Stupid, but sensational

Rating: 7/10 (27 June 2009)

Here's another page in my chapter of movies I used to love but don't any more. Actually this one had a huge effect on my life- not only did it give me an interest in aliens, but believe it or not, the president in this movie inspired me to look up real life politicians, and got me intensely interested in history and social sciences. All of my upper year schooling was centred on those subjects. Now, I recognize this isn't a particularly deep film, but for an action movie and special effects spectacle this is still a pretty good effort.
The plot- an alien mothership arrives at Earth and sends city-sized spaceships over the great cities of the world, including Washington, DC, New York and Los Angeles. The dramatic music associated with these spaceships give them godlike importance (I've heard it said before that religious music and science fiction music are often alike). The movie tackles the interesting question of how people, including politicians and ordinary people, would react, showing panic, awe, and celebration. But I'd have to say Contact, the Jodie Foster movie that came out a year later, does a better job at thinking how people would react to aliens- that movie replaced this one as being my favourite alien movie (post-Star Wars). But the aliens attack the cities, which would be devastating since they're so important. The explosions look pretty convincing; the destruction of the American cities is seen but the movie lacks an international view (the scenes showing the attacks on non-American cities were cut). And we get the satisfaction of seeing the humans winning. Along the way we get some comic relief from, among other things, Jeff Goldblum's character arguing with his father, and Brent Spiner.
We get some good material but there are some flaws- including an overly sentimental and cheesy subplot following the Russell character. I don't see why we should care about this idiot's issues with his children's respect, his wanting to prove himself. He's out for revenge, having been abducted by aliens years ago, so writers Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich predictably make sure to provide him the opportunity. Upon hearing he was abducted, people react to him like he's crazy even after the aliens arrive, and one has to wonder why when the world has seen conclusive proof that aliens do exist. Incidentally, Russell says the aliens have been carrying out abductions for years to learn our weaknesses. It seriously took these super-intelligent aliens *years* to learn fire hurts us? Another disappointment is with the aliens themselves- octopus men. They should have gone with the greys- they're the ones associated with Roswell, after all.
The president (Bill Pullman) isn't always helpful- upon being told he's short on pilots, his order is "Then find them." He does give an inspiring speech, though. Jeff Goldblum is also good- he was also attached to two other huge money makers, Jurassic Park (1993) and its 1997 sequel The Lost World. Will Smith is the other star, and he's not bad.