WAR OF THE WORLDS
(director: Rich Lee; screenwriters: novel by H.G. Wells, Kenny Golde, Marc Hyman; cinematographer: Christopher Probst; editor: Charles Ancelle; music: Jon Natchez; cast: Ice Cube (William Radford), Eva Longoria (NASA scientist, Sandra Salas), Clark Gregg (NASA director Donald Briggs, the boss), Iman Benson (Faith Radford), Henry Hunter Hall (David Radford), Devon Bostick (Mark Goodman, future son-in-law of William Radford), Michael O’Neill (Secretary of Defense Walter Crystal), Andrea Savage (FBI field agent Sheila Jeffries); Runtime: 91; MPAA Rating: PG-13; producers: Patrick Aiello, Timur Bekmambetov; Prime Video; 2025)
“Looks as if it was made by an idiot alien tripping on space dust.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Rich Lee directs this dreadful film, an inept and gimmicky attempt to adapt H.G. Wells’ 1898 alien invasion sci-fi classic, played on radio in 1938 by Orson Welles for scares, into a disaster flick for a modern audience the producers must assume are brain dead. Lee’s a music video director and VFX artist, who’s in way over his head in his debut feature film, that’s not only poorly directed but poorly co-written by Kenny Golde and Marc Hyman.
The sequel follows a so-so 1953 version directed by Byron Haskins and a slightly better but not great Spielberg one in 2005. But in comparison to those two, this one is so dumb it looks as if it was made by an idiot alien tripping on space dust. It’s hilarious, but in all the wrong ways.
The surly Will Radford (Ice Cube) works as an online government security analyst for DHS (Department of Homeland Security), who grieves the loss of his wife Erika and tries to forget he misses her by becoming a workaholic staying full-time in a DHS bunker and hiding behind a computer screen without any visible fellow workers present for the entire movie. He regularly sends Erika Facebook messages saying, “I miss you.” But by working all the time, the emotionally drained Will has no time to feel sorry for himself or to think about how much he misses her or relate to the needs of his grown kids except by using his technology on them to be a controlling parent. His daughter Faith (Iman Benson) is a pregnant scientist working at Georgetown University, and his son Dave (Henry Hunter Hall) is a conspiracy buff and a computer programmer, tracking down a terrorist hacker known only as “Disrupter” who is threatening to expose a secret government data file on the government’s surveillance program called “Goliath.” By the way, Faith’s boyfriend Mark (Devon Bostick) is a delivery driver for Amazon (used here as a product placement for the brand).
NASA scientist Sandra Salas (Eva Longoria) warns her friend Will about a possible upcoming weather related disaster she sees looming on her screen. Sure as hell, a meteor shower brings with it an alien cyber-attack. This is the crux of the uninspired story that entirely takes place on a computer screen. It’s a confusing story about something techie H.G. Wells wouldn’t have known a thing about back in his day.
Ice Cube plays a scientist as convincingly as Trump plays at being a real president, as both are stiffs who are cast in roles they don’t deserve. With the Cube being the most wooden actor in a cast full of wooden actors.
If you care to see one of the worst films of all time, check this one out. It’s financially backed by the wealthy Amazon guy Bezos (whose worth is over $230 billion) and see if you can avoid screaming out ‘fuck’ Amazon during this terrible movie. It’s one of those films that’s so bad you wonder how it ever got released.
REVIEWED ON 3/18/2026 GRADE: D
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