My Movie Review on Independence Day

Yo, what's up, Dudes?

This is your friendly film and TV show reporter back in the house.

And today, I'll be reviewing "Independence Day (1996)".

Here's the summary of this film:

When the USA intercepts unusual signals from outer space, they discover that aliens are coming for a visit.

As people are going into hysteria, technology expert David Levinson discovers through a decoding that the aliens have come to invade Earth and exterminate mankind.

With the world under threat, the president of the United States makes it his mission to fight back against the hostile visitors, with the help of Levinson and marine pilot Captain Steven Hiller.

For some time, I've been aware of the rather mixed reputation this movie has, so when I saw this movie recently, I wanted to be sure I could spot the reasons behind it.

Wanna know the surprising thing about it?

There was nothing wrong at all with this movie!

For instance, the acting, characters, and character development were awesome!

Whoever says that the characters are paper-thin and lack character development is dead-wrong. I mean, sure, it's a little hard to discern what developments each character has, but other than that, the characters were able to click really well. I think the element that makes each character strong is the desire to help and protect the people around them, defeat the aliens, and save the world. And as the film progressed, the characters turned into individuals that were stronger than before, improving themselves for the better. Without a doubt, the characters who grew the most were Captain Steven Hiller, David Levinson, and Thomas J. Whitmore.

The performances of the movie's ensemble cast was likewise dead-on awesome! Each actor and actress gave their character terrific personality and emotion. They were clearly so passionate about their roles that they made every moment count, and they even turned whatever piece of dialogue they had into a serviceable quote.

The best of them, in my opinion, was definitely Will Smith. Every time he was on the screen, Smith gave the film perhaps the largest bubble of life out of the film's cast. He also gave the best comedic-timings out of everyone, because there were so many moments that were extremely funny. Although, in terms of comedic-timings, I would like to add that Judd Hirsch came in a pretty great second with his performance as Julius Levinson, and Harvey Fierstein came in a fair third with his work as Marty Gilbert; Hirsch in particular was enjoyable to watch throughout this venture. Plus, Jeff Goldblum's performance as David Levinson was 100% terrific, and so was Bill Pullman's portrayal of President Thomas J. Whitmore.

In addition, I disagree with those who say that the president's speech, before he and the American army attack the aliens, was cheesy. It was actually truly inspirational, heartfelt, and patriotic, like the kind of speech an actual president would give.

The direction by Roland Emmerich, and the story done by both him & Dean Devlin, were also marvelously accomplished.

In many ways, the film would probably come across to some as relatively basic. As something that was made with clear intentions & ambition, though, "Independence Day" is a rare movie that managed to work as exactly what it was created to be. It works perfectly as an apocalyptic disaster film, and its balanced tone of comedy, drama, warmth, and action helped make this movie all-the-more enjoyable to see. The common goals presented in the story, which are to survive the wrath of the aliens, defeat them, and protect the innocent, ties everything together marvelously.

I'm not sure how many think this, really, but...the part where Boomer the Dog narrowly escapes the oncoming inferno and flying wreckage is what I believe to be the most accomplished & exciting part of the movie. I get the point, in actuality a dog would've sensed danger coming right away instead of standing around before the owner calls it. But yet, how it was executed and the excitement that came with it was great, and one wouldn't really care anyway.

The special effects that were used in the film were also pretty spot-on.

Once again, I disagree with the people who panned the effects. I thought they were actually quite realistic and convincing, particularly the aliens. A prime example comes from the part where the alien Steven Hiller captured managed to break free and attack the people at the lab he was being imprisoned in. I actually couldn't help but jolt when that happened, and when the alien was telepathically communicating with the president, I felt like I was looking at a real alien!

Finally, the music by David Arnold was amazing.

With his music alone, Arnold helped the film have a consistent emotional resonance, with constant thrills and the feeling of high stakes on the side. His work appeared to match closely with the style of John Williams, because for a while, I couldn't help but think the latter was the one composing.

In the end, it seems the only reason critics criticized this movie is because they want to point out flaws, but really...there aren't any flaws at all. The film is marvelously written, directed, action-packed, and the cast took their parts on like pros! The list pretty much goes on regarding why this is a stupendous sci-fi and disaster film.

So, I rate "Independence Day" a solid five out of five stars.