Independence Day (1996)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Roland Emmerich

Writers (WGA):

Dean Devlin (written by) &
Roland Emmerich (written by)

Release Date:

3 July 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

We've always believed we weren't alone. Pretty soon, we'll wish we were.

Plot:

The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy. Fighting superior technology, Man's best weapon is the will to survive.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Spaceship | Weapon | Area 51 | Spacecraft

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 26 wins & 21 nominations

Cast

Will Smith	...	Captain Steven Hiller
Bill Pullman	...	President Thomas J. Whitmore
Jeff Goldblum	...	David Levinson
Mary McDonnell	...	First Lady Marilyn Whitmore
Judd Hirsch	...	Julius Levinson
Robert Loggia	...	General William Grey
Randy Quaid	...	Russell Casse
Margaret Colin	...	Constance Spano
Vivica A. Fox	...	Jasmine Dubrow
James Rebhorn	...	Albert Nimzicki
Harvey Fierstein	...	Marty Gilbert
Adam Baldwin	...	Major Mitchell
Brent Spiner	...	Dr. Brackish Okun
James Duval	...	Miguel Casse
Lisa Jakub	...	Alicia Casse

Also Known As:

ID4 (USA) (promotional abbreviation)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi destruction and violence.

Runtime:

145 min | USA:153 min (special edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS 70 mm (70 mm prints) (Europe) | DTS (35 mm prints) | Dolby Digital (35 mm prints) | SDDS (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Ireland:PG | USA:PG-13 (certificate #34370) | Brazil:12 | Japan:U | New Zealand:PG | Australia:PG (edited for lower rating) | Canada:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Italy:T | Netherlands:AL | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:All | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | UK:12 | Israel:PG

Filming Locations:

2nd Street Tunnel, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Centropolis Entertainment

Trivia:

The orientation of the bent street lamps and overturned cars as seen through the tank's night vision makes them resemble the Martian spaceships from The War of the Worlds (1953).

Goofs:

Factual errors: The opening scene in which the mothership passes the moon heading toward earth, the earth is shown with the southern hemisphere facing the sun - an indication of mid-winter in North America, not July.

Quotes:

[first lines]
SETI Chief: [answering telephone] If this isn't an insanely beautiful woman, I'm hangin' up.
SETI technician: Sir, I - I- I think you should listen to this.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Future Fantastic: Alien" (????)

Soundtrack:

About You

The definitive summer blockbuster.

Review summary: Perfection in its own silly, explosive, action-packed way. A highly entertaining blockbuster.

I love the summer. It's the time every year or so, that we could sit back, relax and try to get back to your lazy self. You can go outside, fly kites, ride your bike across the countryside, go to the beach, stay at home and watch television, or go to the theaters and catch the latest in summer blockbuster releases. It was way back in the 1990's that these blockbuster flourished. It was almost every year or so, we get a film that tried to top the other. It was the busiest time for Hollywood.

I wasn't much frequent on watching movies on the big screen back then, and only manage to watch these movies on video. I watched INDEPENDENCE DAY many years later, having missed it on both its exact release date and decade. I saw it on a post-summer night, just a few weeks after summer vacation just ended. Upon watching, I found myself enjoying everything about it. Rating it on a summer movie meter, it's terrific entertainment. The definitive summer blockbuster.

INDEPENDENCE DAY has no moment to spare. It starts out quickly with the sight of a gigantic alien spaceship hovering over the craters of the moon, heading towards the Earth. The film has the usual news on Earth, like all invasion flicks, having the news spread, starting from a small organization investigating extraterrestrial activity, then to the military, who then phone calls The White House, giving it full news to President Thomas Whitmore (Bill Pullman), who obviously remembers Michael Douglas' president performance in THE American PRESIDENT (but I didn't say lampoon), who stares in a moment of shock and disbelief.

Before the sight of the alien spaceship hovering above the cities around the world, we first get a glimpse of the many characters in the film. First, there's computer engineer David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum, in an excellent performance), playing chess with father Julius Levinson(Judd Hirsh) at Central Park. David is divorced from his wife (Margaret Colin), who happens to be the President's Chief-of-staff (see the connections). Then it switches to Kansas, where the focus is a small family. The father, Russell Casse (Randy Quaid), a crop-dust farmer, believes he's kidnapped by aliens and is willing for payback, much to the dismay of his teenage kids. We also get introduced to a soldier (Will Smith), who both longs to return to NASA and reach for the stars (literally), and to propose to his girlfriend Jasmine (Vivica A. Fox).

Well, enough of that. It's time we see an invasion, and, boy, did we get one. After the discovery of the invaders plot (using the Earth's satellites to plan an attack), we get a mind-blowing sequence after another at incredible pace. The destruction at the streets of New York are just the first great effects-laden sequences in the film. Lets see, we get a STAR WARS-inspired dogfight between fighter jets and alien spaceships. And we also get a suspenseful sequence of an alien in laboratory (Talk about a close encounter), INDEPENDENCE DAY doesn't fail when it comes to a good visual feast. Admittedly, some of the effects are cheesy, seeing how much CGI has improved over the years, but they still provide an eye-filling experience.

INDEPENDENCE DAY runs for a long 145 minutes, but director Roland Emmerich fills it with lots of fun and excitement, it just seems to pass by. Director Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin spares no moments and doesn't stop for a break, giving the film a roaring pace without a dull moment that can't be interesting. The photography by Karl Walter Lindenlaub gives the film a good look, while composer David Arnold serenades the film with a rollicking and patriotic score.

Forget its stereotype problems, INDEPENDENCE DAY is terrific summer entertainment that never fails to have me entertained.

Rating: ***** out of 5.