War of the Worlds (2005)

Last updated:
July 18, 2025

Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds (2005) is a modern reimagining of H.G. Wells’ 1898 classic novel. With Tom Cruise in the lead role, the film explores the collapse of civilization through the eyes of an ordinary man trying to protect his children during an alien invasion. This darker, grittier adaptation blends science fiction with disaster-film aesthetics and a post-9/11 atmosphere of fear and survival.

Table of Contents

Detailed Summary

Opening: Ordinary Life Interrupted

Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise), a divorced dockworker living in New Jersey, is reluctantly taking care of his two children, Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and Robbie (Justin Chatwin), for the weekend. He’s a careless father—immature, emotionally distant, and unprepared for real responsibility. The calm is shattered by a sudden, massive electromagnetic storm that disables all electronics.

This power outage isn’t just a freak weather event—it’s the arrival of an alien force that’s been buried underground for centuries, just waiting for activation.

The Tripods Emerge

Soon after the storm, enormous three-legged war machines—known as Tripods—burst from beneath the Earth and begin obliterating everything in sight. Humans are vaporized instantly, buildings destroyed, and chaos spreads rapidly. Ray barely escapes with his children, stealing a van to flee the city.

This scene, particularly the Tripod’s first appearance, is among the film’s most iconic, establishing the film’s sense of unstoppable doom.

On the Run

Ray and his kids head to Boston, hoping to reach his ex-wife’s house. Along the way, they face human mobs, military retreats, and increasingly desperate situations. Robbie becomes obsessed with fighting back and repeatedly tries to join the military, while Rachel’s trauma grows with every new encounter.

The Ferriers witness harrowing destruction—planes crash, entire cities are reduced to ash, and humans are harvested by the Tripods using long tentacle-like arms. The aliens appear not only intent on destroying humanity but also on using humans as fertilizer for Earth’s terraforming.

The Farmhouse & Tim Robbins

After being separated from Robbie, Ray and Rachel take refuge in a rural basement with a disturbed man named Harlan Ogilvy (Tim Robbins). He’s paranoid and mentally unstable, convinced that humanity must fight back from underground. Over several tense days, they hide from alien probes and one particularly grotesque alien inspection scene.

Eventually, Ray realizes Ogilvy has become too dangerous—his shouting and erratic behavior threaten Rachel’s safety. In a grim, off-screen moment, Ray kills him. This marks a major turning point for Ray’s character: from selfish survivor to protective father capable of making brutal choices.

Humanity’s Resistance Fails

Outside, the resistance seems futile. Even tanks and jets are easily defeated by the Tripods’ shields. But then, something starts to change—the Tripods begin to falter. Birds are seen landing on them, revealing their shields are down.

The film presents this shift subtly. The aliens begin dying not from human weapons, but from Earth’s microbes—bacteria and viruses to which they have no immunity.

Movie Ending

Ray, carrying a weakened and unconscious Rachel, finally reaches Boston. The once-impenetrable Tripods are collapsing. One alien stumbles from its machine, visibly sick and dying. Ray notices red vines—once used by the aliens to spread their organic material across the Earth—now withering.

The alien invaders have fallen victim to Earth’s smallest lifeforms. Morgan Freeman’s narration explains this bluntly: humanity didn’t defeat the aliens with strength or strategy, but with microbes. The Earth’s biosphere rejected the invaders.

Ray finds Rachel’s mother, Mary Ann (Miranda Otto), safe and sound at her parents’ Boston home. In an emotionally resonant final scene, Robbie—whom Ray had assumed dead—emerges alive, reunited with the family. Ray, now transformed by the ordeal, stands silently, overwhelmed.

The ending reinforces the story’s main themes: that survival is not heroic but circumstantial, that the greatest forces are often invisible, and that personal growth sometimes comes from unimaginable crisis.

Are There Post-Credits Scenes?

No, War of the Worlds (2005) does not have any post-credits scenes. The film ends definitively with Morgan Freeman’s narration, closing on the idea that Earth is protected by its natural biological defenses.

Type of Movie

War of the Worlds is a science fiction disaster thriller. It blends intense action with psychological horror and post-apocalyptic drama. While grounded in alien invasion tropes, it focuses on human survival and emotional transformation more than traditional alien-versus-human warfare.

Cast

Tom Cruise as Ray Ferrier
Dakota Fanning as Rachel Ferrier
Justin Chatwin as Robbie Ferrier
Miranda Otto as Mary Ann
Tim Robbins as Harlan Ogilvy
Morgan Freeman as Narrator (voice)

Film Music and Composer

The score was composed by John Williams, long-time Spielberg collaborator. His music here is more restrained than in his earlier works, evoking a sense of dread and melancholy. The main theme uses ominous orchestral swells and minimalistic tension, underlining the hopelessness felt throughout the film.

Filming Locations

New Jersey, New York – Scenes of early chaos, lightning storms, and initial Tripod attack.
Athol and Lexington, Massachusetts – The Boston sequence and suburban destruction.
California soundstages – For interior shots and large-scale destruction sequences.

These locations were essential in grounding the film in a real, familiar America that turns terrifyingly alien under invasion. Spielberg deliberately avoided futuristic cities to make the events feel closer to home.

Awards and Nominations

Nominated for 3 Academy Awards (2006):
- Best Visual Effects
- Best Sound Mixing
- Best Sound Editing
BAFTA nomination for Best Special Visual Effects
Wins at the Saturn Awards for Best Performance by a Young Actor (Dakota Fanning)

Behind the Scenes Insights

Spielberg and Cruise agreed to shoot the film in under 3 months, aiming for a fast-paced production schedule.
The alien sounds were a blend of various mechanical and animal noises, mixed to be intentionally disorienting.
Many destruction sequences used practical effects, including real plane wreckage and burning sets.
Dakota Fanning did not watch the Tripods during filming to ensure her reactions were authentic.
Spielberg refused to show the aliens too early to build suspense—a technique borrowed from Jaws.

Inspirations and References

Based on: The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (1898).
- Spielberg modernized the story while keeping the core message: humanity’s fragility.
The film also draws visual and thematic inspiration from 9/11 imagery, including collapsing buildings, ash-covered survivors, and frantic crowd scenes.
Spielberg cited real war photography and Holocaust accounts as emotional references for certain scenes.

Alternate Endings and Deleted Scenes

Early scripts featured a more ambiguous ending where Robbie’s fate remained unknown.
A deleted scene showed a military squad preparing a final stand against the Tripods, but it was cut for pacing.
A brief shot of a failed alien terraforming effort was trimmed for being too graphic.

Book Adaptations and Differences

The original novel is set in Victorian England, while the film is in modern-day America.
In the book, the narrator is a journalist; in the film, it’s a working-class father.
Spielberg focuses more on family survival, while the novel leans into philosophical commentary on colonialism and human arrogance.

Memorable Scenes and Quotes

Key Scenes

The first Tripod attack: street collapse, vaporized pedestrians, church destruction.
The ferry scene, where desperate crowds swarm a departing boat.
Ray’s moral dilemma with Ogilvy in the basement.
The blood-spraying vines covering the countryside.
The final Tripod collapse in Boston.

Iconic Quotes

Narrator (Morgan Freeman):
“From the moment the invaders arrived, breathed our air, ate and drank, they were doomed.”
Ray Ferrier:
“You know what? You’ve got to let me take care of you for a little while.”
Rachel:
“Is it the terrorists?”

Easter Eggs and Hidden Details

The Tripods’ sound pays homage to 1953’s War of the Worlds film adaptation.
Robbie wears a New York Yankees cap throughout—a subtle allusion to American identity under threat.
The plane crash scene used real debris and actual wreckage from a decommissioned 747.
The red weeds are directly pulled from the novel, symbolizing alien attempts to claim Earth biologically.

Trivia

The film was shot chronologically, which is rare in big productions.
Tom Cruise did many of his own stunts, including the van driving scenes.
Spielberg kept the aliens’ final appearance a secret even from the crew until late in production.
Released during a peak in global terrorism fears, the film’s realism was both praised and criticized.

Why Watch?

If you’re a fan of intelligent science fiction that focuses more on human perspective than alien spectacle, this is your film. Spielberg balances visceral terror with emotional intimacy, offering not just a survival story but a journey of personal redemption. It’s not about defeating the aliens—it’s about enduring them.

War of the Worlds (2005)