Writers: Roland Emmerich, Dean Devlin
Composer: David Arnold
Starring: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Robert Loggia, randy Quaid, Margaret Colin, Vivica A. Fox, James Rebhorn, Harvey Fierstein, Adam Baldwin, Brent Spiner
More info: IMDb
Tagline: We've always believed we weren't alone. On July 4th, we'll wish we were.
Plot: On July 2nd, communications systems worldwide are sent into chaos by a strange atmospheric interference. It is soon learned by the military that a number of enormous objects are on a collision course with Earth. At first thought to be meteors, they are later revealed to be gigantic spacecraft, piloted by a mysterious alien species. After attempts to communicate with the aliens go nowhere, David Levinson, an ex-scientist turned cable technician, discovers that the aliens are going to attack major points around the globe in less than a day. On July 3rd, the aliens all but obliterate New York, Los Angeles, and Washington. The survivors set out in convoys towards Area 51, a strange government testing ground where it is rumored the military has a captured alien spacecraft of their own. The survivors devise a plan to fight back against the enslaving aliens, and July 4th becomes the day humanity will fight for its freedom. July 4th is their Independence Day.
My rating: 6.5/10
Will I watch it again? No.
I finally got around to watching this after putting it off for nearly twenty years because it looked stupid and retarded. Now that I've seen it I can honestly say it's stupid and retarded...but it's also kind of fun. If you look at this as a modern day 1950s cheesy sci-fi flick then it's a lot easier to take. Yeah, it's filled with stereotypes, cliches and ridiculous dialogue. It's also over two and a half hours long and that's probably the biggest drawback. Despite the great special effects, the picture's buckles under it's own weight. By the time I got to the final half hour mark I was ready to get off this ride. See, in the 1950s they had one thing right with their sci-fi flicks...they were largely about 75 minutes long. I'm not suggesting this would work at that length but it certainly doesn't work well at twice that.
And it's still better than Skyline (2010) :D
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