War of the Worlds is the seminal science fiction classic about alien invasion. H G Wells novel was published in 1898, dramatised on radio in 1938 by Orson Welles in a programme that caused widespread panic, filmed once before in 1953, made into a top-selling rock musical recording in 1976 and the forerunner of numerous similarly-themed books and films, not the least of which is 1996s Independence Day which borrowed heavily from some of its ideas. Now with Steven Spielbergs new movie reportedly with a budget bigger than Titanic - comes what must be the ideal marriage of novel and director. With his Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. Spielberg gave us passive aliens who instilled a sense of wonder. Not so with the invaders of Wells classic tale whose sole purpose is to wipe us out. Spielbergs contemporary re-telling sees the story of humankinds battle for survival against the unstoppable alien machines through the eyes of one family Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) his pregnant wife, Mary Ann (Miranda Otto) and their daughter, Rachel (Dakota Fanning). Watch the skies.