Rating: 
Summary: Give me a break!
Review: Where do you start with this heap of junk? The dreadful dialogue, the pig of a plot, the insult to you intelligence.... where?We should be able to watch a film and accept it for what it is - being far-fetched shouldn't mean that you can't sit back, suspend your disbelief for two hours and have a good time. However, to do that with Independence Day is simply asking too much of any (semi-)intelligent person. The start of the film is promising and from the word go the special effects are awesome and at times breathtaking. Special effects though do not a movie make and it doesn't take long for the plot to start to fall apart. The coincidences start early and continue to mount up with a speed bordering on the insane.... ie, only guy in the world who deciphers the coded countdown signal (forget NASA and all the billion dollar Russian and American military spy satellites, this guy works for a TV station!) just happens to be the 'ex' of the President's assistant which gets him access, yadda, yadda, yadda.... give me a break! And of course, that's just the start. I could effortlessly use up all 1,000 words of this review taking the plot's outrageous coincedences apart. Other questions.... why would a ship suspend itself over LA... to crush the militarily important Hollywood movie industry? How come the governments of the world couldn't work out the Aliens' intentions were hostile when they'd positioned themselves menacingly over all of the earth's strategic hotspots and made no effort at all to make contact? When that 14-mile wide spaceship crashed at the end why didn't flatten the base below (remember, the one it was hovering over to destroy) and why wasn't there an earth tremor that went off the richter scale when it's billions and billions of tons of weight crashed from the sky.... so many questions and so few answers! The coincidences are so contrived, as is the dialogue, and the plot so dreadfully predictable that it becomes an insult to the intelligence and is simply impossible to enjoy... unless your brain hurts when you try to think for yourself or you have a mental age of 14 or below... or if you are 14 or below! It's all a shame really because the effects ARE terrific and this movie COULD have been so much more. I love the sci-fi genre but this is a poor addition to it. Even if I could have voted for no stars at all I would still have given it one. The DVD extras are good and it's only fair to say that. If other films went to as much trouble then we'd all be a lot happier with our DVDs! Great package, dreadful film with no credibility whatsoever (and that's saying something for a scifi film!).... I just pray they don't try and make a sequel.
Rating: 
Summary: Sound gets 5 ?
Review: Allright, check your brains in at the door because where this movie takes you it'll be a liability. Aside from that, portions of the movie are humorous and there is even some good cinematography in certain places. The characters are likeable but completely unrealistic except for Judd Hirsch who is simply horrible. All its faults aside, this movie is a great way to kill off a couple of hours. I never did figure out why the alien in area 51 was so quick to announce his clan's intentions rather than lulling the government into a false sense of security. Then again why should that bother me, it's perhaps the smallest hole in the plot. What really stinks on this DVD though is the audio. I was supremely dissapointed by the lack of quality. Compared to the Matrix it is garbage and compared to many other movies it's plain bad. Frankly, this has been one of the most unimpressive audio efforts on DVD in recent memory.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome extras!
Review: The movie is mindless fun, we all know that. But the f/x are awesome, and the extras alone on this DVD are worth the price! Fox did a great job with this set, and the menus make you feel like you're interacting with the film itself. The second disc is chock full of behind-the-scenes features that rival any DVD I've seen yet! A bargain!
Rating:
Summary: This movie is bad for your brains
Review: Independence Day is an awful film. It's a total garbage. No other recent big-budget movie can challenge its' stupidity. (Except maybe 'Armageddon'). Watching it through once (and that was enough), made me furious and indignant. And not the least amused or entertained. In my opinion the so-called 'brainless' films do not necessarily have to insult your intelligence. 'Star Wars', or 'Indiana Jones' or even the James Bond movies are basically brainless films, but still they are sheer fun to watch, not to mention good films (at least some of them). This film is not fun. It does not function in a "leave your reasoning outside the theaters and let your imagination guide you" sort of way, but rather "leave your intelligence, taste and whatever makes you a thinking individual outside the theater, and help us to become millionaires out of your stupidity. We'll also blow all kinds of special effects in your face, so you won't even have to use your imagination, or any part of your brains for that matter... Just relax and be a vegetable"... And it's a shame, really. Because the film has a very impressive beginning, and in general had all the prospects to become a good sci-fi picture. And this is coming from someone who loves science fiction movies. This is definitely not a 'buy-one'. Wait for 'Star Wars'...
Rating: 
Summary: "Must go faster, must go faster!"
Review: Dumb as hell, knows it, and pushes so many glee buttons that only the most tiresome intellectual manques will resist. Each time I watch this my attention moves from Will Smith's performance (especially after seeing 'Wild Wild West') to Jeff Goldblum who deserves an Irving Thalberg career Oscar for finding so many variants within the role of "scientist". Every Goldblum line reading has something to squirm about, none of them normal. And then there's his strut at the end that threatens to knock down Will Smith if he gets too close. Complex. The bonuses are okay, and there are a lot of them. But really, it's a mediocre movie, how much into the filmmakers' minds do you want to travel? Many of the short features repeat footage. The commentary by Devlin & Emmerich is funny, though. If you're bold enough to consider buying the movie, go ahead and get this package with the extras and admit only to close friends that you have become a scholar of a big, bad, fun film.
Rating: 
Summary: LANDMARK FXs. DVD EXTRAS ARE A REAL TREAT.
Review: Even though this movie has all the flaws a script could have, including plot holes the size of Texas, unbelievable shortcuts and clichés abound, the overall result is both, technically and visually impressive. The image, sound and fxs are top notch, not to say a landmark for sci fi movies. Behind all the fireworks involved, you can take a glance at a commited and masterful craftwork applied with obsessive detail. What's more, the b-movie aesthetic brought to the final result shows us that the filmakers knew their audience, did their homework and that they understood that these flicks should aim for fun before anything, something that George Lucas couldn't quite achieve in his flawed Phantom Menace. On the other hand, you could argue some of the decision's taken, like Bill Pullman's miscasting as President of the U.S. but, nevertheless, it's a very entertaining movie. But, above all, is because of this dvd special edition, which brings us so many bonuses, that we feel so good about buying this stuff. All the extras give added value to the original and help us understand and admire it. Check out the alternative biplane ending, the "making of..." and how the craftsmen explain how they built the sets and aliens. This may not be art, yet, its a skillful treat. Buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Independence from corny dialogue
Review: I wish they would have shown more structures being blown up. Like maybe the Kremlin and the Eifel tower. I feel like Will Smith overdid it a bit, and the acting was a bit blah, but it had enough drama and humor to back up the great special effects and good plot.
Rating:
Summary: 4 and a half star for the movie & 5 star for DVD.
Review: I like ID4!one of my favorite sci-fi movie for the past 5 year.Finally ID4 is on the DVD format,now is loaded with good extra,one disc is the movie & two disc with supplemental like making of the ID4 movie and more.Let me tell you the picture of ID4 is awesome!is crystal clear and very bright is better then VHS,the dolby 5.1 sound is great,the alien spacecraft was flying around my bedroom,AWESOME! The special edition was awesome "great work 20th century fox!."
Rating:
Summary: Got a DVD Player?
Review: No? Then go get one. ID4 is the best movie ever (not ocunting the Star Wars saga). It's a pack full of awesome special effects and the ilusions are stunningly perfect. If you'Re looking for science fiction and action, that movie is reason enough to buy a DVD Player! Yessir.
Rating:
Summary: No Macintosh Support on this DVD
Review: The Extra Features on this DVD require a Windows PC and will not work with a Macintosh. I guess we can bring down a whole Alien Spaceship in the movie with a Macintosh, but support the Macintosh on the DVD? - I guess that was asking too much!
| 
