Independence Day (1996)

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 | Area 51 | Spacecraft | Weapon

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:

After the climatic battle, one of the F/A-18s that returns to the base can be seen with the tail code of 'VM'. This is the designation for Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314 (VMFA-314) Black Knights, the same squadron that Will Smith flies with in the film and that gets massacred by the city destroyer that took out LA.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the President walks up to "the big tamale", Dr. Okun rushes up the ramp to explain his excitement and as he passes Nimzicki, the actor's mark is visible on the ramp, directly in front of the Secretary of Defense.

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 "V: Pilot (#1.1)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Boom Boom Booty

Independence Day - outstanding work of the cinematic art

Personally I think this is the best movie of the 90's.

But then I think South Park is the best TV show of the 20th century. Followed by Twilight Zone and Star Trek tying for second and third place.

While there's no accounting for taste in art, I can make reasoned arguments for my choices.

The people here on IMDb who hate this movie and provide negative comments probably have their reasons too, but mostly they say stupid things. For example, the one vituperous reviewer who lambasted the film's "less-than-impressive CGI effects". Well, duh, they didn't use very much CGI as far as I know. They did special effects the old-fashioned way. This schmuck is complaining about reality not being very realistic?

And if box office is any indication of excellence, then the stats are on my side and prove the nay-sayers are tasteless boobs. Make that witless, tasteless boobs. Independence Day is one of the highest grossing movies in history, worldwide sales topping a billion.

Admittedly ID4 is one of those semi-rare movies that people either love or hate. And in this case hate with a passion. Why? I'm still trying to figure that one out, but so far I believe the whiniest critics are just your stereotypical jaded art critics: self-centered pseudo-intellectuals with attitude who pounce on any flaws in anything they personally don't like just to show off their own vapid superiority. What do they want? Yes, the movie has flaws, but it also has a lot of plot, a lot of heart, and a lot of action. Dialog? I make fun of the dialog myself... so what? The worst criticism I can lay against the writers is that a lot of the dialog is inane... just like real people talk! That just makes it more realistic. Have any of these critics on here ever listened to how real people talk? In some cases the dialog is sooo frigging inane in ID4 that I marvel at it's brilliance. Or chutzpah.

"What happened, mommy?"

"I don't know, baby"

As for the Apple-alien hook-up... my god, have we become so inured to the miracles of science that we calmly overlook or accept miracles like anti-gravity and kvetch instead about mundane technicalities? Yes, the Apple-alien computer hook-up is a plot hole... so what? I can easily explain that away a billion times easier than I can explain anti-gravity. I happen to know a bit about both.

Again. Are there stupid things that happen in ID4? Sure. Checked reality lately? Stupid things happen all the time. But so do heroic things. As well as evil. Typical fare for the ancient tragedies. I believe ID4 carries on that ancient and honorable tradition: entertainment. And viewing it as a work of art, I must say that I was impressed over and over again while watching this film: where most of the studios would have wussed out or flinched, these film makers didn't. They stepped up to the plate and tried to beat the ball to death over and over again with their bat.

And you know what? These film makers did it with a hint of humor. Not bad at all.