Independence Day (1996)

Directed by: Roland Emmerich

Verdict: One of the best action movies out there, definitely the best of the alien v human genre, if insulting to any extra-terrestrial life-forms that may be out there. Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum on fine form in a movie full of huge graphics and stand out acting performances, all things considered…

I’ve got to defend this movie. It never pretended to be anything other than it was – an alien-smashing, White House-exploding masterpiece of the trashy action genre. In saying that, it does perhaps go a little too far sometimes – the idea that this ‘far more advanced’ (according to the brilliant Dr Oaken) alien species could be undone by a simple computer virus is, ridiculously enough, one of the more unbelievable elements of the film. But let’s get that out of the way.

I first watched Independence Day when I was six years old, and it’s stayed with me ever since. I’ve watched it upwards of fifty times and can pretty much quote it word for word. There’s nothing self-assuming or arrogant about this movie. Emmerich’s great strength in this motion picture was combining moments of comedy (pretty much all of Randy Quaid’s performance as Russell Casse, the engagement ring scene between Jimmy and Steve) with moments of action-movie poignancy (‘Is mommy sleeping now?’ *sob*).

Not without good reason Independence Day won the 1996 Academy Award for Visual Effects. There are some scenes of exploding buildings that still hold up (no pun intended) against the high-end CGI of today. I personally think the White House explosion scene is brilliantly executed, looks pretty realistic and acts as the catalyst for the major death and destruction to begin. Classic.

The cast itself is pretty epic. Granted, it was really this role that catapulted one Will Smith into mega-stardom, but he was still a pretty famous guy at this point. Actors of the calibre of Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum were in this movie, which is a fact many overlook merely because it has aliens shooting stuff everywhere. And I mean, these were pretty classy aliens; they could control minds and everything.

I really do think this is a superior alien-American heroes-action-destruction movie. Honestly I do. It has everything one could ask for, apart from… intellect? There’s romance, action, comedy, brilliant visuals; it has everything. It even has a subtle commentary on social divides – Jimmy tells Steve he’ll never fly a spaceship if he marries a stripper… Then later in the movie Steve marries a stripper and immediately afterwards flies a spaceship. It truly is uplifting stuff.

And of course, who can forget probably the greatest monologue in movie history by President Whitmore (Pullman). Okay, maybe not the greatest, but it’s pretty darn good. It’s got to be at least up there with Samuel L Jackson’s epic Biblical speech in Pulp Fiction, Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men, and the legendary Napalm monologue from Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now. Right? “Today, we celebrate… our Independence Day!” It may sound cheesy and somewhat predictable given the movies title and the huge graphics that come up each day to remind us that it is, in fact, July 4th. However, even now when I watch the movie 15 years after my first viewing, that speech still makes my hairs stand on end. It’s a great piece of script-writing by Dean Devlin & Emmerich and a great piece of acting from Pullman.

Before I sign off, just one piece of negativity (where would we be without it?). At the end, when Steve and David return from space where they have defeated a whole fleet of alien ships with a virus, their loved ones and the president are coming out to meet them in a jeep. Which they promptly stop a good 100 metres away from the heroes and proceed to run all the way to them. No sane person does this. That’s all.

Overall, I love Independence Day. It’s a great feel-good movie and as a film student, it’s definitely my No 1 guilty pleasure.