Customer Reviews

Independence Day (Limited Edition)

5 star:		(190)
4 star:		(114)
3 star:		(63)
2 star:		(57)
1 star:		(97)

 

 

"Independence Day", is a fun film, which is good science fiction combined with a good story. The film is filled with tributes to other films in the genre, but it pays tribute as opposed to just taking the ideas of others. By definition science fiction takes all matter of liberty with what is believed to be possible, but at the outset there is one issue that is rather glaring. The mother ship of the aliens is said to be between one fifth and one quarter the size of our Moon, if this was the case some things would be obvious. Firstly, there would be no need to use anything high-tech much less science fiction to know something was wrong. You would be able to see the shadow this ship would cast with your eyes, no telescope needed. The size of the ship would greatly affect the world's oceans, weather, and other issues. This is not a stealthy invasion.

This is a great film visually, and Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum are very entertaining, and Judd Hirsch also makes the film even more fun to watch. There is also a fairly small part played by Brent Spiner that will be enjoyed by fans, by this member of Star Trek who has played Data for so many years.

HG Wells first brought this story to the screen, and also created real world panic when he broadcast, "War Of The Worlds", over live radio, and caused a good deal of pure terror from listeners who believed an invasion was actually taking place. The film also includes pieces, or nods to a variety of other films like; "2001 A Space Odyssey", "The Right Stuff", "ET", "Close Encounters", and "the Poltergeist Films", among others.

It is all presented with a fresh and very well done set of special effects, and like the film HG Wells first brought to the screen, the invaders do plenty of damage before being brought down by the modern computer equivalent of what stopped them in the original film. The difference of course is that man, or a few good men and women save the day, instead of the original, when Mother Earth protected herself. I don't point out the parallels to detract from his film, just in the hope people will see out and enjoy the films that inspired today's modern flicks, so many decades ago.

Enjoy this film and watch, "War Of The Worlds", as well; it's a great way to spend an afternoon.

For classic science fiction movie fans of the 50's to the 70's, you
will surely enjoy this film. Its lots of fun, lots of effects and
does not stop till the film ends.
Its quite a good Alien invasion film.
But Warning,, reading other reviews it seems people either love
it or really really hate it.....
To me, this film hits the right buttons........

This review has a bit of a spoiler, so don't read on if you don't want to risk it.

Independence Day is great fun to watch, but it is not a great science fiction film by any means. Howvever, the film I think was made to be strictly entertainment, in the mold of old Saturday morning matinees of a bygone era like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. It is not high art and the storyline is franky irrational and stupid. The writers obviously threw logic out the window in order to focus on action,comedic momemts, drama, and adventure, not to mention a guaranteed happy ending.

Nevertheless, the film is an achievement in the realm of technical prowess at the very beginning of the film. The way it presented the technical superiority and power of the aliens is quite stunning, but after that original awe the film somewhat degrades into a series of Star Wars or Battlestar Galactica battle scenes. Good mindless entertainment, but nothing special.

Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum are both competent given the limited script. As for Bill Pullman as President acting as an acient King leading his tribe into battle, well I don't know. He just didn't seem right for the part, though again, maybe it wasn't his fault since the part was ridiculous.

Finally, this film shouldn't be reviewed. It should simply be enjoyed for what it is, that is good ol' fashioned science fiction adventure as entertainment. Nothing more.

I absolutely love this movie because it's so much action packed fun where vicious aliens from outer space unleash destruction upon the earth's human population and now they must fight back and destroy the aliens before they destroy humanity. This is just so much fun. The special effects are top notch and the acting is great! I really loved the way the spaceships looked like as opposed to looking like flying dinner plates. Go and buy this movie 2day!

What else would explain the hit this banal tripe was?

Possibly the most idiotic film of the past 30 years. The only redeeming moment is when Randy Quaid tells about being abducted by aliens. But even there, we already guess that he will not survive to the end of the film. After all, who is a better candidate to sacrifice himself, than some wretched drunk and misfit. Utterly dispensable.

Director Roland Emmerich (The Day After Tomorrow & The Patriot) became a popular name in big-budget summer movies with the successful 1996 blockbuster "Independence Day". Massive alien spaceships mysteriously enter the Earth's atmosphere and unleash a devastating assault on the world's major cities. Now, a small human resistance organizes a final stand against the powerful invaders. "Independence Day" is a 153 minutes of pure movie fun. Its simple plot and stereotypical characters are rather predictable but still quite enjoyable. Its amusing humor, intense battle sequences and outstanding special effects are this Sci-Fi film's true highlights. The all-star cast features Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsch, Randy Quaid, Vivica A. Fox and Robert Loggia.

"Independence Day" Limited Edition is a worthy bargain DVD. Both theatrical and extended cuts are presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen format. The DVD contains an amazing picture quality with rich color detail and great resolution. The clear 5.1 Dolby Digital sound delivers some well balanced surrounds and awesome bass, but a DTS audio track should have been included in this new release. Among special features, it contains two audio commentaries by filmmakers and FX crew, and a sneak peak at Emmerich's FX epic "The Day After Tomorrow". Despite the lack of supplements, "Independence Day" receives a pleasant "B-".

This is easily my alltime favourite alien-invasion-movie. Besides the normal screaming and running, it contains some great realistic portraits of humankind. Compared to a so called 'intelligent'movie like signs, i thought this could actaully happen. In Signs, they think logical behaviour is locking yourself in the basement and be so lucky that aliens don't know how to open doors. In Independence day, people are plundering eachothers houses, starting fights, getting all in the same traffic jam... Of course, there are always those superheroes, one of the strong type and the more intelligent type, but Jeff Goldblum is always terrific to watch. On the whole, this is a pretty intelligent movie with some realistic aspects and also just great special effects, can't wait to see The day after tomorrow.

Finally, science fiction the way it used to be: rousing, cosmically xenophobic and ferociously patriotic. Forget E.T. and his cuddly ilk. INDEPENDENCE DAY's Bellicose aliens want our Earth and intend to squash us like bugs--Bugs!--to get it. It's up to a ragtag band of can-do-Americans, ranging from the President (Bill Pullman) to a druncken crop-duster pilot (Randy Quaid), to rally our spirits and save our bacon.

An engaging of second-tier-talent--Jeff Goldblum, Will Smith, Judd Hirsch et al.-- is on hand, and the lack of superstars works to the picture's advantage. Whereas Arnold, Tom or Sly would have to make it out alive, these journey men could bite the dust at any moment, and a surprising number of them do. For once, as a result, something's really at stake in all those white-knuckle suspense scenes.

If the writer/directer team of Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich made some engagingly loopy moves in STARGATE, here they play genre convections dead straight and make them work. Thumbnail sketches of the dozen or so principal character are executed quickly and efficiently, so you actually care a little when they're imperled. The aliens, meanwhile are a fabulously nasty lot of slimy, tentacled, malevolent telepaths, but all their superior technology is no match for our red, white and blue.

I wish I had the energy to try and describe just how awful this movie makes me feel, but, all I have to do is think about Randy Quaid's awful character or Will Smith's terrible lines or the fact that the President of the United States of America flies a fighter plane against alien ships, and I can do nothing but moan.

I saw this in 1996 and I've spent hours regretting the fact that I had contributed money to its cause. When I was at a friend's house not long ago, I saw a DVD copy of it on his shelf, so I made a joke about it being a "steaming piece of pony loaf." He took offense to it, and actually tried to convince me it was a good movie.

Don't get me wrong: I'm all for a movie that knows it's bad and uses that as a device, a la Killer Klowns from Outer Space or Army of Darkness or something along those lines. But, when I watched this I could swear that someone actually took this idea seriously.

There is nothing good about this movie. Please, please don't buy this. You'll only be encouraging more movies like this.