War of the Worlds (2005 film)/YMMV


 * HSQ: Spielberg keeps this as high as possible. One scene involves a crowd of people, including our protagonists, walking through town, when a railroad crossing signal sounds. Everybody clears the tracks as the gate comes down. Then the train passes. It leaves, the gates go up, and it is not commented on by anyone.
 * The train was in the novel, as well. It's a clever nod to the original story.
 * The Scrappy: Rachel qualifies for being The Load, and she spends most of the time being carried around, screaming, or staring off into space. Ray might not know much about parenting, but he sure risks his ass for her twenty times over in the film while she stands there and does nothing. Frequently parodied in Scary Movie 4.
 * Hell, Robbie counts as well. The first few scenes he's in involve him being a Jerkass to his father, up to and including the invasion. After demanding to go to his mother and stepfather, Ray agrees, to which Robbie argues that Ray is just trying to get rid of his children. This is all surrounded by Robbie trying to go Leeroy Jenkins and fight the invasion despite Ray's insistence that nothing good will come of it.
 * What the Hell, Casting Agency?: When people think "blue-collar New Jersey single father", Tom Cruise is probably not the first name that comes to mind.