It’s hard to imagine that a scenario of aliens invading Earth from outer space would enthrall, intrigue and frighten people for more than a century. Yet H. G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds has once again been adapted for the big screen, and lines at the theater on opening night verified that sci-fi fans still want to be scared out of their seats.

Listening to moviegoers leaving the theater after seeing Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds revealed opinions ranging from “totally awesome” to “somewhat disappointing.”

Both comments mirror my reaction. My first annoyance came at the very beginning of the film when Morgan Freeman does a voiceover to explain what state the world is in and delivers lines such as, “Across the gulf of space, intellects vast, and cool, and unsympathetic regarded our planet with envious eyes... and slowly, and surely, drew their plans against us.”

One of the first rules of a good writer is to show, not tell the story. Screenwriters Josh Friedman and David Koepp give the audience little credit with this opening. Instead, the film should just launch into the marvelous and thrilling sequences that happen moments later. After a few setup scenes where we learn that Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is divorced and begrudgingly has to take care of his kids, Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and Rachel (Dakota Fanning), for the weekend, the terror begins immediately as the city literally unravels.

The Earth gives birth to towering three-legged machines that rise from under streets and begin a march of destruction. Electronic energy fields shut down all cars -- except the one Ray manages to steal -- radios, televisions, cell phones and communication devices. The town is paralyzed and residents are running for their lives as they watch the alien machines incinerate anything in their way, including people.

Cruise’s character is defined immediately. The untidy apartment is reflective of his muddled life. His ex-wife (Miranda Otto), now happy and radiant with the expectation of another child, makes remarks about Ray’s living conditions and worries about leaving the kids with him. Ray disregards her remarks, and only moments after she departs, tells the kids to order food in while he goes to sleep.

After a severe and bizarre lightening storm, Ray’s worries turn from sloppy life to run for your life. Along with all the other people around, he and the kids are soon hightailing it out of town. But everywhere they run, the machines are there. Only those crafty enough to find hiding spaces out of site, will survive.

In a power struggle over who respects whom, Ray surrenders his concern and allows his teenage son Robbie to join the fighting forces. This is one thread that’s totally underdeveloped in the film, as we never see him again until the sappy ending.

Meanwhile, Ray and Rachel have been invited into an underground shelter by Harlan Ogilvy (Tim Robbins), an imposing and spooky man who seems harmless one minute and life threatening the next. Robbins certainly makes the psychosis of this character seem real, and when he screams, “This is not a war. This is an extermination!” we believe him. The dark shelter and the impending threat from the machines and their long probing arms are some of the best moments in the film.

Once the story moves on, there’s little to get excited about. There’s an underlying theme in the movie about Ray reconnecting to his kids -- he doesn’t even know his daughter is allergic to peanut butter -- and attempting to keep them safe. Robbins is probably the best actor in the film. Cruise seems to be just running lines and even the precocious Dakota Fanning is reduced to wide-eyed shots and lots of screaming.

While I wouldn’t rate War of the Worlds as one of Spielberg’s best films, I do give him credit for absolutely outstanding special effects and for maintaining some of H. G. Wells’ original material. The machines closely resemble Wells’ original drawings and his Martians were described back then as, “lumps of gray flesh, luminous disks for eyes and tentacles like snakes,” which is the way the creatures in Spielberg’s film look.

Wells was a biologist, tutor, teacher, chemist and astronomer. His fantasies hailed from all of his scientific learning. Many of his writings hinted of aliens. He wrote The Time Machine in 1895, The Island of Dr. Moreau in 1886 and The Invisible Man in 1897.

The War of the Worlds was unveiled in 1989 and became a pop-culture icon. It caused worldwide panic when Orson Wells staged a reading of the work on the radio in 1938 and people all across the country thought it was real. In 1953, The War of the Worlds made it to the big screen.

“The novel seems to come back each time there is a fear of an invasion, us in a sense” said Dr. Martin Wells, author, zoologist and H. G, Wells' grandson who visited the War of the Worlds 2005 set.

The possibility of life on other planets will forever be an intriguing concept. Theories are that Wells’ creatures in The War of the Worlds paralleled what was going on in his country with invading forces. It seems fortuitous that with the release of the new movie, our country is facing the same dilemma.

Forget the story, go for the ride. War of the Worlds is a great summer thriller.

(Released by Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures; rated “PG-13” for frightening sequences of sci-fi violence and disturbing images.)

Read Diana Saenger’s in-depth feature about H. G. Wells and how War of the Worlds came about at http://classicfilm.about.com.