In "War of the Worlds," Steven Spielberg marshals state-of-the-art tools of cinema and computerized imagery to mount eye-popping scenes of destruction, chaos and horror. Exploring the dark side of his old films "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," Spielberg more than does justice to the granddaddy of all alien-invasion tales, H.G. Wells' still terrifying novel published in 1898. The real question the film raises is whether post-Sept. 11 audiences are ready to view destruction, chaos and horror as entertainment.

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