Directed by:
Roland EmmerichCinematography:
Karl Walter LindenlaubComposer:
David ArnoldCast:
Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Mae Whitman, Vivica A. Fox, Margaret Colin, Robert Loggia, James Rebhorn, Randy Quaid (more)VOD (5)
Plots(1)
The spectacle begins when massive spaceships appear in Earth's skies. But wonder turns to terror as the ships blast destructive beams of fire down on cities all over the planet. Now the world's only hope lies with a determined band of survivors, uniting for one last strike against the invaders - before it's the end of all mankind. (20th Century Fox UK)
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Reviews (10)
Independence Day is in a typically Emmerich vein, with this film being one of the first pieces to feature the director’s penchant for monster-scale visual effects, as well as the catastrophic-apocalyptic feel and the American heroism of the main characters. The cast was mostly likeable, the plot moved along, although twenty minutes less running time would not have hurt, and from a technical point of view it is a very successful achievement. In short, one of those films that is great for switching off the brain and unwinding.
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I believe that at the time it was released, it was a fine innovative blockbuster that managed to shock. Today, however, Independence Day doesn't impress at all, because we've seen everything in it a thousand times and better. The acting is average, the visuals were fine for the time, but today they are rather laughable, and the completely formulaic plot doesn't add to its appeal either. Roland Emmerich's sci-fi vision, which he spins over and over again in each of his films, also slowly comes across as his pure egotism and personal ambition to make films "for himself", I guess I can't really explain it any other way. I was thinking that this particular piece is quite famous, well-known and praised, but for me it's just a below average misstep that I'd rather not remember tomorrow.
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“I steal, you steal, we steal.” Or how Emmerich and Devlin got together, dumped their brain concoctions into a common cauldron, stirred it properly and prepared an inedible slop. I turned off my brain and just wanted to have fun, but even a lobotomy wouldn't have helped. The massive avalanche of clichés and stupidity swept me away in such a way that I wouldn't want to repeat it.
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Switch off your brain, make a big bucket of popcorn for yourself, turn the volume up (there’s no point in watching it anywhere else but at either a home or a regular theater) and make yourself believe the misleading phrase “it’s a spoof" and, mainly, take it easy. If you manage to persuade yourself that it really is meant as a spoof then it is an excellent B-grade catastrophe movie with a huge budget and well known, but mostly terrible actors (with one exception of Will Smith, brimming with snappy lines) and it’s decently paced. On top of all that it’s too long and overflowing with American pathos to an extent that can be trumped only by Emmerich himself in his subsequent movies.
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It was great science fiction for its time, and perhaps not so surprisingly, it's still great science fiction nearly twenty years later. Emmerich has managed to create a great special effects film that perhaps best portrays the fear of being attacked. Yes, it's very American, but that's obvious from the title, isn't it? Some of the moral talk about unifying the world is a bit grating, but it probably wouldn't be possible without pathos.
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Gallery (178)
Photo © 1996 20th Century Fox
![Independence Day - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/158/139/158139553_0c9f46.jpg)
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