Rating: 
Summary: Mindless Film With Poor Acting
Review: This is the type of movie that people like because it has a lot of cool special effects and not a whole lot to think about. Unfortunately, special effects hardly impress this reviewer. Will Smith is somewhat likeable in this film and Judd Hersch is funny (although he could never top his work in Taxi). The prospect of a Bill Pullman presidential administration is more frightening than the thought of aliens attacking the earth. If a guy as cheesy and pathetic as Pullman ever got elected, I would pray for an alien attack. Pullman's speech to the pilots before they conquer the aliens is both laim and sad. As always, Jeff Goldblum is just awkwardly unfunny enough to make anyone with any type of standards want to lose his lunch. There are some hot chicks in this movie, which would have been helped a little if these chicks had appeared wearing less clothing. This is certainly not the worst special effects movie ever made, but it does little to detract from the minority opinion that special effects are usually used as a substitute for plot.
Rating: 
Summary: Trash!
Review: If your IQ is extremely low, this movie might be for you.
Rating:
Summary: Just Destroy Us, Please
Review: Independence Day was supposed to be the movie that broke all the records. In actuality all it did was break the bank.The premise of Independence Day is that aliens have parked themselves over top of many important cities around the world (Washington, New York, Paris, etc.). The inhabitants of earth are unsure as to their intentions and are debating what action to take. This is primarily focused on the American President and his advisors. However, a television engineer in New York (Jeff Goldblum) has figured out that the aliens intend to attack us. He rushes to Washington to warn the President whom he just happened to punch out before because he thought his ex-wife, who works for the President, was having an affair with him. And so on, and so on, and so on... The plot of this movie is so cluttered with side shows that it has no real focus for the first 30 minutes. Once they figure out that the aliens intend to attack they have to escape and regroup themselves. The aliens wipe out most major cities in the world and are repositioning themselves to assault more urban centers. The humans try everything they can think of to destroy the space ships. After carefully scrutinizing the spaceships, the scientists discover a weakness (there's always a weakness). They have to get inside the mothership to disable the shields that protect them. The job of disabling the mothership is left to Goldblum and a cocky pilot (Will Smith). Well, of course they succeed and everybody lives happily ever after. The main problem with this movie is the casting. I couldn't have intentionally put together a more uninteresting, irritating cast than was assembled for this movie. Many people also point to the campy action flick dialogue that pervades every second of this movie. The pep speech given by the President (Bill Pullman) to rally the troops to victory was one of the more horrible monologues ever delivered. Throw in the implausible story and the feeling that this movie was made just so some middle aged freak could blow up a model of the White House and you have the makings of a truly regrettable movie experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Idiot's delight
Review: Boneheaded but extremely entertaining saga about aliens coming to destroy the world. Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum to the rescue! Not plausible for a single second of its running time, but when has that ever stopped anyone? Smith is a scene-stealer; Pullman is enjoyable as the President; Jada Pinkett (pre-Smith) is also fun as an "exotic dancer". Bring a sponge for the maudlin moments, though.
Rating:
Summary: This was, unintentionally, a satire of War of the Worlds.
Review: When Devlin and Emmerlich made this movie, it was their intention to make a serious movie. And they failed miserably. What they ultimately ended up doing instead was make a satire of the 1953 movie War of The Worlds. Of course this was not their intention. Their intention was to make a serious sci-fi movie. I know that there are a lot of people out there who hate this movie just as much as I do. My advice? Watch the 1953 War of the Worlds. My prediction is that the more you hate Independence Day, the more you will like War of the Worlds.
Rating:
Summary: Big Budget Mini Series
Review: About the only thing GOOD about this movie is the non-subtle patriotism so many folks out there have made fun of. (Ignoring the fact, of course, that the the President--a ridiculous Bill Pullman--turns the fourth of July into a "world" holliday. Awww, isn't that so modern? The movie is War of the Worlds if that great Welles film was aired on ABC over three days, with fifty or more forgettable characters spread out over the world.
Rating:
Summary: Neither love nor hate...
Review: The characters are so stupid it's a relief when they get killed. There's barely a word in the script that was not lifted from "War of the Worlds" or "Star Wars". The ending makes not the slightest effort to make sense, and what should have been a touching moment was just plain goofy. I was contemplating buying the special edition DVD with extra footage, but then I asked myself why. Even the special effects were only so-so on the big screen. And yet... there are some (not many) elements of this film that are irresistably powerful. I'll never look at clouds the same way again.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the greatest sci-fi epics ever created.
Review: Independence Day creates a setting of an alien invasion of Earth, and how it affects people in different places in the United States who eventually come together to fight their common enemy. Will Smith and Vivica A. Fox play a couple on the verge of getting married, yet when he is called away to duty at the military base outside of Los Angeles, they must put the plans on hold, and are separated when the attack comes. Jeff Goldblum and Judd Hirsch play son and father, and Goldblum is the first to decipher the signal sent from the alien spacecraft. In a mad dash to Washington DC, Goldblum encounters his ex-wife, played by Margaret Colin, who is advisor to the President, played by Bill Pullman. The movie is a superb package of stunning visual effects and an entertaining, adrenaline-pumped storyline that never stops moving. The action spans through the length of the feature, and Independence Day will undoubtedly remain one of the most masterful science fiction films to date.
Rating:
Summary: Truly Awful!
Review: I realise that by writing a disfavourable review to a "popular" movie, one sets themselves up for criticism. But, I must say that this has to be one of the absolute worst American films ever produced, and certainly one of the worst of the 1990's (itself a decade with enough horrible films for an entire century). The dialogue is laugh-out-loud terrible, the story line is implausible, and the acting (or should I say "over-acting") is generally atrocious. There is one lame character after another in this film, not the least of whom are its "stars". Bill Pullman is wooden and dull, Geoff Goldblum is his usual creepy self, and Will Smith gives his worst performance of his young career. The only possible saving grace are the special effects, but these can not be fully appreciated unless viewed in a theatre. There are not enough synonyms in a thesaurus to fully describe how bad this movie is. A film that truly deserves to be 'booed' at the end of (as I did), it is on my list of ALL-TIME WORST MOVIES!
Rating: 
Summary: THIS MOVIE DOES HAVE A POINT...
Review: This is not a great movie, and it isn't as impressive on video as in the theater, but it works on a number of levels. I saw a packed house applaud this film twice and I think I know a reason why. Hidden in all the stupidity (although there are some incredibly well done scenes-- the alien arrival; the first battle) is a story about a bunch of underachievers shaking off their problems and saving the day. You have a President failing in the polls (Pullman), a fighter pilot (Smith) who repeatedly fails to make the astronaut corps; an alcoholic Vietnam era fighter jock(Quaid) who can't do a crop dusting job right; a stripper (nothing against strippers) who manages to save her family and her dog during the alien launched holocaust. It's no wonder so many people wanted to see the aliens lose -- in many ways this movie is about overcoming obstacles. This movie also makes real everyone's ultimate fantasy of super aliens taking on a super power -- probably why the blowing up of the White House caused such a reaction -- seeing that, you know the battle's on. The message of everyone working together is somewhat lost in the jingoism of the film, but seeing an Arab/Israeli pilot team kind of brings home the message. It is a silly movie, but at its heart it connects with people's optimism. Most movies today are more cynical, so it's interesting that this one works. Enjoy it. Also, much has been said about the inability of the laptop to connect with the alien ship-- Goldblum discovers the alien's use of our satellite system -- according to the movie they had already made THEIR system compatible to ours. Well, it's possible, anyway.
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