spectacular

Rating: 6/10 (22 April 2014)

It certainly doesn't possess the witty repartee of a Woody Allen, or does raise big philosophical questions like a Stanley Kubrick and doesn't even possess the technique or score genies of a Sergio Leone, but what Independence Day lacks in those areas, it more than makes up for it in; special effects wizardry, slick, epic fast paced action sequences and fun, humours performances, that once assembled, combine to make Independence Day a film that is a eye catching, heart pounding, awe inspiring Saturday night extravaganza that will never fail to entertain.
Almost from the start it's clear to see that Roland Emmerich burrows extensively from all godfathers of Alien encounter films that came before; from the way the Alien space craft arrives in the sky surrounded in a plume of stormy clouds like scenes from the remake of War of the Worlds, the very look of the Aliens themselves clearly draw comparisons with Ridley Scots 'Alien', then you have the possible extinction of the human race to deal with, similar to The Day the Earth Stood Still. Some may say this is a signal of lack of imagination and originality on writer Dean Devlin part, but the way I look at it, imitation is the sincerity form of flattery, and I see Independence Day as more of a allusion or a homage of the highest respects to those past greats, rather than a mere cheap carbon copy (Well costing at 75million and grossing over 800 million, more like a very expensive and successful carbon copy).
Being a typical big budget Hollywood film the premise is as simple as ever, a massive fleet of alien space ships arrive on earth after travelling billions of light years, but there isn't a ET amongst them, these guys mean business! And they didn't come to earth for friendly game of stuck in the mud or a casual stroll in the park whilst sightseeing; instead they are came here to destroy it and everyone on it. But once again, with this being an American Hollywood feature, the only guys equipped to save the world is the president (Bill Pullman), a computer genius (Jeff Goldblum) and a highly skilled jet pilot (Will Smith). Queue the waving of the flag, handing out of American pie and an Elvis Presley greatest hits album. But there nothing wrong with a little bit of patriotism, but Bill Pullman gives the customary great American speech about unity and courage, and the rebranding of an American holiday into a global holiday, Independence Day does take patriotism to a palpable extreme, often venturing into the irritating and ridiculous as it makes every other country seem incapable of coping without out their help. But I digress, after the US army seems incapable of penetrating through the Aliens shield, with all their bullets and bombs, Jeff Goldblum being the computer genies that he is has the genius idea of simply disarming the shields – wow give the Einstein an Nobel Prize right? Well one problem, to administer the computer virus that will infect the mother ship that will in turn disarm all the other ship's shields for around two minutes, they have to get up close and personal to do so – queue loud mouth, charismatic Will smith.
To say that Independence Day was high concept film would be a massive understatement; it would be the same as saying Beetles were just a rock band. But I feel films that get labelled as high concept always get such a bad rep. What's wrong with appealing to all four quadrants of the film market, isn't watching films supposed to be an inclusive, communal experience. A film can bring together different; races, religions, genders and ages, surely that something that should be celebrated and encompasses everything that makes cinema so magical. And watching Independence Day was truly a magical experience; you just have to look at the performances, well the performance of Will Smith, who stands heads and shoulder above everyone else, in a film that made him an eventual global superstar. Like I said, he was loud and charismatic, making his character so enticing and exciting to watch. I simply love the scene when the Alien crash lands and tries to get out of its ship, only to be punched in the face by Will Smith, "Well come to earth" which would probably go down as one of my all time favourite move scenes and quotes ever. His performance was almost as big and spectacular as the special effects even though they are from 1996, I feel they easily outdo some modern day big budget films such as the embarrassingly bad Olympus has Fallen. Independence Day is a truly enjoyable fantastic film that rightly deserved all its finical success; defiantly looking forward to seeing it again.