Synopsis War of the Worlds (2005)

Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a divorced union container crane operator with few skills as a father. Ray's ex-wife (Miranda Otto) drops off their rebelious but coming of age teenage son Robbie (Justin Chatwin), and meek 10-year old daughter Rachel (Dakota Fanning) for a weekend visit with their father in New Jersey. (Filmed in Bayonne in the shadow of the worlds longest arch bridge.) Ray is a self-absorbed individual who feels imposed upon by having to baby sit his own children. Then something happens that will change their entire lives. An unusual and violent lightning storm hits the town. In the intersection down the street, Ray sees a huge three-legged war machine rise from beneath the street. The machine begins to fire and incinerate everything and everybody. The Martians have begun the war by attacking Earth with only one goal in mind, destroying everything in sight. Ray becomes a real father when he decides to protect his children and take them to their mother house. Ray grabs his handgun and a few supplies and steals a minivan from his friends service station, begging the friend to come with them, but leaving him behind when he doesn't understand the danger and refuses to get in. The mother and her new husband have already left for Boston so the Ferriers hole up in their house. Overnight, the Martians show up around their and cause great destruction. A news van is outside and the reporter informs Ray the Machines are in all cities. They decide to try to make it to Boston They start running for their lives and are just ahead of the Martians, when they get caught up in a frantic mob of people in upstate NY who are also fleeing the machines. The mob tries to get in the car or take it away from them. In a Mexican standoff, Ray relinquishes the car to an armed gunman in exchange for letting him get Rachel out of the car. Ray drops his gun which is picked up by another mobmember who shoots the other gunman. They manage to get on a ferry as several more machines rise in the distance and the ferry leaves before it's full. A machine rises from the river and overturns the ferry but the Ferriers swim to shore. Robbie follows an Army unit into battle against Ray's wishes but he cannot stop him. Ray and Rachel are taken in by a sole man holed up in the basement of his rural house. Machines are all around and they send a camera tentical into the basement where they are holed up to look for humans which they avoid by moving and hiding. Then some Martians come in personally to investigate, but they're called back to the ship before they find the humans. Ray and the homeowner dispute over how to handle the situation. The machines have increased in number and are everywhere, and they can not be destroyed by our military. They make it to Boston and the Martians start dying from various sickness caused by germs that humans are built up immunity to, but the Martians don't have.

Ray walks downtown to the site where the lightning struck. A crowd has gathered around a large hole in the street. Ray touches a piece of the cracked pavement and finds that it's unusually cold. Suddenly the ground under the hole surges upward and everyone scatters. A car that fell into the hold is thrown out. A huge machine on three stilted legs bursts out of the hole and observes the crowds. It lets out a loud blast like a fog horn and as the crowd continues to scatter, it begins to incinerate dozens of people with blasts of heat beams; people are turned instantly into ash when the beams strike them. Ray runs, escaping through a department store; as he does, the ash from an unfortunate victim covers him. Ray hides behind a building and watches the monstrous machine walk by. He is reminded of Robbie and Rachel when a man runs by carrying his own child.

Ray returns home in utter shock. Barely speaking to his kids and washing the ash from his face and hair, he tells them both that they're leaving immediately. Ray has Robbie take everything in his refrigerator and Ray retrieves a small pistol, tucking it into his belt. They go to Manny's garage and climb into the minivan the mechanic had been working on; since he'd replaced the solenoid, the car is able to run. Manny thinks Ray is joking with him until Ray tells him in a serious tone to come with them. As he tells Ray to get out of the car, the nearby Bayonne Bridge collapses. Ray peels off while his kids become panicky. Rachel has a problem with enclosed spaces and Robbie tries to calm her. Ray tells Robbie about the machine and the destruction it caused. Ray plans to take his kids to a safe place, hopefully their mother and stepfather's house.