Independence Day (1996)

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

Director:

Roland Emmerich

Writers:

Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich

Stars:

Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum

Won 1 Oscar. Another 34 wins & 34 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Will Smith	...	Capt. Steven Hiller
Bill Pullman	...	President Thomas J. Whitmore
Jeff Goldblum	...	David Levinson
Mary McDonnell	...	Marilyn Whitmore
Judd Hirsch	...	Julius Levinson
Robert Loggia	...	General William Grey
Randy Quaid	...	Russell Casse
Margaret Colin	...	Constance Spano
James Rebhorn	...	Albert Nimziki
Harvey Fierstein	...	Marty Gilbert
Adam Baldwin	...	Major Mitchell
Brent Spiner	...	Dr. Brakish Okun
James Duval	...	Miguel
Vivica A. Fox	...	Jasmine Dubrow
Lisa Jakub	...	Alicia

Storyline

On July 2nd, communications systems worldwide are sent into chaos by a strange atmospheric interference. It is soon learned by the military that a number of enormous objects are on a collision course with Earth. At first thought to be meteors, they are later revealed to be gigantic spacecraft, piloted by a mysterious alien species. After attempts to communicate with the aliens go nowhere, David Levinson, an ex-scientist turned cable technician, discovers that the aliens are going to attack major points around the globe in less than a day. On July 3rd, the aliens all but obliterate New York, Los Angeles and Washington, as well as Paris, London, Houston and Moscow. The survivors set out in convoys towards Area 51, a strange government testing ground where it is rumored the military has a captured alien spacecraft of their own. The survivors devise a plan to fight back against the enslaving aliens, and July 4th becomes the day humanity will fight for its freedom. July 4th is their ...

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Plot Keywords:

area 51 | invasion of earth | cult film | saving the world mission | alien technology | 

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Taglines:

Enjoy The Superbowl. It May Be Your Last (Superbowl Promo)

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi destruction and violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook The War of 1996

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 July 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

ID4

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$50,228,264, 7 July 1996, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$306,169,268, 31 December 1997

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$817,400,891, 31 December 1997

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Centropolis Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

145 min 154 min (extended cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS 70 mm (70 mm print) DTS (35 mm prints) Dolby Digital (35 mm prints) SDDS (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dean Devlin: producer and co-writer is the voice of the fighter pilot alongside the President's plane who says, "I'm on it," targeting the alien ray only to be blasted out of the sky a moment later.

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Goofs

During the first battle with the alien fighters, Will Smith destroys one by deploying his braking parachute to block the alien pilot's field of vision and causing it to crash into a cliff wall. But the F-18 which he is flying doesn't actually have a braking chute.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

"Animal action was monitored by the American Humane Association. No animals or aliens were harmed in the making of this film."

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Connections

Referenced in Gojira: Fainaru uôzu (2004)

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Soundtracks

Boom Boom Booty
Written by Richard Rudolph, Michael Sembello, and Romany Malco
Performed by U.P.F. Featuring ROM
Courtesy of Dolp Songs & ROM Music

User Reviews

Lobotomy Day

Here's the plot of this story: Aliens in (what else?) flying saucers come to earth to take no prisoners and to destroy our major cities in seconds. They succeed unhindered. Billions of people die in horrible deaths and life as we know it has ceased.

Meanwhile, in America, Will Smith cracks jokes, people get married and everybody is really happy. Even the dog didn't die!

Now, here comes three Americans to the rescue: a moronic wisecracker, a drunkard, a U.S. President who looks like a used-car salesman that just turned 30, and, of course, a brilliant scientist who nobody knows is brilliant!

In a few hours, the scientist has it all figured out: create a computer virus and put it into the mainframe in the mother ship! The Aliens use Microsoft too, after all! And we don't have to worry about security or passwords! Heck they won't even see us flying around! And even though they have psychic powers, we will be undetected! When we are done, we will just fly back to Earth. And the Aliens are so stupid that they don't use Norton's Antivirus software!

The wisecracker chips in by figuring out how to fly a 40-year old alien spacecraft that he never saw before (and which was conveniently found in - where else! - Roswell). Then the drunk and the President decide to fly around a little and destroy those big ships. The Americans have won again and tell the rest of the world how easy it really is. Just recruit the local neighborhood drunk and send him straight up into the weak spot (never mind that the ship is as long as Manhattan Island and has death rays that can obliterate an entire city in seconds). Heck, you can get rid of a few neighborhood drunks too while you're at it!

At one point in the movie I shuddered a scream! Hollywood has done it, they really have done it!! They have succeeded in lobotomizing America.

Where's Ed Wood when you need him?