Independence Day (1996)

Director: Roland Emmerich

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.