Rating: 
Summary: A Well made movie!
Review: ID4 is one of the best alien thrillers in a while. Will Smith's performance is great and full of humor. He is, of course, the best actor in the film. Jeff Goldblum's prformance is wonderful too. Jeff plays a computer geek who is the one who saves the world by figuring out a way to shut down the alien's shields.
The performance that is unforgetable is Bill Pullman as the President of the USA. His speech to the fighter pilots is unbelievable and unforgettable. The scene is moving and makes you feel like you could do anything.
You will not be dissapointed!
PS: Watch the skies!
Rating:
Summary: A feel good Alien movie
Review: While I know there are better scripted films out there in this genre, I couldn?t help but enjoy this movie despite its predictable plot on the premise that it was intended to make one feel good about ones fellow human beings, and it did. While it certainly isn't cerebral by any stretch of the imagination, it is a good family film. It isn't intended to be a great work of cinematic art, but what it is intended to do it does. It appeals to the child like desire for good to overcome evil, to the desire of a parent to be able to present himself in a good light to his/her children, to the desire for world harmony in a time when it seems perilously close to wide spread destruction. As other reviewers point out, there is a little for everyone in this film: a brave, decent, pilot... president; a beautiful black stripper with a heart of gold and her adorable little boy; a computer nerd whose knowledge saves the world; an attractive, muscular, black guy to act the part of a good role model for young males; a wedding; a reconciliation--in fact several; a recovered alcoholic father of three who saves the day and makes his children proud of him again; etc. This is a film that attempts to fulfill the need for fantasy in all of us. It does so just as Harry Potter does through wish fulfillment; it just does it with more of a "boom." The film is definitely a catch all that was intended to market well by its broad spectrum approach to story telling, but that doesn't mean that it isn't an entertaining tale none the less. Like The War of the Worlds it's an "us against them" sort of film, but unlike the latter, it has it's funny moments, in fact many of them. Brent Spinner--everybody's favorite synthetic life form--gives a wonderful performance as a slightly off beat and out of step director of Area 51, while Randy Quaid does a brilliant characterization of a derelict and ditzy hero who rises to the occasion once again when duty calls. Will Smith is constantly getting off witty one liners that seem to capture the moment in pithy humor. Jeff Goldblum played Jeff Goldblum, just as he always does, but as always too is very entertaining to watch. My greatest disappointment was the women of the story. Vivica Fox, as Jasmine, had the most active and interesting role among them, her motivating force being the well being of her little boy and the man she loved. None of the other women seemed to take an active part in anything. They seemed just along for the ride, watching the drama take place in front of them, often showing less involvement than many women do over their favorite soap! A great disappointment to someone who grew up with Honey West, Emma Peel, the Girl from Uncle and other examples of active female participation in action adventures. The fine CGI finale makes one want to "salute the flag," at least of the United Nations, as humanity once again defeats those nasty aliens with our human ingenuity and determination. A fun movie for everyone in the family to watch.
Rating: 
Summary: Good entertainment but flawed
Review: Independence Day is a very entertaining movie. The special effects are excellent and Will Smith's humour is as usual, spot on. The story-line is pretty weak, but that's okay, this is a movie designed to entertain, not make you think. The initial build up and deployment of the alien space craft is my favourite segment of the movie. It's the second part of the movie that things start to go wrong. There are just too many cheesey bits which ruin the movie. Will Smith's first encounter with the downed alien craft is a huge disappointment. He sees an alien, punches it, then sits back and has a cigar. Nice line "Welcome to earth", but the whole scene is a real let down. One punch and the alien is knocked out? What about other aliens in the craft? What about his curiosity as to what else is inside the craft, he is a pilot who wants to be an astronaut for crying out loud? Then there are other ridiculous scenes such as the President giving his patriotic speech, which sounds like it was written to be given to a whole nation, or nations and he delivers it to a handful of people. But the worst part of the movie for me, was when a handful of civilians (albiet Vietnam vets) end up flying F18's. This unfortunately is just stretching things too far. At the risk of getting some negative feedback for this review, I found it pretty sycophantic when the movie panned around the world, to see military survivors from different nations listening in to the Americans. The British soldier made the comment about relying on the Americans. This scene merely shows Americans as being full of the themselves and condescending and wasn't necessary. Overall, I enjoyed this movie, but it misses the mark terribly for the reasons above. The Five Star Collection version is the equivilant of my Region 4 Special Edition version. And what a great DVD package this is. Two CD's, full colour booklet, and a host of extra features.
Rating: 
Summary: Independence Day
Review: After the sucess of Stargate, director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin did the old "bigger is better" modus operandi with Independence Day. Upon it's release, critcs bemoaned the film's over-the-top jingionism, cheesy heroic antics and disaster movie cliche staples- "Oh, quick, save the dog before the giant fireball destroys the city!" And to be fair, the film did deserve it's critisism, but as a cheesy, sentimental sci fi action blockbuster, it's one of the best.For all Will Smith's jibes and Bill Pullman's heroics, it's Jeff Goldblum who comes off as the main man, pulling the same shtick as in Jurassic Park ("Must go faster!"). The film does get very silly at times, but never takes itself too seriously, creating a feel-good tone that works well within the caveats of the genre. Emmerich's ham-fisted direction gets tiresome at times, with so many sci fi cliches, you start to wish someone had thrown in an original idea or two. But the film gets four stars for action, visuals and some well-timed humour. The SFX utilised are astounding, with some truly breathtaking visuals, and that now-famous shot of the white house getting blown to smithereens by aliens! It's good-natured, brainless fun, that while predictable and silly, is still one impressive movie that is a must-have on DVD. The extras are great, with commentaries on the first disc, and on disc 2 a wealth of extras including that famous Superbowl trailer "Enjoy the Superbowl, it may be your last", tons of "making of" docos and lots more production info.
Rating: 
Summary: No Integrity!
Review: This is the most ridiculous movie about patriotism in the history of the planet. Aliens do exist and have taken over the world. Only Will Smith can stop these slimy things with the help of Jeff Goldblum (who resembles my good friend Somitr). Check mate, alien terrorism has never been so terrifying. Explosions all over, but it takes about an hour to get to the action. Fire trucks, cars and people fly in the debris and a dog jumps away from fire just in time. Lucky pup! Will Smith fights the aliens with his jet and Jeff Goldblum takes away their invisible forcefield. How quick he is! The two men fly an alien spacecraft and go back to space to take out the mother spaceship. I was struggling to stay awake during this overblown, goofball movie. The President of the United States is played by Bill Pullman and he delivers one of the most cheesy speeches of all time. "Because today is our independence day!" He was talking to about a hundred people out of the whole country. It was terrible and if you want to see a real movie that deals with aliens, see "The X-Files" or "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Both of those contain logic and real actors.
Rating:
Summary: Good entertainment
Review: I enjoyed this movie a great deal and will continue watching it over and over!
Rating:
Summary: Not the greatest, but certainly enjoyable
Review: After having read some of the other reviews of this movie, I am almost ashamed to say how much I enjoy it. Oh well!! It is many of the things the others complain about, a very typical Hollywood mid-summer special effects, over the top, action flick. However I do find it entertaining if you want an evening of fairly mindless enjoyment. The special effects are good for their time, and still hold up fairly well. The plot line (what there is) is predictable. The acting is mediocre thru ok. Will Smith is just fine for me as a Marine Corps fighter pilot. Some of his lines are a little much, but he and Jeff Goldblum work well off of each other. Jeff Goldblum (whom I normally do not care for) is good as a typical science nerd, save the planet freak. I for once actully enjoyed his part in a movie. The Randy Quaid role could and should have been completely rewritten. I understand what they were trying to do with him, however it is almost embarresing to watch some of his scenes. I hope he was paid lots of money for going thru this. The likable Bill Pullman as President of the US....Hmmm I am still working on that. He gives the best he's got, and comes across as a decent choice for the role, but I really do feel that the role could have been cast more beleivably. The most likable characters are the 'second tier' actors. Judd Hirsch, and Robert Loggia stand out in my mind as really fullfilling their tasks in the movie. If you buy this movie in the DVD format, choose to watch the version with the "cut" scenes in it. It makes alot more sense and seems to flow better. While I wouldnt put ID4 in my list of must see movies, it aint all that bad either.
Rating:
Summary: Not the Worst - Not the Best
Review: Another movie about aliens taking over the earth does initially sound a little boring. The special effects are good, just the sight of the White House being incinerated and Air Force One flying in front of a wall of flame are thought provoking enough. Add into the equation Area 51 and the ever present thought that it is a possiblity that no one can deny with any certainty and this is a very thought provoking movie. On the flip side, imagine a stripper and the first lady becoming friends. An alcoholic crop duster flying U.S. military planes, a jilted ex-husband (who once punched the President) being allowed into the White House to see his ex-wife in the company of the President, the President flying fighter planes in combat and you see the more unbelievable aspect of this film. But hey, it's the movies and anything is possible. When all is considered this movie is not bad but not great. Certainly worth the price of admission in a theater or a home rent but I don't believe it will go down as one that is remembered for a very long time. But in the short run while you are watching and for some time after it will certainly be interesting.
Rating:
Summary: only 1 problem.
Review: This movie is a really great movie. I think it would be an easy classic, if not for one problem: Will Smith. If he would not have been in this moive, with all his not-funny jokes and cockiness, thise could have easily been the greatest scifi movie of the 90s. I really love this movie, and might be one of my favorites, if there had been a more serious actor in playing that part.
Rating: 
Summary: I wish I left my memories alone.
Review: I saw this movie in the theater originally and had a decent memory of it. It was a fun summer movie and the special effects were great. So when this two DVD THX version came out, I bought a copy. I wish I had stuck with my memories, because it is such a cheesy movie watching it now, almost six years later. The special effects are still decent, but can't really compare with what they do nowadays. And since the special effects can no longer compensate for the screenplay (or lack thereof), there is really nothing to the movie, even watching it from a purely entertainment standpoint. Giving the movie every benefit of the doubt possible, there are still so many things that make it virtually unwatchable. Here are just a couple: -- The acting is just so shallow and non-passionate. Millions of people die when the aliens destroy entire cities, yet the cast, including the supposed President of the U.S. (a poorly cast Bill Pullman) is on a plane joking around hours later with no apparent sadness for what happened. -- Scientists have been studying an alien spaceship at Area 51 for 40 years, yet Jeff Goldblum (in the same role he played in Jurassic Park) is able to come in, decipher the ship's secrets, and get the ship ready to fly in 24 hours. -- Will Smith steals a helicopter when he finds out his hometown is destroyed (and thus his girlfriend and girlfriend's son), and manages to land within 50 yards of where his girlfriend has survived and camped out (and coincidentally found the first lady of the U.S. on the side of what used to be a road) -- The part about planting a computer virus in the mother ship isn't even worth mentioning. In summary, I would recommend that if you have good memories of this movie from when it came out, please leave them as good memories and don't ruin them by watching this movie again. I wish I had this advice.
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