INDEPENDENCE DAY
A film review by Joe Blenkle
Copyright 1996 Joe Blenkle
(**** out of ****) Rated PG-13
If you can suspend all common sense for the two hours and 17 minutes that INDEPENDENCE DAY runs, you'll be in great shape, but if you're one of those moviegoers who looks for things wrong with films, plots and everything else, you'll probably have a field day with this movie. I am one of those who goes to a film to be entertained (i.e. - film reviewer), not a person who looks for things wrong or wonders what signifigance a lamp has sitting on a table (i.e. - film critic), and INDEPENDENCE DAY is a terrific film if you can suspend all belief in reality. As the film is brand new to theaters across the country, I don't want to give too much away, but some of the things that happen in this film are too unbelievable if you think about them for too long. But the wonderful thing about INDEPENDENCE DAY is that the movie doesn't give you a chance to think about anything for too long as it is an edge-of-your-seat thriller all the way through. You may find yourself pondering later on, however, how an Air Force pilot learns to pilot an alien ship in a matter of hours or how a woman survives a firestorm rushing through a tunnel by hiding in a small room as the fire rushes by outside. At the very least she should have suffocated as the fire consumed all the oxygen, or been incinerated by the intense heat only a few feet away. There are many of these insults to common sense throughout the film, but they are easily overlooked due to the intense action throughout the film. By now everyone has heard what INDEPENDENCE DAY is all about. There has been a lot of pre-release hype and for once the film actually lives up to its fantastic billing. The cast list is impressive with a lineup including Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Randy Quaid, Robert Loggia and Brent Spiner. I have never really been a fan of Goldblum's, but this film did a lot to change that. The whole cast does an excellent job holding your attention throughout the movie, especially Smith and later in the film, Goldblum. Spiner's character was somewhat wasted, however, playing a crazed scientist-type in charge of the government's alien research project. Fortunately the audience didn't have to endure his part for very long. The special effects in INDEPENDENCE DAY are fantastic, especially the fireball sequences where buildings are blown apart and early in the film when the alien ships come rolling in engulfed in clouds of fire. There are enough narrow escapes in this film to last you well into next year and an equal number of little twists and turns in the plot that will keep you guessing until the very end. INDEPENDENCE DAY even has its little bits of comedy which will keep you off balance and never knowing what to expect next. I've heard this film described as a cross between STAR WARS, TOP GUN and WAR OF THE WORLDS - and it's every bit that and more. The lines are probably going to be long throughout the summer for this film, but INDEPENDENCE DAY is one movie that is well worth the wait. INDEPENDENCE DAY is a 20th Century Fox presentation starring Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Randy Quaid, Robert Loggia and Brent Spiner. Directed by Roland Emmerich. Produced by Dean Devlin. Executive Producer is Roland Emmerich, Ute Emmerich and William Fay. Screenplay by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. Release date: July 2, 1996. Running time: 137 minutes.
This review, photos, upcoming attractions, links and more can be found on my movie review web page at: http://www.calweb.com/~jblenkle/movies - stop by and visit! Guest reviews welcomed - email me at jblenkle@calweb.com
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews