Over-rated by a long shot

Rating: Null/10 (9 July 1999)

How on earth did this film manage to gross over $300 million dollars? From my point of view, it really did seem like a patriotic flag-waving exercise; containing one of the most cringe-worthy speeches ever made. Will Smith didn't help either, but then he is an acquired taste and appeals to a lot of young kids.
Bad acting in films like this can sometimes be forgiven, but on this occasion we don't really have anything worth cheering for. The script, while not a disaster, doesn't even manage to inject any originality, only adding one cliche after another. But since this is a movie all about visual splendour, maybe I'm being too hard on it? Well, not really since the CGI effects were only average. However, none of this compares to one of the truly dumbest plot devices ever committed to celluloid - yes, that old virus transmission via the apple mac. Hah, if I were Bill Gates I'd be fuming!
This type of movie can be done well, but like the director's previous effort (Stargate), this film sacrifices everything in favour of spectacle, but unfortunately ID4 isn't in the least bit spectacular. Avoid this alien catastrophe, because this ain't even a B-movie, it's more like a D-movie.
3/10.