Insanely pompous and brilliantly exhilarating in equal measure.
Independence Day (1996)
Tomatometer
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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
Reviews for Independence Day
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.
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.
The build up is terrific, with enormous spaceships emerging from the clouds to hover silently over the world's major cities.
Like cotton candy it's a high caloric treat that's always fun for the taste buds but little else.
The film has a genial it's-only-a-movie attitude that sets it apart, quite emphatically, from other blockbuster action movies.
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.
If I were a 10-year-old boy, I'd probably think it was the coolest movie going.
Big, loud, shamelessly corny, and full of unapologetic sound of fury.
...made up of bits and pieces of every sci-fi flick ever made. I loved it.
The earnestness, the effects, and the notion of a whole world forgetting its differences to defeat a common foe carry a certain charm.
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.
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
No matter how ludicrous and coincidental the plot gets, it never takes itself seriously.
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.
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.
Latest News for Independence Day
November 16, 2009:
Emmerich Talks Independence Day Sequels ![]()
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...
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