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Title: Independence Day (1996)
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| 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 | |
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 ... Written by Gustaf Molin <gumo@hem2.passagen.se>
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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?