INDEPENDENCE DAY
A film review by Lewis Butler
Copyright 1995 Lewis Butler
In short: One of the best action movies to come along in
years. INDEPENDENCE DAY (ID4) has everything it needs to take
its place with such movies as STAR WARS and TERMINATOR 2.
Whether it will attain such heights remians to be seen, but
all the makings are there. It is not, however, perfect.
+3 on the old -4/+4.
ID4 is a movie with something for everyone. It has a large cast of characters, so there's plenty of people to identify with. The plot is basic and simple: Aliens finally come, and they're not friendly. The movie starts with the alien mothership's arrival, a huge ship 1/4th the size of the moon. The first half-hour is all about the arrival and Earth's reaction to it. Then things start getting messy.
The plot is thin, but adequate. Before humanity is completely exterminated, we have to find a way to win against superior technology. Seemingly, we don't have a chance. The Alien ships are bigger, more powerful, and they have some sort of energy shield that we can't penetrate. It's going to be tough.
Bill Pullman plays the only completly unbelievable character in the movie, an American President who is not a political weasel, but a fairly young ex-fighter pilot hero of the Gulf War, politcally naive. A man of honor and ethics. Basically, he plays a President the exact opposite of our current canidates if they were merged into one. That said, he's a convincing character, and you can't help liking him. He gets the audience on his side when he announces that he is staying in Washington DC even after the 15 mile wide alien spaceship (one of 30) takes position directly over the White House. He send the vice-president and the cabinet to Norad. Of course, we've seen the White House get blown up in the previews...
A lot of people die in this movie, obviously. But while it could have been a lot of faceless people, the filmmakers take the time to introduce us to a few of them. It gives the movie a little bit of an edge and prevents it from becoming completely silly summer escapism. It's still mostly that, don't be deceived, but there's enough there to keep you going.
One of the things I enjoyed about this film was that it made an effort not to ignore the rest of the world. Yes, it's an American film about Americans, but there are just enough cutaways to other parts of the world so that we know what's happening. And though we don't see them, the rest of the world is fighting their own battle, with just a little bit fo help from the Americans.
There are many nice touches throughout the film, and many references, somtimes oblique, to other films. Look for Randy Quaid late in the film doing a scene from... well, that might be considered a spoiler. You'll know it when you see it.
Performances are solid all the way around. Some of the highlights are Will Smith, playing a fighter pilot; Judd Hirsch as Jeff Goldblum's father; eff Goldblum as a computer geek; and Brent Spinner as a xenobiologist or soemthing whose been locked away underground for 30 years or so. Pullman, Goldblum, and Smith form the core cast of the film.
It is easy to dismiss this as "just another summer movie." But I would remind people of some other, recent, summer movies. HUDSON HAWK. THE LAST ACTION HERO. BEVERLY HILLS COP III. TANGO AND CASH. DIE HARD II. Get the point? While this may not be a "great" movie, it is exactly what it wants to be, entertaining. It is very entertaining.
And the effects. I haven't even mentioned the special effects, and this movie is loaded with them. Still, what is there to say? We live in a time where special effects in movies are so good it's really only worth discussing them when they are poorly done. They are not poorly done. They are spectacular. The most impressive effects are the ones involving the destruction of the various cities.
See it, it is the best "summer" movie in a lot of summers. Better, even, than TRUE LIES.
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