Director Steven Spielberg made his name with cosy family fare, but his adaptation of HG Wells' War Of The Worlds is "refreshingly dark and brutal". With Tom Cruise heading the cast, big box office was guaranteed. Even so, The Crusier's love-struck antics (over Katie Holmes) threatened to overshadow this story of a father who struggles to protect his kids from an invading army of aliens.

Alien Nation

While the 50s movie version of Wells' book tapped into Cold War paranoia, Spielberg explains that this update "reflects a lot of our post 9/11 fears". TC and screenwriter David Koepp join the discussion in Revisiting The Invasion, which offers a detailed outline of the filmmakers' relatively low-key approach. As Koepp tells it, his first job was to write up a list of all the things he didn't want to include, eg "There will be no destruction of famous landmarks."

As well as making a distinction between the two films, Spielberg draws the parallels in a separate featurette. Avid sci-fans will already know that stars of the original, Gene Barry and Ann Robinson, were cast in cameos, but there's also a nod to the 50s effects team whose designs for the alien spaceships have filtered through. For instance, the cobra-like feeler that stalks Cruise in the basement scene is inspired by the design of an old Zenith record player.

You can lean much more about the design process in Tripods And Aliens where ILM bods compare the movement of the aliens (and their tripods) to almost every sea creature from jellyfish, to octopus, to squid and finally conclude that, "It's like watching a giraffe". That's Darwinism gone mad, or as TC puts it: "ET has gone bad! Rogue, man - ET gone rogue!"

There's a full effects demo in a featurette on pre-visualisation. Cameras venture inside the poky little office where The Spielmeister holed up with a team of CGI whiz kids to compile these animated storyboards. "I prefer making it up as I go along," says Mr S, but he finally admits that previz is the way of the future.

All's Well That End Wells

Wells gets a special tribute in a featurette that hears from filmmakers, friends and family and offers an insight into his relationship with Hollywood. Especially funny are reports of his appalled reaction to Orson Welles' notorious radio broadcast of The War Of The Worlds. Meanwhile Spielberg talks about his own fascination with the aliens in We Are Not Alone, describing this film as the third in a trilogy that includes Close Encounters (1977) and ET (1982).

Little Dakota Fanning is, as usual, frighteningly eloquent on her role as Cruise's daughter in The Family Unit. Spielberg calls her "the best juvenile actor working today", but in addition to the ritual exchange of praise, there's plenty of insight into the function of each character. (This featurette also serves as a showcase for costume design.) Elsewhere there's an inside look at the creative process of composer John Williams who has scored nearly all of Spielberg's movies.

Although this two-disc package boasts a wealth of information on the making of the War Of The Worlds, what really sets it apart are the extensive Production Diaries. Cameras follow cast and crew from the east coast of America to the west coast offering a rare opportunity to see the great director at work (and marvel at TC's Jack Nicholson impression - "Truth? You can't handle the truth!"). Unfortunately Spielberg doesn't give an audio commentary for the main feature, but this DVD is still generous with behind-the-scenes info. The truth isn't out there - it's in here!

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