Bad science fiction

Rating: Null/10 (31 January 1999)

Robert Wise once made an intelligent film about an alien invasion of Earth. It was called "The Day the Earth Stood Still," and it's still an entertaining and enlightening work of science fiction. "The Day the Earth Stood Still" is everything that "Independence Day" is not. The former appeals to our adult intellect. The latter appeals to what's left of the 12-year-old inside us. Sometimes that's OK, when it works. I'm looking forward to the new Star Wars movie as much as anyone. But aren't we getting a little tired of "government conspiracy" storylines? I've got news for you: If the U.S. President can't keep a little Oval Office hanky-panky secret, his minions certainly can't hide a bunch of aliens out in the New Mexico desert. The "X-Files," government conspiracy plot has run its course for me. (What's that you say? The whole Monica thing is really a plot by the aliens to put one of their own, Albert Gore, Jr., into the top job?) ) Actually, I'd love to see a film that intelligently explores what might really happen if the aliens landed. But "Independence Day," with it's overwhelming special effects and evil/cute aliens that say "uh-oh" before they're blasted to smithereens, is not that movie.