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Movies / On DVD / Independence Day
Independence Day

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Independence Day (1996)

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Reviews Counted:54

Fresh:33

Rotten:21

Average Rating:6.3/10

Consensus: The plot is thin and so is character development, but as a thrilling, spectacle-filled summer movie, Independence Day delivers.

Runtime: 2 hrs 33 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis: With a $71 million budget and mind-blowing special effects, INDEPENDENCE DAY is a grand, high-tech throwback to such films of the 1950s as THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and WAR OF THE WORLDS. Here,... With a $71 million budget and mind-blowing special effects, INDEPENDENCE DAY is a grand, high-tech throwback to such films of the 1950s as THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and WAR OF THE WORLDS. Here, aliens, in numerous gargantuan spaceships, arrive without warning and hover over the world's most important cities, creating global panic. The nasty visitors use death rays to blow New York, Washington D.C, and Los Angeles to smithereens. A handful of plucky Americans, including the Clinton-esque President (Bill Pullman), a gung-ho fighter pilot (Will Smith) and a computer geek named David (Jeff Goldblum), attempt to devise a strategy against the invaders. On July 4th, their risky plan is put into effect, as dozens of fighter pilots (including the President) wage an assault on the spaceships. However, their success (and the fate of the world) depends on David, who is attempting to disarm the aliens's mothership. [More]

Starring: Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Margaret Colin

Starring: Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Margaret Colin, Judd Hirsch, Randy Quaid, Vivica A. Fox, Mary McDonnell, James Rebhorn, Harvey Fierstein, Robert Loggia, Harry Connick, James Duval

Director: Roland Emmerich

Director: Roland Emmerich
Screenwriter: Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich
Composer: David Arnold
Producer: Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich, Ute Emmerich, William Fay, Lincoln D. Hiatt, Peter Winther
Studio: 20th Century Fox

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Independence Day

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1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Insanely pompous and brilliantly exhilarating in equal measure.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
03/05/08
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Everything feels anti-climactic after the fireworks, but the moral is clear: it's the end of the world as we know it. And we feel fine.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Independence Day is a throwback to traditional entertainment with an old-fashioned, gung-ho good time thrilled up by 90s-style state-of-the-art technology.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Angie Errigo
Angie Errigo
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The build up is terrific, with enormous spaceships emerging from the clouds to hover silently over the world's major cities.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/17/01
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Like cotton candy it's a high caloric treat that's always fun for the taste buds but little else.

Full Review Source: Critics Inc./America Online | comment Comment
05/14/01
Brandon Judell
Brandon Judell
Critics Inc./America Online

Splendidly cheesy entertainment.

Full Review Source: CNN.com | comment Comment
03/05/08
Carol Buckland
Carol Buckland
CNN.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film has a genial it's-only-a-movie attitude that sets it apart, quite emphatically, from other blockbuster action movies.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Caryn James
Caryn James
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What's truly amazing about Independence Day is that it moves so quickly, has such a huge 'Wow!' factor in terms of special effects and is loaded with so much humor and so many amusing characters that even purists won't complain.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

In space, no one can hear a frying Houstonian scream.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
03/08/02
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

If I were a 10-year-old boy, I'd probably think it was the coolest movie going.

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
03/05/08
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek

One of the prime guilty pleasures of our time.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
02/14/03
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews

The ultimate special effects spectacular.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
08/27/02
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Big, loud, shamelessly corny, and full of unapologetic sound of fury.

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
10/09/01
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

...made up of bits and pieces of every sci-fi flick ever made. I loved it.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

The earnestness, the effects, and the notion of a whole world forgetting its differences to defeat a common foe carry a certain charm.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
03/05/08
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader

So much about ID4 is so old it's inevitable that homesick audiences, eager for familiar scenarios, will embrace it as if it's nothing but new.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
02/14/01
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It has the big budget and SFX of a 90s flick, but it still feels like a 1950 B-movie, and not even a good one. Now that's sad

Full Review Source: Montreal Film Journal | comment Comment
09/10/02
Kevin N. Laforest
Kevin N. Laforest
Montreal Film Journal

No matter how ludicrous and coincidental the plot gets, it never takes itself seriously.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
03/05/08
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

It's the first futuristic disaster movie that's as cute as a button. Which, when all the special effects blow over, is what we Americans like in a monster hit.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
03/05/08
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly

You know going in that Independence Day will have terrific effects and loads of action. But the filmmakers have also carefully crafted appealing characters and several good relationships, which they develop as the story unfolds.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Louis B. Parks
Louis B. Parks
Houston Chronicle
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
all

Latest News for Independence Day

November 16, 2009: Emmerich Talks Independence Day Sequels Opens in new window
All these years later, Roland Emmerich is thinking about returning to "Independence Day" -- and not with just one sequel, either. How does "ID4-Ever" sound to you? More...

November 02, 2009: 12 Facts About 2012
Did the Mayans really predict, all those centuries ago, that Earth would be visited by planetary apocalypse three years from now? It's open to interpretation -- Roland Emmerich... More...

March 03, 2009: Five Favourite Films with Bill Pullman
Few can forget Bill Pullman's rousing speech as the US president in Independence Day, but it's only one of a long string of vast and diverse roles that have seen him cast as... More...

March 06, 2008: Box Office Guru Preview: Ancient Action Arrives Again
For its third chart-topper of the year, Warner Bros. is going back in time with its ancient adventure 10,000 BC which aims to revitalize a box office on the verge of extinction. More...

See All

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