"Let's kick the tires and light the fires, Big Daddy!"

Rating: 7/10 (27 June 2018)

This movie might possibly hold the record for IMDb reviewers calling it the worst movie of all time. Wow! Obviously those folks have never seen "The Aztec Mummy Against the Humanoid Robot" or "Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell", a couple of sci-fi flicks that would immediately vault this film into the ranks of early 'Star Wars' territory. Personally I didn't think the film was that bad, in fact, it was better than I expected it to be. I was thinking along the lines of the same year's "Mars Attacks" which truly was deplorable.
That's not to say that the film didn't have it's share of problems. Someone thought it would be a pretty good idea to put a delusional drunk (Randy Quaid) and a sitting U.S. President (Bill Pullman - what!?!?) into the cockpit of a fighter jet to wage war against a massive alien strike force! Really?!?! And the computer virus idea while sounding good on paper doesn't quite square against the advanced alien technology that would have brought the invasion into Earth's atmosphere. Uh-oh, it sounds like I might be joining the naysayers on this one if I keep on thinking this through.
But I did like the early reference to 1951's "The Day the Earth Stood Still". However in that one, the aliens offered us Earthlings a chance to redeem ourselves from the self destructive path humanity was on, while here, the foreigners weren't going to give us even half a fighting chance. The picture's special effects and cinematography were pretty sensational for 1996, and the concept of bringing the planet's inhabitants together seeking common ground against the alien invaders was a brief feel good moment even if a fleeting one. And if you're feeling nostalgic, Randy Quaid's kamikaze attack on the mother ship echoed that famous scene in 'Dr. Strangelove' where Slim Pickens rode that bucking bronco joyride to Armageddon in all of it's patriotic glory. Oh yeah, take that you nasty aliens!