One of the funniest movies I have ever seen!

Rating: Null/10 (24 June 2000)

Well what can I say? When I first saw the trailers for this in the summer of '96 I thought 'This is going to be excellent'. Then one evening through one thing or another my bro and his mates went to see it but I couldn't make it. Their verdict: terrible and in many parts unintentionally funny. So, about 6 months past and one night in college halls I rented it with my flatmates and watched it and it was just so funny I couldn't believe it! Full of cliche's, plot holes, Americana schlock but still entertaining none the less. The special effects were good and Will Smith was pretty good too- the only actor in the film NOT totally up his own American behind constantly. However, you DO have to turn your brain off, be dragged along by the effects and laugh your socks off at the jingoistic/sentimental rubbish this truly is. If I had gone with my bro to see the movie that night I expect I would have entered expecting a "War of the worlds" type movie and would have been disapointed like them- but I rented it instead and enjoyed it for the pile of tosh it is.
Once again, like many other movies in this genre made in America it is unintentionally funny. The best bit that made me laugh out loud was when the fire went down the tunnel and the dog jumped and avoided it, by about half a second. Of course, had this been a European film (imagine Tony Blair giving the rousing speach to the pilots!) the dog would have been incinerated, or would have stupidly have run the wrong way and been incinerated.

"Mars Attacks" by Tim Burton takes the rise out of this kind of convinced Americana, and actually does the invasion scenes much better and realistically. Perhaps then you should rent them both and decide for yourself which is better.
6/10