READERS' CHOICE #44: INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

6.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, once before, but not when it came out. My first viewing was in 2021

BEST SEQUENCE

The aliens' first coordinated attack on the world's major cities, including the destruction of the Empire State Building and the White House

BEST LINE

"Welcome to Earth"

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

67%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"The plot is thin and so is character development, but as a thrilling, spectacle-filled summer movie, Independence Day delivers."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind's best weapon is the will to survive."

THOUGHTS

• Jesus Christ, this is one silly-ass movie
• OK, put down your knives. I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for this one
• For people of a certain age (the "gee, I wish my back didn't hurt all the time" age), I have no issue with the idea that this would have been a seminal movie-going experience, or even just a seminal movie-watching experience. When the movie was released in 1996 I was 9, and more to the point, I was also a snivelling wimp who was too scared to watch it. If I had seen this movie in the theatre when it came out, while watching it again today I'm sure nostalgia would be doing a lot of the heavy lifting
• Instead, last summer on July 15th (missed opportunity, I know), I settled down on my orthopedic pillow and watched Independence Day for the first time, and it was extremely adequate. Upon rewatch, I feel the same
• You know me, I love my practical special effects, and that's a huge point in this movie's favour compared to today's blockbusters. As singled out above, I can't deny the impact of seeing world-famous landmarks completely obliterated. The explosions are big and real, the scenes of pandemonium are clearly real people and not just CGI crowds, and the aliens, which look pretty goofy, at least look goofy in a physical, tangible way
• One part that wasn't goofy, though, was the Area 51 dissection scene and ensuing attack. Legitimately creepy
• I did also love all the shots of spaceships hovering over cities. Amazing sense of scale
• Aerial combat in movies generally doesn't really do much for me. A bunch of shots of pilots in the cockpit cracking wise. I've never seen Top Gun, would that be considered the pinnacle of the form?
• And speaking of cracking wise, a lot of very '90s wisecracks in this movie, and basically none of them landed. "Welcome to Earth" is a pretty good line, though
• A big, sprawling cast of characters. Lots of charisma from Will Smith, Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum (is this Goldblum at his sexiest? Or would we go with Jurassic Park?). Despite his hero moment at the end, though, I really didn't need Randy Quaid in this movie. RIP, characters played by Harvey Fierstein and Harry Connick, Jr. (who, oddly enough, got the "and Harry Connick, Jr." treatment in the credits. What a time that was to be alive)
• I will say, this is miles better than The Day the Earth Stood Still, which actually made a cameo appearance in this movie. Randy Quaid's kids were watching it on TV very early on
• According to Wikipedia, the Will Smith role was originally offered to Ethan Hawke, but he turned it down because "he thought the script was terrible". You and me both, Ethan, you and me both
• To everyone who voted for this movie, I thank you. To everyone who loves this movie, your opinion is also valid. To everyone who thinks I was being too hard on it, I leave you with two words: computer virus. If you need me, Ethan and I will be reassuring each other and awaiting your hate mail

Up next: Ong-Bak, the martial arts film from 2003, and the first of the readers' choice movies which is completely new to me!