A major difference between them is when it is set and the location. The difference between 1898 and 2005 really changes the story. In 1898 people are fleeing from the tripods in horse drawn carriages and on foot. In 2005 people are fleeing in cars, trucks, boats.
The character of the novel has an unknown identity. The only main (with names) characters mentioned in the novel are Ogilvy his meteorologist/scientist friend. There are many other characters mentioned, but they are just named (for example) ‘the Curate’ and ‘the Artillery Man’. The main character in the film is famous Hollywood actor Tom Cruise. He is a divorced crane driver who has to look after his children for the weekend, Robbie a teenage boy and Rachel a 10 year old who likes to scream a lot.
The Tripods
One of the main things that keeps the book and the film similar is The tripods. They are mostly the same apart from a few subtly differences, like in the book it is a heat ray, whereas the film the ray destroys organic matter. They still look fairly similar, and they both have the baskets on the back for taking human samples. In the film the tripods have a force field around them which missiles and tanks cannot penetrate. The film's aliens do not land on Earth in giant cylinders before releasing their war machines. Instead, the machines have already been buried underground, and the aliens arrive in capsules transported through lightning bolts. The details of how they do this are never really explained, but it is clear that they had been planning this invasion along time before human civilization.
Similarities
The aliens are defeated by microorganisms in both the book and film.
The fighting machines are tripods, with a ray of some kind, metal construction and three legs.
The ray. I feel