Independence Day (1996) (aka "ID4")

"Acting is like playing... there's something at the center of our humanity that loves to play." - Jeff Goldblum

Oh the stars! Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Margaret Colin, Judd Hirsch, Robert Loggia, Mary McDonnell, Randy Quaid, Bill Smitrovich, William Baldwin, Harvey Fierstein, Harry Connick Jr., Brent Spiner, Vivica Fox, James Rebhorn, the kid who played Buckwheat in the new "Little Rascals" movie, the older daughter on "Mrs. Doubtfire," John McLaughlin - these are just a few of the folks in "Independence Day." Obviously an epic of gargantuan proportions, the film is also 2 1/2 hours long, full of threadbare story-lines and cliched plot. But you know what? I still liked it.

Riffing off of H.G. Welles' classic tale "War of the Worlds," the film is directed by Roland Emmerich and written by Dean Devlin, the team who made "Stargate." This version of the classic begins with several divergent stories that somehow get wound together. Pullman is the President of the U.S. and McDonnell his wife. Loggia, a general, is his military advisor and Colin his aide. Goldblum is a cable TV engineer who works in an office with Fierstien. Hirsch is his father and Colin is, as we later find out, his estranged wife. Smith is a "top gun" pilot with aspirations of flying for NASA and Connick is his sidekick. Quaid is a alcoholic crop duster who claims to have been abducted by aliens some 10 years in the past. They all end up together with some of the other characters in the film in an epic battle to defeat space aliens who plan on overtaking the world.

The special effects want to be the star of the show, and they are at times, but eventually, these can become a bit cheesy. It's hard to forgive an obvious blue screen effect where a dog leaps to safety missing a exploding firebomb by mere milliseconds, until we get further into the picture and are so entertained by the acting and the plot, that we simply forget about it. This film gives us the kitchen sink and we are allowed to pick and choose from many interesting and fun things to enjoy. Seldom are we bored or detached.

Critics like to dump on this film for it's theft of several science fiction cliches (They really liked to remind us that the aliens were that aliens from "Alien") but it forgets that the film acknowledges these slights. The film eventually pokes fun at it's own plagiarism and even resorts to outright lampoon on occasion. When a joke is shown based on the film "2001," it is followed immediately by a joke stolen directly from "Airplane." Yet, somehow this all works out to fit into the film and still amuse most of us; Critics be damned. Likewise, the sometimes contrived plot lines, like Quaid's eventual heroism displayed for his doubting son to witness and Goldblum's reconciliation with Colin are obvious ploys which we see coming from a mile off. Yet, we don't care. We like these characters and we want them to have happy endings. We revel in them. The film may try to dilute all these happy ending them by having a minor character killed off here and there but we aren't convinced by that. It's the enjoyment we derive from spending 2 1/2 hours with these characters that matters. And, anyway, even if the plot and characters are a bit stereotypical - there massively better than anything Michael Crichton has written lately.

"Independence Day" isn't the best picture ever made - far from it. But it is one of the most entertaining. This isn't brain surgery. This is a summer blockbuster - and rightly so.

Note:

Score by David Arnold.

The nepotism factor: One of the producers is Ute Emmerich.

The film boasts the largest model shoot in film history.

At one point the studio wanted to change the name of the film so Emmerich and Devlin allowed them to use "ID4" on much of the pre-opening marketing as a compromise.

Review written in 1996

Report Card

Script: B-

Acting: A

Cinematography\Lighting: B+

Special Effects\Make Up: B-

Music: A

Final Grade: A-