Subject: REVIEW: INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996)

From: [email-masked] (Larry Mcgillicuddy)
Date: 13 Jul 1996 13:56:43 GMT

INDEPENDENCE DAY
                       A film review by Larry McGillicuddy
                        Copyright 1996 Larry McGillicuddy

**** (out of 4)
Directed by Roland Emmerich
Starring Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Will Smith, Margaret Colin,Robert 
Loggia, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Randy Quaid, Harry Connick Jr., 
Harvey Fierstein, Adam Baldwin, Andrew Keegan, Devon Gummersall

Review-   Stargate was one of the worst science fiction movies I've ever 
seen. It was dull, moronic, and not exciting for a minute. Roland 
Emmerich directed that movie. Someone named Roland Emmerich directed this 
movie. Before I saw Independence Day, I thought it was the same person. 
Now I'm not so sure. There is nothing dull or moronic about this movie, 
and I was gripped the entire way through. In short, Independence Day 
delivers exactly what it promised.

Independence Day provides us with an old reliable scare story. What if we 
were visited from another planet? What if the visitors were not so 
friendly? How would we react to this situation? All of these questions 
are answered in an exciting, intelligent, and humorous way. 

Aliens have entered our atmosphere. At first we're not so sure what to 
expect. All the world can do is wait. Then a mathemetician played by Jeff 
Goldblum (big stretch, huh?) discovers the aliens are using our 
satellites against us. In doing so, he is able to warn the White House so 
they can get out of Washington DC soon enough, saving the lives of many, 
including the president, played by Bill Pullman. A fighter pilot, played 
by Will Smith, survives a dogfight with an alien spaceship, and drags the 
alien from its damaged spacecraft to a secret base. Many cities have been 
destroyed and not much time is left. The Americans must discover a way to 
fight back. 

A stellar cast of reliable character actors was assembled for this movie. 
Bill Pullman plays the president with great dignity and honor, and a 
speech he gives to the troops on the night of  the counterattack had me 
cheering, along with the rest of the audience. jeff Goldblum, one of my 
favorite actors, is just as quirky, original, and amusing as he always is.
 His offbeat line readings are always a great pleasure, and they work 
very well here. Will Smith is quickly becoming a major movie star, and he 
is the best hotshot fighter pilot since Tom Cruise. He also gets much 
funnier things to say than in Bad Boys, for example. And then there are 
the special effects. Not for one second were any of them unbeleivable. 
The over 2 hour running time, which never feels long, leaves room for 
enough romantic subplots that even Jeff Goldblum gets one.  If you want 
to see some Americans banding with the rest of the world to "get up there 
and woop ET's ass" go see Independence Day. I'll probably be in line with 
you when I see it again. This movie was worth the hype.

****            Excellent
***             Good
**              Below Par
*               Very Bad
No Stars   No Redeeming Qualities at all.