Independence Day
On the Homer Simpson palm-to-the-forehead scale, many sci-fi fan gave Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich's 1996 alien-invasion blockbuster three slaps; their heads hurt just thinking about it. But as stoopid as the filmmaker's efforts were (and they hadn't even signed on forGodzillayet!), at least composer David Arnold "rose" to the occasion, producing a Williamsian piece of overwrought orchestral and choral melodrama that virtually begs you to take the proceedings seriously. If Arnold had been working the genre in the '50s, there's a fair chance that that vaunted AFI top 100 films list would've includedEarth Vs. the Flying Saucers; now,there'sa movie.--Jerry McCulley