Fireworks and fun, but weak SciFi

Rating: 7/10 (3 May 2006)

This is one of those entertainment-only movies that often gets a black eye for being something it's not. Hard SciFi this isn't, although its still up a few notches from the 50's SciFi movies that are its historical roots.
Stereotypical or thin characters are required when you have that many actors involved in scenes, although Jeff Goldblum's character, and that of Judd Hirsh as his Dad are quite good. A director makes a choice on the focus, it could follow one character or group of characters and alter the scale to near human dimensions. Tom Cruise in War of the Worlds comes to mind. But more often, particularly if box office receipts are a major concern, it is SciFi as spectacle, and in that realm, Independence Day works very well indeed.
I'm just thankful they didn't include one of those ridiculous scenes where the hero blows up the control panel to open the airlock door. Let's see, design an airlock so when power is removed the door opens and everybody gets sucked into a vacuum. Yeah, that'll work.