Independence Day

Giant, hostile, alien spaceships appear overnight to move on Earth's natural resources; humanity's last, desperate hope is a shaky plan involving a captured UFO from the 1950s and an old PowerBook laptop. Seems like this one was a guilty-pleasure classic from opening day. ID4 isn't well-written and constantly bathes itself in dense layers of cheese, but it tries hard, most the character arcs connect and the big special effects hold up quite well, despite their age.

For a movie that's so thoroughly reliant on spectacle, that last point is pretty important. The power of watching the White House or Empire State Building burst into a billion bitty pieces is still there, irresistible, while the magnitude of the invading fleet remains immense, and I think both can be attributed to the production's choice to eschew then-new CG techniques in favor of a large, intricately detailed stable of miniatures. We get a few hiccups, like the obviously green-screened fighter jets or the absurd visual of a golden retriever leaping to slow-motion safety through a fiery inferno, but for the most part it all looks great and it's still easy to get sucked into the experience.

Of course, the whole thing is over-acted to death. Roland Emmerich has never been one to bring out nuance from his cast, and this is an awfully shallow effort, even by his standards. Bill Pullman nails the big motivational speech, set to a telegraphed swell of patriotic symphony, but otherwise lacks conviction as a limp, reactive PotUS. Randy Quaid is a cheap xerox of every alien abduction stereotype to ever enter pop culture. Jeff Goldblum is naturally quirky enough to make his role worthwhile, but it takes every bit of his innate charismatic magnetism to overcome the dumb plot developments. Will Smith is the only unequivocal success, barking and fist-pumping his way to bonafide action hero status in a simple but essential role as a beefy marine / pure force of will.

From a critical perspective, this is cinematic junk food. Big bangs and shiny lights to dazzle the box office crowd, with a few easy jokes to lighten the mood. But yet, there's something else to it, something essential and inexplicable. It's just raw, simple fun, I suppose, that makes no apologies for how it acts or what it aims to be. It won't make you think or weep, but you'll feel, and that's worth something.

I am just shocked at all the negative reviews by pseudo-intellectuals saying the film was heavily flawed, incomprehensible, devoid of any merit, and "lame", to quote a few. What were they expecting? A remake of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Sure, I am not going to pretend the film does not has many glaring weaknesses. The plot is hardly original; its execution is even less inspiring. Roland Emmerich goes out of his way to use every cliche in the book, over-sentimentality, weak, flat characterizations, incredible jumps in logic and reasoning made on the viewer, and the use of special effects to overcome these shortcomings. But what some of the reviewers seemed to have missed, and its there as substantiated by the huge popularity of the film, is heart. The film has a lot of heart. It makes you feel good after watching it. And although that quality does not make it a great film, it certainly makes it a good film in my book. The film is vastly entertaining, very suspenseful, a delight for the eyes with dazzling special effects, and even has some dialogue that does just rise above its hackneyed origins. The acting is adequate all around with no one pulling off a great performance, but a few doing marvelous jobs with what they have to work with. Judd Hirsch easily out acts his fellow colleagues as a Jewish father with a gift for common sense and lack of tact. Jeff Goldblum also gives a pretty good performance as his son. Yeah, Will Smith is just Will Smith..lots of one liners and little meat so to speak. But he is bearable. Watch for Brent Spiner in an outrageous role as a hippie scientist. His performance is a real hoot! If you are looking for philosophical science fiction, this is not it. See Starship Troopers(a great film). This is just good old Americans against the universe stuff, lots of action but little substance. But whatever it may have as its faults, it is a fun, happy, sad, charming, engrossing film to watch...time and time again.

This is a very entertaining movie for sure. I think this is a good line to begin with, because from a movie perspective I see it as a big old B film, hehe... But I enjoyed the movie from start to end, even with all the clichés, the americanish touch, the sometimes laughable dialog. This is a movie where you just turn your brain off, and just enjoy the fun ride it is, and root for the humans, and especially the Americans (:p) to win over evil!...

The movie I must say has a lot of memorable moments... A lot of them comes from the great special effects. I remember when watching this as a kid, I was woved by the effects, and they still look pretty good to this day! So to end it all, if you are a movie viewer who watches movies for character development, clever dialog, etc. This movie is not for you. If you just want a good time, and a good feeling after watching a movie, I recommend this very much! Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Roland Emmerich is, without a doubt, the Master of the catastrophe films. On his resume, the director not only has Independence Day, his first dive into the sub-genre, but also Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow, and 2012, all marked by mass destruction - global most of the time - and a complete absence script or quality performances, absences that open the way for the visual spectacle in computer graphics with several memorable sequences. Here, Independence Day literally encapsulates the spirit of all those similar films from the 70s such as the series Airport, Earthquake, Hell in the Tower, Poseidon's Destiny, copying almost entirely from the classic formula, which usually addresses family nuclei or friends before the tragedy in a slow narrative construction and the consequences after the apocalypse sets in. And there's nothing wrong with that, actually, as Emmerich lends his ability to create epics - Stargate was his immediately preceding film, which already demonstrated his ability to handle science fiction well - and creates a film that will be guaranteed fun. Just ignore the various poetic licenses in the script and embark on the guilt-free adventure.

With an estimated budget of 75 million, Independence Day stifled Spielberg's intentions to remake the classic 1953 War of the Worlds to present an alien invasion on an absurd scale. Since the first teaser trailers, with the shadows consuming tourist spots accompanied by the expression of astonishment from passers-by, the feature film has already come with the proposal to shape America's basic formula of self-destruction: if terrorists could not find access - until then - , a flurry of blockbusters began that featured the United States being threatened by natural phenomena and alien forces. As a masochistic pleasure intensified by the approach of the end of the millennium, the result could not be other than a lot of destruction, with sensational effects from impressive models, and the exaggerated patriotism, capable of putting the American president himself on a fighter to face the enemies. Interplanetary.

Don't ask how, but even though the United States government communicates with other nations through Morse code, television continues to quietly broadcast the news with naughty information to the viewer - commonly, us - and that's even after the attacks. It doesn't help the spectator to wonder how David managed, in less than six hours, to pick up his father, get out of downtown New York faster than the whole crowd, and still arrive in Washington, about 330 kilometers from distance; And why bother with the fact that aliens, coming from beyond the solar system, count time in the same measurements as we do? After all, who cares? Forget it, after all, we are back in 1996, a time when the characters use gigantic cell phones, while the aliens have a touchscreen.

Regarding the script of the film, it is fair to say that it is the factor most detonated by the specialized critic. The focus of the production really is to bring elaborate scenes of destruction, leaving the likelihood in the background. There is a lot of patriotism to the United States, to its July 4th holiday (which becomes a world holiday) and to the American army. The script also does not seek to deepen the personal dramas of the characters and some situations are quite fanciful. But the truth is that this was never the intention. Director Roland Emmerich sucks at character development - it would be prudent to say that he may not know what that actually means - but, on the other hand, he is efficient in his action sequences. And since they tend to put the protagonists and large crowds of people in danger, it is easy to gain public empathy, since we on this side of the screen prefer to think that, instead of those figures, we would also survive - right? Big explosion and collapse of a tunnel? No problem, you would go through this to drive a truck and save the First Lady of the United States. Drag the body of an extraterrestrial across the desert, even without supplies? Of course, if you, like Will Smith, can punch one of the damn aliens right in the face. Escape from a colossal explosion at the last second by just a few feet with Air Force One? Only if we can get rid of an even bigger explosion, in space and on board an alien spaceship. Emmerich may not take the human side of his characters very much into consideration, but he is great at instigating the superhuman in them, which hits our ego right in the middle - after all, if they succeed, why not me?

If, on the one hand, the narrative is poor, Independence Day stands out in the technical part. David Arnold's great soundtrack, simply contagious, manages to electrify in the intense scenes and manages to thrill in those more dramatic scenes, as in a moment when an important character dies. The composer manages to bring a track with melodies that help and a lot to give the mood of the film. The editing of sound effects and sound mixing mixes well the noise of explosions, the shouting of people, the shooting of ships and falling buildings. It is no coincidence that he competed for the Oscar for Best Sound.

The general shots taken by Karl Walter Lindenlaub, which Emmerich brought from Stargate, work very well to convey the magnitude of the attacks. David Brenner's montage (The Day After Tomorrow, 2012, The Man of Steel) also deserves commendation for not succumbing to the spectator's bewilderment. Using Lindenlaub's broader photograph very well, he connects the sequences in a way that makes the beating - even in the complicated final aerial attack - logical without losing its energy. And what about the visual effects, which won the Oscars? Today they may seem a little dated, but nothing that gets in the way. And when reviewing the film today, it is actually impressive that many scenes remain current. The grandeur of the ships, the destruction of buildings and the White House, the final air battles, everything remains exciting.

The film is shallow and somewhat empty of content - the theme "union of nations" is beautiful, but if we squeeze it, nothing comes out - but it is undeniable that the director and his script partner Dean Devlin manage to create captivating characters, who they carry the film on their backs. Will Smith in his first big hit, in his burst stage. The star has always lavished charisma, mainly for his comical crazy things and in the action scenes. The best jokes and jokes come out of Smith's mouth. The star Jeff Goldblum (from 'The Fly" and 'Jurassic Park') always with presence and a restrained performance. Bill Pullman plays with respect a well-intentioned and convincing president. Veterans Randy Quaid and Judd Hirsch are surprisingly funny. The synchrony of all of them is something that helps us to care about the characters and cheer in the end.

Independence Day is a beautiful example of the catastrophe film, almost a return to the seventies past, which seems to have been the decade that "created" the genre. This work by Emmerich will remain in the viewer's memory even if it is due to its exaggeration and absurd technological freedoms. A true guilty pleasure, of those who leave a pleasant smile on the face after the projection. It's another great guilty pleasure - that movie, which is essentially pretty bad, but you have fun watching it - directed by the filmmaker specializing in catastrophe films. After all, action and tension is what Emmerich wants to deliver. It is not about his "sophisticated and complex" plot that he wants to base his feature film on, as his artistic expression resides in entertainment. Who cares about ufanism - I would say implicitly, if the foreground was not an American flag - and cheesy melodramas when Bill Pullman is giving such an "inspirational" speech? Anyway, they say that there is that kind of film to "turn off the brain". I say that for this we have those we can call "bad". Independence Day is not to turn anything off, but rather just one of those event films that requires less from the intellect of others - which is different, and by no means a demerit. After all, features like these by Emmerich, however disposable they may be, will always find shelter.

I don't usually comment on this, I don't like to portray a movie as being good or bad just on my opinion, as everyone has their own tastes and needs when it comes to cinema. But god damn, why do so many people hate this film.

Firstly, this is not a serious film, it has never happened nor will it ever. This film is just damn good fun to watch...the explosions, the suspense, the cheesy one-liners...its not trying to tell you that aliens are coming to blow the s**t of of us...its entertainment. To all the people here that have said this is the worst movie ever...you guys need need to watch more movies, because if this is the worst movie ever then im Santa clause! To put it simply, this is 2 and a half hours of fun filled, edge of the seat (occasionally have a laugh) action...and nothing else.

Why cant people just enjoy a independence day for what it is (as mentioned above)...not why its improbable etc etc etc we all know that duh! This film is entertaining, full stop!! and thats all its supposed to be.