Funny / War of the Worlds (2005)

• Ray tells Robbie that he and his brother know everything. Rachel chimes in, "What's the capital of Australia?" Ray takes a moment, then says, "That's one my brother knows." Robbie isn't amused, but it gets a smile from Rachel.
• Ray is having a conversation with Rachel, and realizes Robbie's not in the house. Rachel is clearly enjoying herself, knowing her brother's in big trouble:
  Ray: Where's Robbie?
  Rachel: Out.
  Ray: Out where?
  Rachel: [mischievously] I don't know. He just took your car and left.
• "I'm allergic to peanut butter." "Since when?" "Birth."
  • Followed by Ray offering both Rachel and Robbie plain sandwiches, to which they both insist they're not hungry. Then he angrily throws the bread slices at the window, with the peanut butter-covered one sticking to the glass.
  • And when Ray discovers that Robbie's "food" packing consists of nothing but condiments, to which Robbie retorts that's all that was in the house.
• When Rachel announces she has to go to the bathroom:
  Ray: Stay where I can see you.
  Rachel: Are you crazy? I'm not going in front of you guys!
  Ray: I'm not gonna look, just stay in sight!
  Rachel: THAT'S LOOKING!
• When a man starts attacking their car:
  Ray: He wants a ride.
  Rachel: Can we give him one?
  Ray: ...No.
• It's a pretty dark moment, but Ogilvy's "dead set on living" line is still funny.
• "Okay, now come up with a plan that doesn't involve your ten-year-old sister joining the Army!" Which, like the above example, happens during a very dramatic scene and probably wasn't meant to be that funny, but it is.
• Behind the scenes example: While shooting the scene where Ray and the kids are in the water while the Tripods are plucking civilians one by one, Steven Spielberg and John Williams pulled a prank on Cruise, Fanning, Chatwin, and the extras in the water at the time, by playing the theme from Jaws over the loudspeakers.
• Dakota Fanning was asked in an interview whether she would want to meet aliens if they really existed. Her answer? "No! Stay away!"
• While driving away from the Tripods Ray tries to explain to Robbie what's attacking everything:
  Robbie: What is it? Is it terrorists?
  Ray: These came from some place else.
  Robbie: What do you mean, like, Europe?
  Ray: No, Robbie, not like Europe!
• One of the aliens—these monstrous invaders who have been destroying everything, exterminating human life on a grand scale and trying to take over the planet—playing with a discarded bicycle in an inquisitive manner. And then getting startled when the bicycle drops in front of it. How terrifying.
  • In general, the aliens tend to be kind of goofy and Ugly Cute once they actually show up in person. They hobble on three legs like animals that really haven't gotten this whole "walking on land" deal figured out. On top of that, their eyes look entirely too large for their small faces (a trait typically associated with infants and juvenile animals), they communicate through soft hissing sounds that normally wouldn't feel threatening, and they mostly interact with the world using a pair of tiny arms that stick out from their bellies. They're intimidating mainly because, if they happened to find the hidden protagonists, they could flee back to their Tripod and immediately murder everyone like a human swatting flies. This may be intentional, given that their downfall results when they eventually find themselves unable to use their superior technology to overcome their biological shortcomings.

---