Subject: REVIEW: INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996)

From: [email-masked] (Peter Ronaszeki)
Date: 3 Sep 1996 18:35:45 GMT

INDEPENDENCE DAY
                       A film review by Peter Ronaszeki
                        Copyright 1996 Peter Ronaszeki

Note: Spoilers have been kept to an absolute minimum, if you've seen the
      trailers then there should be no more spoilers here than that.

Well this was one of the most anticipated movies ever, and after seeing it
twice on opening day here in Australia - a summary:

STYLE/GENRE:
Those expecting an adrenalin pumping action flick (as the previews seem to
make out) will be disappointed.  This film strangely seems to alternate
between Drama, Comedy and Action.  A possible analogy is something like
the feel of 'Return of the Jedi' (that had serious moments as well as ewok
silliness).  At times this movie doesn't take itself seriously at all and
is played over-the-top for laughs; those of you who want an intense dark
movie should look elsewhere.  ID4 however *is* suitable for family 
viewing, which is something not that many movies of this kind can claim.

ACTING/DIALOGUE:
The cast is a mixed bag, but generally works well.  The main leads in this
film are Will Smith and Bill Pullman.  Smith plays a cool and cocky
fighter pilot (admitedly he partially based this on Harrison Ford's Han
Solo of the Star Wars movies) that provides most of the laughs.  While
Pullman tried his best to give us a modern Clinton-esque president.  These
two leads both come off well.  Jeff Goldblum plays practically the same
character as he did in Jurassic Park, so no surprises there.  Harry
Connick Jr. plays Will Smith's comrade and wingman, while Star Trek: The
Next Generation's Brent Spiner plays a wacky scientist.  And there is a
supporting cast of over a hundred small speaking roles.  While it's not
going to be winning any Best Actor Oscars, the quality of the acting is
definitely good enough for a film of this type.

STORY/PLOT:
The premise is excellent, for sure.  But the actual screenplay leaves
something to be desired in terms of plausability and realism.  While the
semi-comic nature of the film doesn't require a super-realistic
screenplay, anyone with basic knowledge in certain scientific or military
areas will probably feel a little annoyed at the mindlessness of certain
sections.  It should be remembered though that even films like 'The Empire
Strikes Back' had similar inconsistencies (like an atmosphere inside the
worm that swallowed the Millenium Falcon).  Regardless of this, 
Independence Day still has a powerful global unity theme that is easy to
appreciate, and the gradual intertwining of seemingly unrelated stories as
the film progresses is a nice technique not often used in recent times by
major Hollywood motion pictures.

EFFECTS/PRODUCTION DESIGN:

Well we've all seen the superb trailers for this, and the quality of those
effect shots cannot be argued.  The sheer scale and number of effects
shots in Independence Day is very impressive for the $70 Million budget.
However, the quality of the effects is a little inconsistent in places.
About 10-20% of the effects shots look average, but the amazing things
accomplished in the other 80% of the film more than make up for that.  The
production design is quite good, with interesting spacecraft and alien
bio-mechanoid suit designs.  Military aircraft fans will be in heaven,
with the F-14,F-15,F-16,F-18,B-2,Harrier,Hercules and MIG-31 all making
appearances in the movie (although some with only cameos).

DIRECTING:
The movie's weakest point.  Roland Emmerich is the one who previously gave
us such terrible films as 'Universal Soldier' and 'Moon 44', as well as
the recent film 'Stargate' which received a mixed response from audiences.
You have to give Roland Emmerich credit for coming up with a very
ambitious premise and some equally ambitious action scenes (like hundreds
of fighters and ships on one shot, and the waves of fire) but at the end
of the day he isn't a director in the same league as, say, James Cameron.
And the director is the most influential person in the film making
process, so Mr. Emmerich drags the film down a little (although he does
create a few very good scenes too).  But basically, the pacing of the film
is questionable and combined with the excessive running length, some
people may find themselves bored during some of the slower scenes.

OVERALL:
As long as you watch this with the attitude that it is a comedy / action /
drama that doesn't take itself seriously, be prepared to be entertained
beyond anything you've seen for a long time!

CRITICAL RATING: 7 out of 10
ENTERTAINMENT RATING: 9 out of 10

DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED!

--
Peter Ronaszeki  ([email-masked])