Movies-TV

Truly Awful!

I realise that by writing a disfavourable review to a "popular" movie, one sets themselves up for criticism. But, I must say that this has to be one of the absolute worst American films ever produced, and certainly one of the worst of the 1990's (itself a decade with enough horrible films for an entire century). The dialogue is laugh-out-loud terrible, the story line is implausible, and the acting (or should I say "over-acting") is generally atrocious. There is one lame character after another in this film, not the least of whom are its "stars". Bill Pullman is wooden and dull, Geoff Goldblum is his usual creepy self, and Will Smith gives his worst performance of his young career. The only possible saving grace are the special effects, but these can not be fully appreciated unless viewed in a theatre. There are not enough synonyms in a thesaurus to fully describe how bad this movie is. A film that truly deserves to be 'booed' at the end of (as I did), it is on my list of ALL-TIME WORST MOVIES!

Great

Great movie. Loved the central idea....

The story was 'fair', but the movie ROCKS!

I just got this 2 DVD set, and IT PAYS TO WAIT! Good thing I didn't invest in the VHS version of this movie, and I got mine on sale at Best Buy ... At any rate, the DVD version is worth viewing for:1.The added scenes, 2.the great sound, 3.special effects, 4.The stellar cast, and MOST IMPORTANTLY for the BONUS DVD CONTENTS, which include: The Making Of ID4, commentary from the directors, producers, and cast, and INTERACTIVE material if you own a DVD-ROM! If you love a great DVD 'package', you won't be disappointed with this blockbuster.

A+

This movie was really one of the best films of the 90's. It's filled with spectacular effects and great sci-fi action. A movie to watch and have fun while eating popcorn with the boys. I guess I must have seen this movie more than a dozen times. Sometimes makes me wonder how others hated it so much. Someones comment even said "why so many people came to see it? Is it because nothing else was good enough to see"? Then why he/she is asking this question when he/she saw the movie. That was just stupid. To read people saying why the Americans always being the heroes was just funny. I bet they didn't ask themselves the same question when they were a bit younger while watching Rocky beat the hell out of that Russian fighter. I don't know now if this comments section is a good basis of what and not to watch.

Avoid like the plague. This one stinks on all levels.

The Director of Independence Day once described his own film as "lightning in a bottle". This is why I decided to post a review.Quite simply, this film is awful. It is poo in a bottle, nothing more.The further we move on in life, away from that horrible moment when this movie hit the cinemas, the better off we'll all be. If you haven't seen it, don't. There's plenty of better things to do than watch this 'movie'. Stare at the wall, cry for 2 hours, think about death, do nothing, just don't see this film, and hate anyone who has seen it and liked it.1 / 10

Typical US Summer Blockbuster...Empty

The first trailer really hypnotised me: a huge shadow covering a city plus the sound effect and not a single word of explanation...Bing! I had to see this film, 'cause I like Science Fiction movie a lot. But with the other trailers revealing some of the main character and of the already simplistic plot, it turned out to be a patriotic product strangely directed by a German (and no longer considered as so by the other German Filmakers, like Tykwer in a French movie magazine) with some very basic Symbols (A black man, Will Smith, the only good character of this movie, and a Jew, Jeff Goldblum, saving the world...Where is the Native American, USA's historical private genocide?) and a bizarre computer trick, coming out of the blue but simply saving mankind... Yet I went to see this film but I left the theater disappointed. Very good special effects though (and cheap ones I heard), but what a waste! Yes we know the USA are the strongest, but there is no need to pinpoint it in such a typical and empty US summer Blockbuster...A similar French movie showing how pride French people could be of themselves and also showing to the rest of the world what it takes to kick Aliens' ass would NEVER be released in France, even if its people is said to be so proud of themselves...It is good to see sometimes a Gladiator kind of a film to remind everyone what cinema REALLY is.

Just right for my IQ

The plot for this film was invented by H.G.Wells in 1898. It was followed up by Orson Welles in 1938. It has been repeated several times since: sometimes the aliens are destroyed by a virus, sometimes by Slim Whitman, but it's such a good plot that it's difficult to improve upon, and it's always been popular. So much for the plot. In this version the acting was good, and the dialogue was perfectly OK. The story moves along at a great pace, and there's always something interesting to gawp at. This is exactly what I like to see: heroes saving the world, baddies coming to bad ends, leaders leading from the front, family values and true love conquering. Just the stuff to fill in some time with a bit of escapist fantasy, humour and entertainment. Fortunately I'm not gifted with the genius of all those one-star reviewers, with their giant intellects, who are able to explain all the technical faults so excellently, but sometimes I think it's a bit funy that thy knt seme to spel to wel. I enjoyed this movie, but it wasn't quite as good as Robin Hood, which was much more realistic and credible. But better than Saving Private Ryan.

Independence Day is the most disappointing movies ever

Perhaps I went in with the wrong expectations, but I was left wondering "how could this have made more money than 'Blade Runner,' '2001,' or just about any classic sci-fi or any movie?" I read a review comparing it with 'Stars Wars?' Please don't put this movie up to that standard or you'll end up sad. With Randy Quaid as the white trail-trash who becomes the leader of the US air force, Bill Pullman (better known as Lone Star from Spaceballs) as the president, some long haired hippie as the US top scientist, Will Smith as hero who bravely eludes an Alien by outmaneuvering a technologically superior spacecraft with a jet then punches him out, and I wont begin with Tommy Lee Jones or the guy with the crackly voice, with all of this cartoonish crap, I don't know how anyone can actually take this movie seriously. The plot and dialog are complete waste of amazing special effects that should have been used toward a movie with scarier Aliens and more sincere characters. I give it 1 star on special effects alone. Unless you're a special effects technician, one time viewing this movie is one time too many.

An alien computer system, destroyed by a single virus?!

An alien spaceship armada is about to erase the human race. Our greatest weapons are useless, our fighting machines are like toys, our soldiers are like kids, compared to the alien superior technology and firepower! How shall we defeat them?! Easy! In just few seconds (spoiler!) Goldblum hacks the alien mainframe with a human-made computer virus, and eliminates the alien's defense system, making them vulnerable to air-to-air missiles! Hello! Are we dumb or what? Even now there are incompatible computer systems and software! How could one expect a 20th century earth computer virus to disable the entire alien defense, much more sophisticated, than any other thing we know?! Ridiculous! That's the big minus of this movie! The rest is several minutes of stunning visual effects, that are really good, but nothing more!

OH, PUH-LEASE

This is one of those movies which really makes you question the state of Hollywood today (another is a certain movie about a big ocean-liner which hits an iceber - oh, never mind). "Independence Day" is defended as a sci-fi bash which is somehow exempt from the laws governing what makes sense and what doesn't. Movies do exsist which side-step these laws - "Men in Black" is a sci-fi flick which is both entertaining and non-sensical at the same time. Unlike "ID4," "MIB" is clearly a joke - a satirical poke at itself and at science-fiction. It's a joke we get. Nudge-nudge, wink wink. It's funny, and the humor is witty and intelligent.

"Independence Day," however, posseses the unfortunate pretense of seriousness. We have scenes dripping with cliched melodrama; we have an attempt by the writers to create a scientifically sound language of gadgets and plans. Moreover, ID4 is plaugued with a disgusting macho, "chest-thumping" American-ness which can only make the eyes of the intelligent viewer roll. The dogfights are ridiculous; Jeff Goldblum's magical virus-uplink with the technologically surperior alien mother-ship is a riot.

The special effects are a bit cool, but they're NOTHING we haven't seen before. The Star Wars trilogy (ca. late 70s early 80s) used giant models more effectively; the computer-generated fighter-planes and alien attack craft are dwarfed by Spielberg's dinosaurs.

It's dissappointing that every time I've seen ID4, the aliens lose. This is a planet which NEEDS to be destroyed.

Independence Day is the most disappointing movies ever.

Perhaps I went in with the wrong expectations, but I left movie wondering "how could this have made more money than 'Blade Runner,' '2001,' or just about any classic sci-fi or any movie?" I read a review comparing it with 'Stars Wars?' Please don't put this movie up to that standard or you'll end up sad. With Randy Quaid as the white trailer-trash who becomes the leader of the US air force, Bill Pullman (better known as Lone Star from Spaceballs) as the president, some long haired hippie as the US top scientist, Will Smith as hero who bravely eludes an Alien by outmaneuvering a technologically superior spacecraft with a jet then punches him out, and I wont begin with Tommy Lee Jones or the guy with the crackly voice, with all of this cartoonish crap, I don't know how anyone can actually take this movie seriously. The plot and dialog are a complete waste of amazing special effects that should have been used toward a movie with scarier Aliens and more sincere characters. I give it 1 star on special effects alone. Unless you're a special effects technician, one time viewing this movie is one time too many.

Great Special Effects and Great Special Effects and er, um..

This supercharged War of the Worlds ripoff is worth seeing just for the special effects. It's the only reason to watch it. The acting is cartoonish at best, the plot twists and turns are absolutely ludicrous, the science is so way off it's comical. But, the really spooky thing about this 1996 movie, is the Empire State building being blown up, and people running through the streets away from the explosion. It presages (unintentionally of course) 9-11 and the Twin Towers.
Watch that scene, and remember the news videos about the Twin Towers. It's unsettling, that a piece of directorial drek like Independence Day, can bring about strong emotional reactions, not because of its inept screenplay, but because it accidentally showed us a vision of a terrible future incident that would Really take place five years in the future.

How many versions of this have to come out?

This is DVD marketing at its ugliest, worst case scenario. What is this, the third version now?

I have the two disc ultimate, or whatever it was, from last year and it's good enough despite a nasty chapter change sequence after the gang escapes the White House. The thing just freezes outright and sloppily cuts into the next chapter. There isn't any scratches on the disc, so I'm assuming that's one of the errors that this release will supposedly correct.

The movie itself gets 4 stars from me because it's shameless, B sci fi with a grade A budget. It's not meant to be logical, it's straight up fun.

Special mention has to go to an incredible score by David Arnold. This was his follow up punch to his amazing Stargate score, and he has never come close again to the heights of ID4 and Stargate music compositions. I consider him a two hit wonder, and the soundtrack to this movie sorely needs to be redone with the other 50 percent of the score restored to the CD.

Anyways, pardon that digression. If you don't own this movie already, and you like sci-fi, go ahead and get this version and don't look back. If nothing else, it's a lot more entertaining than the Star Wars prequels and it will show off your DVD player and television's capabilities.

(...)

I actually thought the computer virus was credible - almost thoughtful!

Ok, most of what you've heard is true. It's a B-grade science fantasy with pretty (but not clever) special effects - your basic eye candy.The jingoism is grating to non-US (and many US) audiences (gee, thanks America for letting us share the 4th of July; now we won't have to worry about our own national holidays!!).Apart from that, though, disengage your brain and enjoy a bit of amusing nonsense.I was a little peeved at all the people who complained of the aliens' low resistance to humanity's counter-attacks. I actually thought that part was well thought out and plausible!! The idea goes like this: the aliens have a hive-mind (obvious to sci-fi fans who've seen it all before), and so have absolutely no concept of delinquency. They're aggressive, all right, but not the least bit sneaky.Consequently, their command messages are sent in a code so weak it is broken by inspection; an 'interrogated' alien spills the whole plan just for the asking; their fighters and even space ship defences are foxed by simple tricks; they haven't changed IFF codes in 40 years; and their computer operating systems have absolutely no security.This of course begs for a sequel where the delinquent, dirty-dealing two-fisted back-stabbing humans use the crashed ships to launch a counter-attack .

Embarrassed to say I paid good money to see this

The fact that a film like this could make so much money at the box office truly shows how unintelligent human beings really are.

What IS this crap?

Don't fall for it, guys! They released a half-finished movie. I've seen many of the movies in this series and I loved them, but this one doesn't have the silhouettes of the guy and his two robots at the bottom of the screen, supplying most of the dialogue. Why did they leave them out? I assumed I was supposed to try to supply the dialogue myself, but everyone in the theater got mad when I tried it.

This movie....uh...really sucks!

Uggh! This is one of the nastiest pieces of Hollywood gristle I've ever chewed on. This movie leaves such an ensuing aftertase in your mouth, you might end up watching "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" to free yourself from the trauma. The atrocious dialogue ("It's an organic lifeform!!"), the shoddy acting, and the less-than-impressive CGI effects really make this a movie to clean your catbox with. This piece of cinematic garbage is filled with inconsistencies and scientific snafus (and one teeny tiny computer bug: how can an Apple Mac communicate with an alien server, even though the aliens use a TOTALLY different language and protocol? Jeff Goldblum should have gotten a busy signal!) Another really bad science bug is when the alien screamed, even though Brent Spiner (notwithstanding his lousy Data image) declared it free of vocal chords. Perhaps the saddest parts of the movie come out when Will Smith tries to be funny. All in all, it stinks!

Fun movie

It's a very enjoyable story. Yes, a bit hokey, but it's entertaining. Great special effects. I was really looking forward to getting it on DVD.

After watching the original bi-plane ending on the Special Edition DVD, while unbelievable, it made a lot more sense given certain other scenes within the movie and, again, was fun (which is what this genre is all about). The 9 minutes of extra footage also allows for greater character development and explains more of the story.

However, given the great special effects, the sound on the DVD is only mediocre - not much bass from the subwoofer during all the tremendous explosions. Also, with 2 discs, too bad they couldn't find room for a Full-Screen version. I know any "true" movie lover only wants the widescreen director's edition, but I get tired of watching only a 9 inch tall picture on my 36 inch screen (just my preferrence).

Only in the theaters

Unless you have a THX certified surround sound system, a huge widescreen television, and the repo man isn't banging on your door because the check bounced :) don't get it. ID4 is one of those movies you have to see in THX at the biggest theater in town. I saw it in true Lucasfilm THX at a fairly large theater and it was awesome. I loved it so much I went downtown to the rat infested Dolby stereo theater and it stunk (not just the seats). The home video doesn't do any better.

If you missed it in the theater, you missed it. It's like Star Wars. Star Wars is good on TV/VHS, it would be good if they put it on DVD (!), but it is pure magic in the theater. Any movie that is based on the special effects (Star Wars does NOT fall into that category mind you), is only good in the theater.

Trust me. Only die hard fans of the movie should buy it.

good morning dave

This is half a fantastically great movie, and half tiered old disaster movie tripe, specifically the first half is tripe; the same old unstoppable aliens flatten every major city with a myriad of F\X, kind of movie.

Now, the second half is worth Jeff Goldblum's weight in gold.
Really, it's that awesome. the play between Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith is fantastic.
The plot brightens up too, the use of a computer virus was on the clever side, it is logical to think that the aliens would run their ships completely on computer, however, that Windows and Alien hardware would be in the least bit compatible is a stretch, but, who cares?! It's a movie.

Defiantly a film to see, the second half that is.