Since then, I've seen this technique used for a solitary scene (Signs) or an entire movie (The Blair Witch Project). It was also this element that drew my appreciation of the Firefly series, when Whedon would purposely have footage of the ship go out of focus and zoom in and out, like someone was on the ground capturing this with a camcorder. One might infer that Spielberg was simply adapting a method that had already worked: Orson Welles captivated the nation in a broadcast with no spectacular visual effects or indeed any visuals at all, just the medium of radio and a straight faced interpretation by his troupe of actors. It worked then and it works now.

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I suppose one can never know the effects of mass hysteria until one is in the middle of such an experience. So when we see the scene at the ferry and all that happens there, we sit gaping at the breaking down of the rules of civilization and wonder if this fictional representation could be accurate? The only gripe I had was everyone running for the boat. Seems to me the last place I would want to be when being pursued by agile killer aliens is on a slow-ass boat, made slower by the weight, in the middle of a river. C'mon people, split up!

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Acting-wise, Cruise is on a higher level here, registering the fear necessary for the role. The one drawback was near the end when he yells some advice to a soldier. The yell sounded just like his "Red Light. Green Light" at the end of Mission: Impossible, and given the campiness of that previous role, I couldn't help but giggle when Tom did it again. Tim Robbins puts forth menace when his character could have easily laughable. He's helped in his confrontations with Cruise by the fact that he's a full ten inches taller than him. As for Fanning, this is actually the first time I've seen her in a film. She's mature and very good here; close to Sixth Sense good.

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Do you get the feeling that Cruise and Spielberg got some serious deja vu while shooting the basement scene? Cruise silently eluding the snake-like surveillance camera personally reminded me of the spider-robots scene in Minority Report.

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There are different ways to terrorize an audience, and one of the more chilling is a scene where people are held captive and absolutely helpless while awaiting their fate. The scene inside the metal baskets underneath the tripod was along these lines and brought to mind The Second Renaissance, Part II segment of the Animatrix DVD. Granted, Cruise saves the day here, but those initial moments will stay with me for awhile.