Trailer: Check here
Quotes: Check here

» Synopsis
From Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures comes "War of the Worlds," directed by Steven Spielberg and starring international superstar Tom Cruise. A contemporary retelling of H.G. Wells's seminal classic, the sci-fi adventure thriller reveals the extraordinary battle for the future of humankind through the eyes of one American family fighting to survive it. The film also stars Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto, Justin Chatwin, and Tim Robbins.

Cruise stars as Ray Ferrier, a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. Soon after his ex-wife (Miranda Otto) and her new husband drop off his teenage son Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and young daughter Rachel (Dakota Fanning) for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm touches down.

Moments later, at an intersection near his house, Ray witnesses an extraordinary event that will change all their lives forever. A towering three-legged war machine emerges from deep beneath the earth and, before anyone can react, incinerates everything in sight. An ordinary day has suddenly become the most extraordinary event of their lifetimes – the first strike in a catastrophic alien attack on Earth.

Ray scrambles to get his children away from this merciless new enemy, embarking on a journey that will take them across the ravaged countryside, where they become caught in the desperate tide of refugees fleeing from an extraterrestrial army of Tripods.

But no matter where they run, there is no safety, no refuge … only Ray's unconquerable will to protect the ones he loves.

more photos?

» Dakota on the Movie
" It was so cool. When we were in New York we had like a thousand extras every day! And, when we were doing all the big sequences, it was just so much fun seeing how Steven was going to put it all together. At the center of this big movie is Steven. He really created all the aliens and special effects. Most of the stuff wasn't there when we were filming and it's so weird to think how he created that afterwards." [About filming the movie]

" That was one of my favorite parts of seeing the movie was getting to see what Steven was talking about during shooting. To see them for the first time ever was amazing. I felt like I knew these aliens and what they were going to be like but I really didn't because I had never seen it before. When you see the cover of the book and the poster of the original movie they're kind of on there so I kind of based my vision on those pictures but Steven put his own spin on the aliens."

" I love the scene where you see the aliens come up (from the ground) for the first time. I was there that day. It was the first day I ever came to the set to meet Tom and Steven."

" Well, we both horseback ride and we're very close to our moms but her parents are divorced. My parents are not. She has a brother and I don't." [Differences and similarities of Dakota and Rachel]

» Dakota's Reviews
" Dakota Fanning, who has held the screen with such heavyweights as Denzel Washington, Sean Penn and Robert De Niro, is a different story. Pound for pound, as they say in the boxing game, she is as good an actress as we have today. Fanning has a gift for naturalness and empathy that makes her the perfect audience surrogate. Her look of horror as she faces terror out the back window of a car is the film's emblematic image, the one shot that makes us feel the nightmare in our bones."
- by Kenneth Turan / June 29, 2005 / Los Angeles Times {+More}

" The very beginning of the movie is your standard setup. Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin play Ray's kids Rachel and Robbie Ferrier. Both are very talented actors and turn in very mature performances. Dakota Fanning as always does a great job of playing the younger sibling and Justin is good as the troublesome teenager. "
- by Albert Koleba / The Film Asylum {+More}

" Dakota Fanning is especially awesome, even though she spends most of the time screaming in fear - but wouldn't you too? "
- by Kidz World {+More }

" Dakota Fanning proving once again that she is the finest actor of her generation (and in the first decent vehicle in a while to match her talents)."
- by Movie Gazette / 29th June 2005 {+More}

" Dakota Fanning, meanwhile, deserves mention at Oscar time. She's utterly believable, and she has the best scared-face in the business. She and Cruise sell the story even more so than the CGI carnage."
- by Film Review Blog / July 2, 2005 {+More}

» Links
. IMDB War of the Worlds Page
. Dreamworks Fansite

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