Excellent Homage Flick

Rating: 8/10 (13 March 2006)

Having read a lot of the comments here, I feel that so many people simply haven't realized that this movie is meant as an homage to the invasion flicks of decades ago. This dedication is even mentioned in the intro credits of the DVD. So from that perspective, the film is outstanding. It has the perfect blend of corn and context realism.
The special effect are extremely well done. You can believe the White House and other major buildings explode in billows of fire, because large-scale models really ARE being filmed as they're pulverized. And the ingenious fire setup (explained in a DVD extra) makes the scenes convincing because it's real fire. There's no fakey looking CGI here that detracts from credibility.
I think more people would enjoy the film if they'd view it for what it was intended to be.