The greatest science fiction film ever. Not.

Rating: 3/10 (28 January 1999)

Where shall I start? Do I begin the America bashing now or after I've ridiculed this films shallow and laughable effort at entertainment. Probably best to get it out of the way now I guess.
Now if there are any Americans out there reading this then I'm sorry. I really am. I don't want to have to do this. I'm not xenophobic. I don't have any political complexes. I'm not in the habit of insulting the people that come from the land across the Atlantic. But please, you have to accept that this is tripe. Of the highest possible order. It's success merely proves that the best way to get an American to get behind something is to appeal to that little bit inside them that loves their country. If a film is full of praise for the USA and even vaguely shows it's national heritage being ridiculed (a shot of a collapsed Statue of Liberty usually does the trick) then any self-respecting yank will root for it. And that's it. This film calls to the most xenophobic part of any American and wrenches it to the forefront. As a Brit the most obvious, and insulting, element of this to me is when those two officers from the RAF receive the American plan of action. In a tone of hero worship and admiration they cry "It's the Americans!" Well hallelujah. At last we're saved. My ass. I'll bet those two were called Reginald and Jerry and usually partook in cucumber sandwiches and high tea at their house in the country with a butler and 20 servants. When they're not playing cricket that is.
And then there is the film itself. Utter tosh. I wouldn't feel so cheated if it was just uniformally bad. At least then I could watch it in a so-bad-it's-good sort of way. Instead I thought the first act, before the initial attack, was quite good. The slow drawn out tension and what-the-hell-is-it paranoia were nicely handled. There was a suitable sense of invincibility about the aliens that suited the film. But then it collapsed. Emmerich and Devlin spent so long on the setup that they had to race through the pay-off. Glaring implausibilities, which I can usually overlook in a good film, just made it worse. For example: when Smith's girlfriend makes it out from the rubble LA is destroyed, laid to waste, ruined, wrecked, crushed. All except four palm trees. Priceless.
Then there is the supposition that crop dusters, cargo pilots and others, including the Pres' himself, can learn enough complex air warfare tactics to hold off a group of advanced alien fighters long enough for the mother-ship to be destroyed. Presuming of course that Goldblum can connect his laptop to the central computer when you can barely get an Apple to talk to a PC. Balderdash. Trashy characters. Bad script. Insensitive stereo-types. Shall I go on?
The end result is a film I'm ashamed to have on my video-shelf (it was a birthday present so I can't really give it away). Starship Troopers, an even trashier sci-fi flick, walks all over it because of it's obvious tongue-in-cheek nature. Serious films like Bladerunner and Star Wars grind it to dust. I believe one commenter referred to it as the best science fiction film for fifty years. I would recommend he has a psychiatric session. For me there's a little too much apple pie for my stomach to take.