The latest adaptation of H.G. Wells's classic sci-fi novel, starring Ice Cube, has been officially recognised as one of the worst films of all time by review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The movie, released on Amazon's Prime Video service in July, received almost universally poor reviews from critics.
In this modern retelling, Ice Cube plays Will Radford, a Homeland Security surveillance and threat assessment expert who witnesses the alien invasion unfold on a computer screen while assisting disparate groups of survivors. The cast also includes Eva Longoria, Clark Gregg, Andrea Savage, Henry Hunter Hall, Iman Benson, Devon Bostick, and Michael O'Neil.
The film initially scored a zero per cent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which has since risen to four per cent. One critic described it as “a feature-length commercial for all things Amazon”. Its inclusion in the website's list of the 100 worst movies ever made is based on a score of four per cent or less and a minimum of 20 reviews.
War of the Worlds enters the list at number 88, sandwiched between Bruce Willis's comedy The Whole Ten Yards and the 2004 Robert De Niro thriller Godsend. Topping the chart is the 2002 action film Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, followed by horror One Missed Call and the religious disaster movie Left Behind, starring Nicolas Cage.
Producer Patrick Aiello described the film as a “visceral, first-person experience designed for big screens in a language and format that is now natural within our daily lives”. Co-producer Timur Bekmembetov added in July: “It's kind of a modern spin on Orson Welles' War of the Worlds. Back then, he used radio… Today, that medium is the screen of our devices.”
