A blend of action, sci-fi and humor that wins in the end

Rating: 9/10 (19 April 2007)

From the opening moments of the film as the camera shot pulls back from the footprints on the lunar surface, and the shadow of something passing overhead disturbs the dust on the ground, you know this is going to be a special film. And it is exactly that. Director Roland Emmerich creates a film that is good sci-fi and action, while not trying to take itself too seriously. The cast is excellent, with Will Smith and Jeff Goldbum standing out, and Randy Quaid playing an off the wall character as only he can. With the same attention to detail as he used in Stargate Emmerich gives us a film that will long be remembered for it's scope if nothing else. Underlying the film however is a disturbing trend that needs to be addressed. In the early days of the cold war, when McCarthyism was rife in our country, most sci-fi movies were about alien invasion. Then through the sixties to the eighties we had a period when aliens were benign as we looked for a better world. But as we entered the turbulent nineties and into the new century where conflict and violence is again pressing our sci-fi movies have once more started turning to alien invasions. Something to think about as you watch this film.