10 Perfect Scenes In God-Awful Movies

10. The Tripod Attack - War Of The Worlds

With Tom Cruise playing the lead in Steven Spielberg's adaptation of one of HG Well's most influential stories, it sounded like War of the Worlds couldn't fail.

But due to the uneven tone, forced family drama, and an annoyingly abrupt ending, few were bowled over by this blockbuster. (Also, how did Robbie survive that explosion near the end? After 17 years, this plothole still bothers me.)

Fortunately, the story's centrepiece, the alien invasion itself, is as chilling as you'd expect. After an EMP hits a town, Ray and his family walk towards an intersection, gawking in horror at the source of the signal.

With little warning, a Martian ship bursts from the ground and begins reducing everything to ash with a high-powered energy weapon. Ray and his family dive into their car and drive off, while the tripod's lasers hurl trucks into houses and rip freeways to shreds.

As delightfully well-shot and edited as this scene is, there's one simple detail that really sells it.

The sound. Or, more accurately, the lack of sound. Once the tripod appears, there's no dialogue. No witty banter. No monologues. No cheesy one-liners. There's barely any music. Watching this colossal automaton in pure silence just before it obliterates the town makes the scene far more gripping.