'I just thought it would be fun to make a really scary movie with really scary aliens, which I had never done before,' says Spielberg, who loves working with Cruise.

Cruise notes that from the beginning, Spielberg described the film to him in subjective, rather than objective, terms. 'You understand that the whole world is under attack but it's all from the point of view of Ray Ferrier,' Cruise explains.

'He (Spielberg) has a great perception of human behaviour. He finds those unique moments, those little things. Steven does that with his movies and it brings you right into those characters and their stories. You're connected with them, so things that are frightening are really frightening. It's happening to us, the audience.'

Steven feels that 'this is a very simple story. It's a story about survival, about a father trying to keep his children safe. It's about the basic elements of human nature set against an extraordinary, unnatural event.'