Independence Day (1996) 20th Century Fox/Sci-Fi-Action RT: 153 minutes (Extended Version) Rated PG-13 (language, sci-fi action, violence and destruction, some sensuality) Director: Roland Emmerich Screenplay: Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich Music: David Arnold Cinematography: Karl Walter Lindenlaub Release date: July 2, 1996 (US) Cast: Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Margaret Colin, Vivica A. Fox, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Robert Loggia, Randy Quaid, Harvey Fierstein, James Rebhorn, Harry Connick Jr., Adam Baldwin, Brent Spiner, Ross Bagley, Mae Whitman, James Duval, Lisa Jakub, Giuseppe Andrews, Bill Smitrovich, Kiersten Warren, Devon Gummersall, Leland Orser, Erick Avari, Andrew Keegan, Lyman Ward, Malcolm Danare, Kimberly Beck, Robert Pine, Thom Barry, John Bennett Perry, Raphael Sbarge. Box Office: $306.1 million (US)/$817.4 million (World)
Rating: ****
Can I just state for the record that I LOVE Independence Day? It’s one of the last BIG summer movies I actually thought was great. It’s a silly sci-fi piece about an alien invasion that destroys several major cities around the world until military forces around the world decide to fight back.
As you all know, I don’t have a lot of love for these idiotic, big budget, CGI-heavy movies that take over the multiplexes every summer. The only ones since ID4 that I really love are The Dark Knight (2008), Super 8 (2011) and The Avengers (2012). What I like most about ID4 is that it plays exactly like an Irwin Allen disaster movie from the 70s complete with an all-star cast and scenes of mass destruction. The only thing missing is the row of little boxes with the actors’ faces in them at the bottom of the poster (e.g. And Henry Fonda as “The President”). This is one of those movies that I salivated over for six months, ever since the teaser trailer, the one depicting a UFO obliterating the White House, showed up before one of the big Christmas movies.
I saw ID4 three times at the movies, all within the same two-week period. I saw it at two separate pre-release screenings then again with my mother on July 4 (aka Independence Day) weekend. I realize that we’re not talking about fine cinema here, but I frankly don’t give a damn. This movie is AWESOME! It’s one of the few post-80s movies that allow me to tap into my inner teenager and appreciate the sheer joy of a summertime sci-fi movie. It’s completely far-fetched, it has a few plot holes and it’s pretty silly, it’s really an expensive throwback to the cheap UFO/alien invasion flicks of the 50s and 60s. Well, it works and ID4 rocks!
On July 2, an enormous mothership enters orbit around Earth and deploys several smaller (about 15 miles wide) spacecrafts to positions over several major cities around the world. Cable company employee/MIT grad David Levinson (Goldblum, The Fly) discovers hidden transmissions in the satellites which he believes is a countdown to a major alien invasion. He and his aged father Julius (Hirsch, Taxi), with the help of his ex-wife Constance (Colin, Three Men and a Baby), gain entry to the White House to warn President Thomas Whitmore (Pullman, Spaceballs). Sure enough, David is right and several people escape the White House before the alien invaders blow it to smithereens. They lay waste to many areas of the world and it’s up to a few survivors to prevent the complete annihilation of humanity.
The main hero of ID4 is Captain Steven Hiller (Smith, Men in Black), a wise-ass Marine Corps pilot whose stripper girlfriend Jasmine (Fox, Kill Bill: Vol. 1) is among those who survived the initial attack. She and her young son Dylan (Bagley, The Little Rascals) must lead others, including the seriously injured First Lady (McDonnell, Dances with Wolves), to safety at a military base. Alcoholic Vietnam vet/crop duster pilot Russell Casse (Quaid, Christmas Vacation) must get his three children, including one sickly son, to safety. When the call goes out for qualified pilots, Russell gladly volunteers because he’s always wanted to get revenge against the aliens that he claimed abducted him ten years beforehand.
Also in the mix are Robert Loggia (Psycho II) as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and James Rebhorn (The Game) as the Secretary of Defense. In addition, singer Harry Connick Jr. plays Steve’s best friend and fellow pilot, Adam Baldwin (My Bodyguard) shows up as the CO of Area 51, Brent Spiner (Star Trek: The Next Generation) plays an eccentric scientist, Mae Whitman (Parenthood) plays First Daughter “Munchkin” and Harvey Fierstein (Torch Song Trilogy) appears as David’s panic-stricken boss.
What can I say? I’m a sucker for a good old-fashioned disaster movies and ID4 delivers the goods and then some. The aliens blow a lot of stuff up and tons of people get killed. The US military comes out blasting away in their fighter planes. Smith, in his first action/sci-fi role, shows that he has true leading man potential. He gets off some of the best lines in ID4, like when he quips, “Now that’s what I call a close encounter!” after punching out one of the slimy, tentacled alien baddies. But this movie isn’t about performances or screenplays; it’s all about sci-fi action with aliens and UFOs destroying everything and the people of Earth fighting back. In other words, it’s about kicking some extra-terrestrial butt!
The storyline is great, the characters are pretty standard for this kind of movie, the special effects and alien design are cool, there’s a lot of action, Pullman gets to make a rousing speech right before humanity’s last stand….. hey, ID4 is a lot of fun! One of the best things about it is that it’s not a complete assault on the senses like subsequent summer blockbusters Armageddon and Transformers. Sure, it’s loud and full of mayhem and destruction, but director Roland Emmerich (Stargate, 2012) appears to have a better handle on it than many of his contemporaries. Many people have complained that the ending is kind of hokey with regards to how our heroes finally defeat the aliens. They claim that it’s too easy and simplistic. I say, so what? In a movie this cool, I don’t mind something like that. If these folks don’t like how the defeat of the aliens is brought about in ID4, then what do they think of how they’re finally brought down in War of the Worlds? It’s supposed to be silly and simplistic; it’s a summer roller coaster ride. I wish all dumb summer movies were as smart as ID4.
