Don't listen to the negative reviews

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

I was not expecting a lot but I was pulled into this one. It was fascinating to watch C Thomas Howell and his directing is very good also. I haven't seen the first War of the Worlds with Howell but it didn't really give me any problems keeping up with the story. Is it just me or does Howell look like a skinny version of Mel Gibson now? But I digress.I thought the special effects were actually quite good for a low budget flick. The Martian ships were nicely portrayed although they weren't really all that scary. Chris Reid didn't add a lot to the picture although it was sort of cool seeing him again. He did have some funny expressions here and there. It would have probably been better to give Howell a sympathetic female hottie sidekick but hey..?I thought the story was very well written, fairly complex and original yet still easy to figure out. They definitely got the best out of their budget and it really is a good picture in my honest opinion. No, its not one of those two hundred million dollar computerized action flicks made for video game addicts but I liked it a lot. I like B movies from all eras. They just seem more organic and rough around the edges which makes them edgier and more willing to take chances. War of the Worlds 2, the Next Wave is one of the better ones from this era. Give it a shot, you might find yourself digging it too!

First off, let me say that I absolutely love Steven Spielberg's version of War of the Worlds. I'm not going to go into detail about that, but his variation was incredible, and is one of my favorite movies. It's as if he knew exactly what H.G Wells was thinking when he wrote the book all those years ago, and it was very well done for a concept written in the late 1800sThen the Asylum gives it a shot.My God, where have we gone wrong? The only reason i saw the Asylum's version is because I mistook it for Spielberg's edition at Blockbuster when I rented it. And it was just terrible. The effects were terrible, the acting was beyond horrible, and a lot of scenes just didn't make any logical sense whatsoever. I actually ended up returning the DVD right after viewing it, hoping that I'd never have to hear about it again.Then the sequel came around.Oh my God... I never knew it was humanly possible to screw up a story this bad. just... wow. I'm stunned. This has got to be the worst movie I have ever seen in my entire life. This is beyond Jaws 4 territory of bad! It's got all of the same problems as the first movie, and completely amplifies them many times over. If you see this DVD anywhere, avoid it like it was a disease, because, in a way, it IS a disease. You're FAR better off getting Spielberg's version of War of the Worlds. And whatever you do, DON'T get his version and the Asylum's confused. The Asylum's has an alien blowing up the Capitol Building. That's how to tell. But this? This is just... ugh. If you see a "2" next to the War of the Worlds title, avoid it! Stay away from this awful "movie" at all costs!

War of the Worlds 2 (2008) * (out of 4)This direct-to-DVD sequel has George Herbert (C. Thomas Howell) returning as the father who has everything turn worse when our alien friends come back for a second invasion. To try and stay ahead of them, George, his new buddy (Christopher Reid) and others jump in their spaceships and head off to outer space to destroy the alien's mothership (no, I'm not kidding). I guess you have to give The Asylum credit for delivering something that's actually worse than the previous film. It's really too bad this low-budget film took itself too serious because when you do that you really don't leave yourself any room for some humor and that's something this thing really needed. It also needed some campy moments because as it stands this sequel is just deadly dull with nothing going for it. Once again, the biggest problem is that the screenplay is simply all over the place and it tries to deliver some sort of epic story but it fails horribly simply because the film can't deliver anything. The low-budget prevented any of the scenes from looking real so it's hard to take your outer space voyage serious when you don't believe for a second that they're actually there. You'll notice most of the shots in space are close-ups of the actors and I'm going to guess this was done so that the production didn't have to "dress up" what was behind them (which was probably just a white wall). The special effects this time around are also on the low rent style but there were a few good set designs towards the end as well as a couple goo-filled items. The performances are all on the weak side and that especially includes Reid who really doesn't get into his character at all. Fans of his should certainly stick with HOUSE PARTY. Howell took directing duties here and I think he had enough visual flare to where I'd like to see him handled an actual decent project to work on. Still, WAR OF THE WORLDS 2 is pretty worthless and easily a title you can skip.

For some sick reason, I liked the War of the Worlds that they wrote. Not so with this movie. The CGI is so-so. The latex monster rooms are pretty terrible, and the acting is quite honestly the worst I've ever seen. That says a lot, since I revel in shitty movies.Frankly, the only thing about watching this movie that I found enjoyable was the repeated refrain in my mind which said "I could totally do what this company does!" I might actually be wrong about that, but the movie itself sucks, and sucks in a way that I really cannot endorse for anyone even if I do enjoy it's badness.C. Thomas Howwel, the bad news is that you suck. The good news is that I respect you deeply for sucking the way you do. Keep at it, but maybe focus more on the acting than on the directing.