Customer Reviews

Independence Day (Limited Edition)

5 star:		(191)
4 star:		(115)
3 star:		(66)
2 star:		(59)
1 star:		(97)

 

 

This movie epitomizes everything that's wrong with Hollywood moviemaking today. A ludicrous plot, stock characters, pathetic dialog and a host of other ills make it unsuitable for anyone with an intellectual age in excess of 12. END

This was a great 90's science fiction movie. It had a detailed story line and smash-bang special effects. The cast was made up of several hip movie stars such as Will Smith and Bill Pullman. I especially liked the aerial battle scenes. They were da bomb. I recommend this movie to anyone who wants a movie they can watch over and over and never tire of. END

The person or persons resposible for writting this film should be punished. If your going to make a serious a movie, then make a serious movie, if your going to make a comedy, make a comedy, don't mix them. You can do that with some films, but not the one because it does not cleary draw the line at where the seriousness begins and the comedy ends. What makes me even more mad is that I saw a critic on T.V. who said that it was THIS generations STAR WARS, this scum should never even look the way of STAR WARS. The special effects are the only thing that sold this poor excuse for a science fiction film, and to tell you the truth they weren't anything that SPECIAL. END

This fulfills all of the expectations of a summer blockbuster;
things flying around, stuff blowing up, flag waving, etc etc

and yes it is escapist and all good fun

all good stuff (although a little over done, as others have
pointed out, with the flag waving bits -- but then given the
title, i think people must have known that before going in)

but it does fall foul of the usual fault of having one
supremely bad plot element. i'm referring to the odd idea that
the alien shields can be taken down by injecting a computer
virus (oh so easily). in this case, it is a cop out -- a cheap
way for the screenwriter to get from point A to point C without
bothering with B

a wise man once said never let the facts get in the way of a
good story. and a writer once said he never checks the technical
aspects of a screenplay (for the same reason)

the problem with this (and many films suffer a similar problem)
is that it pulls me right out of the film. the suspension of

disbelief of an action rah-rah film can take you to a certain
point, but it is easy to step over that line. the virus did it
for me in this one

any film that uses classic dialogue such as "this is real
life -- not a film" is almost guarenteed to suffer this sort
of problem

Normally I don't use reviews as a forum for sniping at other reviewers, but it would appear that Thomas B. Clark came as close as he could to calling me un-American because I didn't care for the jingoism that saturates this film. Well by golly, I guess it is now clear that this film must be a litmus test of the patriotism of all Americans. If you hate it, you must be some sort of com-symp pinko --- it's off to the Russkies with ya.

Incidentally --- I would have refrained from socio-political commentary if only you had also --- I would gently remind you that the Indian Air Force is reported to have done very well against the USAF in exercises conducted in February this year, so maybe the USA really isn't the only one who can get the job done. I'd be willing to bet that the Israeli Air Force, to name just one, might be able to hold its own as well. Of course, maybe I am just whining again.

The argument also seems to be that critics (in addition to being part of the 5th Column) cannot endure a film that engages in make-believe. You can't be serious. Just because a film requires the viewer to suspend belief doesn't necessarily mean it has to suck. I enjoyed "Hellboy," "Men in Black," and "Alien," for example. None of these is remotely believable, but they are well-crafted films with decent performances from their respective casts. Likewise, films packed with explosions & mayhem can also have compelling storylines & characters --- "Master & Commander," for example. I guess I am guilty of expecting the makers of a movie --- even one that is "just fun," should give us more for our money than some paint-by-numbers hack job.

And that is exactly what this movie is, Thomas B. Clark. Contrary to what you claim, I hardly did any nit-picking on all the plot holes in the story, although other reviewers have gone over this movie's silly inconsistencies with a fine-toothed comb. My main complaint was that with the disengaged acting, the cardboard-cutout characters, and the painfully predictable storyline, all the movie really could rely on is lots of special effects & nifty explosions, which really on works on the big screen. The commercial success of this turkey has only encouraged Hollywood to even greater FX excess, to the point that filmmakers seem to think that if they throw enough CGI and special effects at you, they are not responsible for also giving you a decently-crafted movie with a plot & characters and stuff like that.

Hey, it's your money. I spent $1.50 at the budget theatre watching this and I guess I broke even. I pity the people who blew 7 or 8 dollars for this, but again, spend it on what you want. I learned my lesson sooner rather than later. Being the anti-American creep that I am, I just purchased a nice bottle of the 2000 Canon-la-Gaffeliere, which is the equivalent of about 10 viewings of "ID4"-type films, and I think I got the better end of the deal.

To whom it may concern,

I just recieved my order today and I was a little upset once I opened the package to find that one of my Blu-Ray casing (Independance Day) was broken at various places probably due to the shipping.

I have been a client with Amazon.ca for a few years now and have made a lot of Blu-ray and DVD orders and everytime, everything was perfect. Do you think it would be possible from Ammazon.ca to sent me a new Blu-Ray DVD case to replace the one broken, please? Fortunatly, the Blu-ray disk seems intact. More to follow...

Thanks anyway to Amazon.ca corp. for their usual outstanding professionnalism everytime I did make an order from them, time and shipping were impecable.

I am still looking to do business with your company and really would appreciate a new Blu-ray cover to protect my Blu-ray disk.

Respectfully,

for me,it just failed to deliver.independence day looked like it could
be a good,even great movie.it has great actors,and loads of action.it
also has some humour courtesy will smith and jeff goldblum.goldblum is
the perfect straight man for smith's witty quips and one liners and
even adds a bit of his own brand of comedy to the mix.these two play
off each other very well,and there is undeniable comedic chemistry
between the two.the supporting cast is also very strong.and then there
is the premise.aliens invade the world and the military must save the
day.not a bad premise,although not original.there must be something new
added to the mix or this becomes just another alien invasion movie.the
question is,is there anything original in this movie?true,the comedic
element is a step in the right direction.but is in enough own its
own?for me,not quite.i just found too many problems which overshadow
the positive aspects of the film,one of them being the special
effects,which admittedly are well done.however,they are overpowering in
this movie.the viewer is bombarded with explosion after
explosion.independence day becomes a movie about the special effects,
so the characters take a back seat for most of the movie.true,there are
some touching dramatic moments in the middle to latter stages of the
film,but the characters are not given enough screen time to be
developed,so there is less of the human feel than there might otherwise
be.bill pullman, as the president of the U.S delivers an inspirational
speech at the end of the movie.Pullman is a fine actor but i just
didn't feel he had the charisma or screen presence to carry this speech
off.for me,it's one of those 'eyes glazed over and rolled back in the
head'moment.not believable.which lead us to the dialogue.aside from the
president's speech there are are other examples of cringe worthy
dialogue.the actors cannot therefore take total responsibility for
this.the writers should shoulder some of the blame.finally there is the
discovery which leads to the eventual defeat of the aliens.in my my
mind the odds of things happening this way are astronomical at
best.so,basically i found the movie(although entertaining)is lacking
for the most part,and is moderately successful in other parts. for
me,the end result is a 2/5

independence day looked like it could be a good,even great movie.it has
great actors,and loads of action.it also has some humour courtesy will
smith and jeff goldblum.goldblum is the perfect straight man for
smith's witty quips and one liners and even ads a bit of his own brand
of comedy to the mix.these two play off each other very well,and there
is undeniable comedic chemistry between the two.the supporting cast is
also very strong.and then there is the premise.aliens invade the world
and the military must save the day.not a bad premise,although not
original.there must be something new added to the mix or this becomes
just another alien invasion movie.the question is,is there anything
original in this movie?true,the comedic element is a step in the right
direction.but is in enough own its own?not quite.there are problems
which overshadow the positive aspects of the film,one of them being the
special effects,which admittedly are well done.however,they are
overpowering in this movie.the viewer is bombarded with explosion after
explosion.independence day becomes a movie about the special effects,
so the characters take a back seat for most of the movie.true,there are
some touching dramatic moments in the middle to latter stages of the
film,but the characters are not given enough screen time to be
developed,so there is less of the human feel than there might otherwise
be.there is an inspirational speech given by the the American
president, which i feel comes of as maudlin and absurd.bill
pullman,fine actor he may be,is no does not have the charisma or screen
presence to carry this speech off.it is a real eyes glazed over and
rolled back in the head moment.not believable.which lead us to the
dialogue.aside from the president's speech there are are other examples
of cringe worthy dialogue.the actors cannot therefore take total
responsibility for this.the writers should shoulder some of the blame.
finally there is the discovery which leads to the eventual defeat of
the aliens.in my my mind the odds of things happening this way are
astronomical at best.so,basically the movie(although entertaining)fails
for the most,and is moderately successful in other parts.end result:2/5