How War of the Worlds became Spielberg’s most controversial movie: ‘He lost his sense of decency’

Arriving four years after the attack on the Twin Towers, Spielberg’s loose adaptation of the HG Wells classic – which turned 20 this week – utilised 9/11 imagery and a very era-specific sense of American panic to tell the story of an alien invasion. Many championed it. Others found it tasteless, writes Al Horner