Rating: 
Summary: You didn't like this film? What are you anyway, a commie?
Review: Normally I don't use reviews as a forum for sniping at other reviewers, but it would appear that Thomas B. Clark came as close as he could to calling me un-American because I didn't care for the jingoism that saturates this film. Well by golly, I guess it is now clear that this film must be a litmus test of the patriotism of all Americans. If you hate it, you must be some sort of com-symp pinko --- it's off to the Russkies with ya.Incidentally --- I would have refrained from socio-political commentary if only you had also --- I would gently remind you that the Indian Air Force is reported to have done very well against the USAF in exercises conducted in February this year, so maybe the USA really isn't the only one who can get the job done. I'd be willing to bet that the Israeli Air Force, to name just one, might be able to hold its own as well. Of course, maybe I am just whining again. The argument also seems to be that critics (in addition to being part of the 5th Column) cannot endure a film that engages in make-believe. You can't be serious. Just because a film requires the viewer to suspend belief doesn't necessarily mean it has to suck. I enjoyed "Hellboy," "Men in Black," and "Alien," for example. None of these is remotely believable, but they are well-crafted films with decent performances from their respective casts. Likewise, films packed with explosions & mayhem can also have compelling storylines & characters --- "Master & Commander," for example. I guess I am guilty of expecting the makers of a movie --- even one that is "just fun," should give us more for our money than some paint-by-numbers hack job. And that is exactly what this movie is, Thomas B. Clark. Contrary to what you claim, I hardly did any nit-picking on all the plot holes in the story, although other reviewers have gone over this movie's silly inconsistencies with a fine-toothed comb. My main complaint was that with the disengaged acting, the cardboard-cutout characters, and the painfully predictable storyline, all the movie really could rely on is lots of special effects & nifty explosions, which really on works on the big screen. The commercial success of this turkey has only encouraged Hollywood to even greater FX excess, to the point that filmmakers seem to think that if they throw enough CGI and special effects at you, they are not responsible for also giving you a decently-crafted movie with a plot & characters and stuff like that. Hey, it's your money. I spent $1.50 at the budget theatre watching this and I guess I broke even. I pity the people who blew 7 or 8 dollars for this, but again, spend it on what you want. I learned my lesson sooner rather than later. Being the anti-American creep that I am, I just purchased a nice bottle of the 2000 Canon-la-Gaffeliere, which is the equivalent of about 10 viewings of "ID4"-type films, and I think I got the better end of the deal.
Rating: 
Summary: I watched this 11 times already but 3 stars? What gives?
Review: Roland Emmerich reminds me of Michael Bay: they don't make action films that have character and heart like Spielberg or Cameron, they just make popcorn films. Emmerich did a great job when he did Stargate and Universal Soldier but then made this and I have seen it 11 times already but each time I hate parts of it yet I always go back, go figure.
A massive ship(550 KM) appears in Earth's atmosphere and the US is scrambling to figure out what's going on. The ship then splits into about 15 smaller crafts but smaller's the wrong word since each one is 15 miles long anyway. Cities slowly start to evacuate until one scientist figures out(was that signal in morse code? Pretty smart aliens) that they're gonna fire on Earth. And boy do they. The cities literally get engulfed in building-high flames and destroys the city.
The president has to land at Area 51 and finds out that the aliens(in probably the dumbest plot contrivance ever) are going to destroy every city on Earth and move on. The aforementioned scientist figures out a way to beat them and to destroy the ships, they just have to go to Big Mama's ship first.
In terms of character development and a simple plot, there isn't one. Simple meaning that everything makes sense without you going "but how did?". Like when that scientist is able to hook up to the mothership with his laptop. My floppy disc can't even read Mac programs but his can link up with alien computers? BAH. What you do get though instead is big flashing and boomy stuff. Explosions, explosions and effects galore. It's certainly cool to watch but it just hurts your brain.
The acting pretty much sucks, bad dialogue, convenient plot turns but it sure does look neat.
Rating: 
Summary: Wears Well
Review: I've seen ID4 about six times. I've got the DVD, and, you know, it's still an enjoyable film to watch. Yep, when you've seen a film a half-dozen times, you know what's going to happen, but when you watch it that sixth time, you are interested to see how well you remember it. And you get to enjoy the parts you liked before, again. I'm waiting for the explosions, for the fighter vrs. alien dogfight (OK, it's hard to believe the aliens can conquer the galaxy, but can't hit the broad side of the barn with their advanced weapons), for President Pullman to fight back, and so on. "Welcome to Earth" indeed!
It's an entertaining flick that is enjoyable time and again. I'm a big Jeff Goldblum fan, and he does his off-kilter bumbling genius schtick again, and really well. Will Smith is a winning personality, though you wonder how his ego would fare in the modern military...And a positive nod to Randy Quaid, you turns a potentially hokey role into a pretty good performance.
Yeah, it ain't Hamlet (big surprise) but compared with its action film cousins, ID4 comes off pretty darn well.
Just remember, don't get on top of that skyscraper in LA and hold up a sign welcoming the aliens. Might just irritate them!
Recommended if you like action flicks that are a cut above average.
Rating: 
Summary: All flash and no substance
Review: I liked "Independence Day"...when it was first came out under the name "War of the Worlds". Leave it to Roland Emmerich to take classic theme and massacre it with a bunch of flashy special effects. "Independence Day" is one of those films where you go oooh and aaaahhhh over the special effects but when you leave the theater, you leave completely unsatisfied and feel totally ripped off. That is how I feel when I first saw this film in the theater and on dvd. This film totally apes "War of the World" and "V", two of my favorite movies that involves aliens trying to take over earth.
There really is no plot to this film. Aliens comes to earth and they immediately go on a huge rampage, destroying everything in its path so they can take over the planet. It is up to Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Will Smith, Margaret Collins, Robert Loggia, and Randy Quaid to stop the aliens. What I really didn't like about this film is the overindulgence in special effects. Not that this story didn't need any special effects but what I saw here was special effects abuse. It was overindulgent and way too flashy (the last few shots in the film was obviously still shots). I guess Roland Emmerich had to come up with something to keep the moviegoer's attention because the storyline (or should I say lack thereof?) certainly wasn't going to do that. The acting was subpar. I could not buy into the idea of Bill Pullman as the commander in chief. Will Smith may be charming in this film but his character is pretty much no more different than most of his film/tv roles which says a lot about his acting range (which is about as deep as a dixie cup). The speech that Bill Pullman gives to his troops is indeed derivative and just over the top. Nothing wrong with patriotism but that the writing for that speech was atrocious. Gotta love the last shots of the film where the Egyptian pyramids and the Australian opera house manages to stay intact despite the destruction around them. Talk about realistic.
This whole theme of alien invasion has been played out and "Independence Day" definitely helped make this popular scifi theme tiresome. Granted that when "War of the Worlds" was made, the filmmakers weren't given a whole lot to work with but there was a spark there that "Independence Day" just doesn't have. "V" was campy and fun which "Independence Day" doesn't even come close. All "Independence Day" is nothing more than all flash and no substance.
Rating:
Summary: Waste
Review: I'm not going to mention the cheesy one-liners, or hollow patriotism, although it is worth mentioning that the patriotism this movie portrays is a complete insult to Americans after 9/11. I shouldn't even mention Independence Day and 9/11 in the same discussion. The only thing Independence Day does is justify crazies in the world who claim they've been abducted by aliens, as shown by the character Russel Casse, who ends up being the misunderstood hero. That's right, a lunatic saves the world. The story line is cliched and blatantly terrible. It involves the government "conspiracy" area 51 - naturally assuming in the 50's, U.S. government did indeed discover alien life. It's obvious they used a weak plot to show off their special effects, which aren't that great and elite cast. Typical Blockbuster hit. Speaking of the cast: The characters are shallow. Will Smith is as always, one dimensional and the rest, well, who cares about the rest. The only actor worth mentioning is Jeff Goldbum. He's awesome as he is in all of his movies. He's the only good aspect of Independence Day, but even he's not worth watching in this heap of waste.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, but in reality, the ending would be different
Review: Those reviewers who trash this movie have to relax and not take it so serious: it's just a movie, and first and foremost, its purpose is to entertain. On the other hand, those reviewers who think this movie is "awesome" or "the greatest movie ever made!" really aren't saying much for themselves. While the special effects are excellent, much about this movie is mediocre or even banal. I won't bother going into a lengthy discussion on the movie itself--it's been reviewed to death and just about everyone's seen it and has their own opinion. But I briefly want to touch the whole plausibility of the subject of this movie. Every time that I've watched it, I invariably wonder what a real alien invasion would be like, and whether we would really be able to do anything about it. As much as I've thought about it, I've never come to any conclusion other than we're doomed if it should occur. Clealry, humanity's triumph as depicted in this film and others of the genre is just not going to happen. I know that's not a revelation, but I wonder sometimes about how much people take these sorts of movies to heart. All those movies, for instance, where the hero foils terrorist plots etc. and saves the (usually just in the nick of time), in my opinion at least, seem to have conditioned people to believe that what happened on 9/11 wasn't possible. And so in some ways I tend to think that movies like Independence Day give us a false sense of humanity's ability to deal with such a threat. But I guess the chances of an alien invasion happening any time soon are quite slim, so I guess its not all that big an issue. Overall, though, movie is entertaining, and so I'll give it three stars.
Rating:
Summary: Shallow and Predictable Jingoistic Fluff
Review: An utterly frivolous film that has more bad lines than good special effects. A completely predictable plot of an alien invasion where the good old U.S. Cavalry saves the day: Uaaaah! I'm yawning of boredom just thinking about this film!
More time seems to have been spent on these cheap patriotic one-liners than anything else. Even the special effects weren't that great. Repetitive scenes of U.S. fighter jets flying in a straight line occasionally shooting some missiles: wow! how creative! Lucas did a better job in Star Wars with plastic models over 20 years before and these guys can't do better with CGI? The aliens don't fool anyone as one can clearly see that they're humans who dressed up in costumes pulled out of a 1950's sci-fi movie prop storage.
As for the plot: horrible! Hot shot pilot learns how to fly alien space craft in a jiff. Fighter jets and conventional missiles can outspeed and outmaneuver alien craft that obviously have the technology of traveling much faster. Will Smith finds his wife, child, and dog after the entire city of L.A. has been incinerated: yeepie! All it takes to bring down the aliens is to infect their unknown technology with a conventional computer virus (who came up with these stupid scenarios anyway?! A five-year old can conjure better stories than this!)
In short, this film is essentially as patriotic and shallow as a Rambo sequel. If you like this genre then you'll probaly like this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible, horrible, horrible film
Review: Have I mentioned it was horrible? This film is officially my least favorite film of all time. Why? I'd count the reasons out on my hand, but unfortunately my hand does not have 1500 fingers. How all of these people can say "This is the best film eva!" to this insipid festering pile of cack is beyond me - it's obviously aimed at people with the intelligence of a shirt. Gaping plot holes, over-acting, patronising (and frankly quite insulting to anyone outside the US) gung-ho, awful stereotyping (yes, Emmerich, all British people talk with "what-ho" accents, sip tea, and say "bloody" at every opportunity), ridiculous coincidences, I could go on... and I will!
I'd have thought the Australians would have been up in arms as well, because their designated mothership was not even over their governmental capital, but instead over the Sydney Opera House. Why? Oh yes, silly me, I forgot that Opera is our hidden special weapon.
And as for the computer virus thing. Deary deary me. I can imagine a thousand runts across the planet, upon first seeing that moment, breathing a sigh of relief - "of course, get them with a computer virus".
There are so many things that rile me about this film, but what riles me even more is that people actually enjoy it, and cannot see it for what it really is! Those people for whom special effects make a movie, sod the plotline. It's because of people like this that people like Emmerich are given vast quantities of cash to come out with this rubbish.
Ed Wood must be turning in his grave - his title of The Worst Director of All Time has been [bloody] usurped.
What ho.
Rating:
Summary: What had the potential to be a great film...
Review: ended up being mediocre at best.
When I saw the trailers for this movie, I thought this was going to be one of those great movies that really caused the viewer to pause and consider the possibility that alien invasion really could occur--and on a global scale, with huge space ships that could hover over entire cities. The scenes of the huge shadows looming over entire cities were ominous and terrifying. The idea that an alien species could simply pick and choose a planet that had resources that they needed--and take them by exterminating the entire population (much like mankind has done in the past) actually lends even more credibility to the concept of what I thought this movie was going to be about.
Unfortunately, this movie ended up being a comedy for the most part. With the ridiculous sub-plots, silly one-liners, and cute-and-cuddly ending, I walked away from this movie with great disappointment. This movie could have been an epic masterpiece, but the producers decided to go with the "Hollywood formula" and ended up creating a typical, predictable yawnfest.
Rating: 
Summary: Kicks Star Wars' arse and then some
Review: I actually saw Independence Day on its opening day in the theater on July 2nd, 1996 (it opened a day ahead of schedule), and it was a total blast. After its opening day, the hype for the movie mounted, and there were lines of people stretching for blocks waiting to get a ticket. Independence Day definitely kept with the tradition of top-notch summer Hollywood blockbusters, which started in 1993 with Jurassic Park, and ended in 1997 with Men in Black. I've noticed a string of one-star reviews from people here and a the IMDB. Apparently, there are some very angry, overly-PC people out there who like to bash Independence Day because they claim it promotes Unites States nationalism. To each his own. They can think what they want, but I'm sure they never had the rush of seeing a presumed-dead alien popping out of its spaceship while Will Smith's character shouts "Welcome to earth" and proceeds to knock the bugger out cold. For those out there who like to politicize Independence Day: Notice how he did *not* say "Welcome to the U.S."
After having seen Independence Day once in the theater and countless other times on video, I will admit that this is one of those movies where you obviously have to suspend belief, but it is one hell of a ride if you just let the movie immerse you. The special effects are still better than what you see in movies nowadays, plus the cast is excellent (Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, and Bill Pullman!). Simply put: If you want a movie that includes aliens, a possible apocalypse, and lots of guns (whether it be laser or the traditional pistol), you will definitely get your money's worth.
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