Review of Independence Day

Introduction

Whopping great alien ships blow the crap out of defenceless cities. Yes it`s 1996`s biggest blockbuster, Independence Day. You can watch The Empire State Building, The White House and some skyscraper in LA destroyed in a paroxysm of special effects fury. They won`t be making any movies like this for quite a while. Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich continue the trend they established with Stargate and churn out another popcorn movie for the teeming masses. As I am bit of a teeming mass myself, I put this disc in and settled down for two and a half fours of alien bashing fun.

It`s July 2nd and the population of the United States are preparing for their favourite national holiday. Unbeknownst to them a gargantuan alien menace is advancing relentlessly toward them. SETI first notice a strange signal coming from the vicinity of the move, and by the time President Thomas J. Whitmore has arisen from his repose in the White House a new satellite has entered orbit around the Earth some 300 miles in diameter. The world`s communications are disrupted as 15-mile discs detach from the mothership and enter the Earth`s atmosphere destined to take position hovering over the major cities of the world. Meanwhile, cable TV technician David Levinson, attempting to remove the alien interference from the TV signal makes a startling discovery, the alien ships are counting down to an ominous purpose. He attempts to contact his ex-wife Constance Spano in her job as the Presidential aide to warn her, but she refuses his call. He and his father Julius then get in their car and make the trip from New York to Washington to warn the President in person. As the countdown reaches it`s inevitable conclusion, the President, his aides and the Levinsons barely escape in Air Force One as the alien ships unleash a destructive energy that completely destroys Washington and the other cities dominated by the malevolent discs. July 3rd and the world reels from the devastating attack and attempts in some form to regroup. The surviving American forces attempt a counter strike against the ship hovering over the ruins of LA. A squadron of F18s led by the intrepid Capt Steven Hiller launch a missile barrage against the disc, but to their horror they find that the alien vessels are shielded. When the aliens launch a counterattack, the F18s are destroyed. Steven Hiller barely escapes with his life by some deft flying and some unorthodox tactics, and in the process captures an alien as well. Meanwhile, Air Force One after some reluctant revelations by the head of the CIA heads for Nevada and Area 51, where government scientists have been investigating the crashed alien fighter from Roswell. After a failed nuclear attack on a ship, all seems lost for the world, but then David gets a good look at the spaceship and a last minute hair brained scheme is dreamt up. July 4th and the world under the guidance of the brave United States makes its final stand against the alien menace, Can mankind survive it`s darkest hour. What do you think?

Video

Independence Day is presented in an anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer The picture to be honest was a letdown. The colours were fine and there was no print damage or digital artefact to speak of. However the overall resolution of the film was dismal. I felt like I was watching an American TV programme. The image appeared soft, there was no sharpness at all. Better than VHS, but it is far less than what DVD can achieve. The direction by Roland Emmerich is pacy and spirited, with the action conveyed well. This is an effects movie, and the massive ships are just as dominating as when I first saw them in the cinema. The effects are uniformly impressive with dogfights and wholesale destruction never looking so fine. Strangely, for such a big budget movie, there is one scene that haunts me. The attack on the El Toro airbase sees loads of alien ships and explosions, but not one fighter is destroyed. Then when Area 51 is similarly attacked, tell me that isn`t the same shot with caravans replacing the planes, equally undamaged.

Audio

Independence Day is presented with a DD 5.1 track. The sound is pretty good, with the action and effects being well represented by the speakers. If anything it seemed a little quiet for this kind of film, but the crashes and bangs still make themselves felt. The music by David Arnold is reminiscent of his work on Stargate, but is nowhere near as memorable, but the music is perfectly suited to the action and helps draw you in as the pace hots up.

Features

Both discs of the special edition are blessed with excellent menus, both rendered more sharply than the film itself. The first disc has two versions of the film, the original theatrical version as well as the extended special edition. This has some 8 minutes of additional footage added. Most of this is for added character development rather than any more action, so it does have the effect of stretching the film and slowing down the pace. Also you tend to realise when an extra scene is playing as the soundtrack by and large drops out and you are left with only dialogue. But to their credit the extra scenes are seamlessly integrated and of equal visual quality with the rest of the film. Also on this disc are two commentary tracks. The first provided by Producer, Dean Devlin and Director Roland Emmerich, who are also the writers. They also provide some insight into why scenes were cut. The second commentary is a special effects guide provided by Volker Engel and Doug Smith. This is fairly dry and tech heavy, but it`s a welcome addition to the extras.

Disc 2 contains the remainder of the extras. First there is the original ending with a commentary explaining why it was excised. Thank God that it was. There are 3 documentaries. Creating Reality, which is a 30-minute look at the realisation of many of the films effects and designs with interviews with the crew. The Making of ID4 is an entertaining look at the making of the film presented by Jeff Goldblum in his inimitable style, with interviews with the cast and crew. This lasts some 30 minutes also. Finally there is The ID4 Invasion is a `mockumentary` that details the alien invasion. You can also find 100s of stills on this disc, ranging from production photographs, concept drawings and three storyboard sequences. Then there are the trailers, varying from several teasers to the theatrical trailer as well as TV spots and so forth. If you can find the Easter Egg, noted on this site and many others, you can get inside the spaceship where you will find Combat Clips and News Clips. The Combat clips are 12 action sequences taken from the movie. They are anamorphic, but my player switched the ratio to 4:3 requiring me to manually change back. More interesting are the news clips. These are 22 of the news items often playing in the background of scenes in the movie. Here they are presented in 4:3 and in full, so you can see some of the often-ridiculous fictitious news reports made solely for the film. This Easter Egg footage amounts to an extra hour or so of material on this disc and makes it a substantial egg.

Conclusion

Will Smith stars as Air Force pilot, Steven Hiller and brings his trademark style and panache to the role. He is perfectly cast as the heroic pilot and gives just the performance you expect. Jeff Goldblum is brilliant as David Levinson and creates an understated version of the chaotician from Jurassic Park. Bill Pullman plays President Whitmore, the Gulf War combat veteran. He is a little wooden but manages to be presidential and inspiring as required. It`s ironic that he played the "stupidest person on the face of the Earth" in Ruthless People and here he plays the most powerful man on the planet. I mean what are the chances of that? Oh… Well, anyway other notable contributions are provided by among others, Judd Hirsch, who plays Julius Levinson. Talk about a stereotypical character, but he`s charming nonetheless. Randy Quaid plays Russell Casse, the alcoholic pilot who saves us all in the end. He has a good role, but some very clichéd lines. Brent Spiner leaves his Star Trek persona behind as he plays a scientist who hasn`t realised the seventies have ended and wears his trousers higher than Simon Cowell. Finally Harry Connick Jr. has a blink and you`ll miss it role as a fighter pilot, which is a shame as his character was quite promising. There are some female characters, but let`s be honest, all they do is sit back and let the men save the day, being there to provide congratulatory kisses when all the fighting is done.

Fifty years ago, this script would have made for the worst kind of cult B-movie sci-fi, but nowadays with cosmic budgets, out of this world effects and credible actors, you get a major summer blockbuster. This is pure popcorn entertainment and as such should be taken with a pinch of salt. The Americans save the world again. (Not surprising, it`s an American movie, duh!) The script is witty and often tongue-in-cheek, but overall this movie has the word cliché flashing in bright red letters over it. But again that is no bad thing, I expected as much when I first paid for the cinema ticket. I enjoy this film but find it less entertaining than the earlier Stargate. There is no sense of wonder with this film, it`s more of a computer game or rather a thrill ride. The added scenes do add a little to the characterisations in this film but subtract much more from the pace. If the theatrical version felt a tad overlong, this special edition is bordering on the mind numbing (and bum numbing). This is a poor story realised brilliantly on the big screen, resulting in average sci-fi. The DVD is cursed with a flawed video transfer but the sheer numbers of extras are significant enough to make a difference in the final mark. On a final note, imagine my surprise when I read Arthur C. Clarke`s 3001 when I recognised the ending. What a world we live in when a great Sci-Fi writer is influenced by this lowbrow action movie.