Film critics and fans alike have widely panned the latest adaptation of War of the Worlds.
The new film, which is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, stars Ice Cube, Eva Longoria and Clark Gregg. It marks the latest adaptation of H.G. Wells’ iconic 1898 sci-fi novel, in which an extraterrestrial race threatens humanity.
Ice Cube stars as Department of Homeland Security officer Will Radford, who works for a government surveillance program that can monitor every person on Earth.
While helping FBI agents track down a hacker known as ‘Disruptor’, a meteor strike begins, from which machines emerge and start attacking humans – presumed to be an alien invasion.
The film has been described as a “screenlife” thriller, meaning that the film takes place on Radford’s computer screen.
Since the film’s release on Wednesday (August 30), it’s been trashed by viewers, with Reddit users saying the film is “so bad I can’t look away”, and, “If this was physical media I would toss it directly into the garbage”.
Meanwhile, critics have also overwhelmingly panned the film, with Variety calling it “disastrous”, adding: “What should have been a spectacular Roland Emmerich-style montage of destruction instead comes off blurry and unconvincing, as Will clicks through short lo-res videos of the attack.”
War of the Worlds (2025) is the worst adaption of the source material to date. It had no ideas beyond the found footage approach, and even then the film is struggling to find ways to present coherent scenes. Ice Cube is so lost. Maybe one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. pic.twitter.com/jnQbGRy9Kp
— Rolo Tony (@PoorOldRoloTony) July 31, 2025
Atleast Ice Cube’s War of the Worlds is very honest in it’s marketing pic.twitter.com/fLuS1vY4Tg
— Kong Monke (@Kong_The_Monke) July 30, 2025
Elsewhere, The Telegraph gave the film one star in a review that called it “silly” and “shoddy”. It reads: “Like a heat-ray in reverse, it leeches all the fun out of what should be an epic tale of alien invasion.”
The first film adaptation of War of the Worlds was released in 1953, directed by Byron Haskin. In 2005, Steven Spielberg directed another film version starring Tom Cruise.
Elsewhere, in 1978, Jeff Wayne produced a musical album of the story. An immersive experience set to Wayne’s score opened in London in 2019 and later hit UK arenas with Enter Shikari’s Rou Reynolds and The Wanted’s Max George starring.
