Subject: REVIEW: INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996)

From: [email-masked] (ChadPolenz)
Date: 12 Jan 1997 03:54:24 GMT

INDEPENDENCE DAY
                       A film review by Chad Polenz
                        Copyright 1997 Chad Polenz

****
1996, PG-13, 145 minutes [2 hours, 25 minutes]
[science fiction]
starring: Bill Pullman (President Thomas Whitmore), Will Smith (Captain
Steve Hiller), Jeff Goldblum (Dave Levinson), Margaret Coplin (Connie),
Randy Quaid (Russell Case), Robert Loggia (General Gray), Judd Hirsch
(Julius "Pops" Levinson), produced by Dean Devlin, written by Dean Devlin,
Roland Emmerich, directed by Roland Emmerich.

	Wow! I am so blown away by this film that I am nearly speechless.
Rarely does a film come along that is such an excellent blend of excellent
storytelling, suspense, and adventure and is able to synchronize it as
well as this film does. At times this movie becomes something more, it is
something that can unite everyone together and move an audience. This is
an excellent achievement in great storytelling, special effects, and most
of all its ability to take a rather complicated plot and make it so
breezy. The sensation and excitement are unlike anything I've ever
experienced since the "Star Wars" trilogy, and that's something even
remotely difficult to stand up to.
	The story starts out with some scientists realizing that something
huge is approaching the Earth and is giving off a radio code that is
reducing itself as it constantly recycles - a definite warning of some
type. It gets closer until they realize that it is actually a group of
huge UFOs approaching the Earth's atmosphere. Even though not much has
happened, the sense of intense excitement and suspense builds very
quickly, we are wondering who these aliens are and why they are here.
	When the ships finally enter the atmosphere, panic ensues and
President Thomas Whitmore (Pullman) addresses the country and tries to
calm everyone down. One of the scientists who first discovered the aliens
(Jeff Goldblum as Dave Levinson) has an ex-wife (Margaret Coplin as
Connie) who is an assistant to the president and is able to meet with him
and warn him of the countdown. Suddenly the suspense builds to a boil as
they realize that they are about to be obliterated. We get quite a cliche
escape scene and many terrifying devastation scenes, but the suspense,
combined with the excellent special effects are so unbelievable that it is
all breathtaking.
	What follows is a fantastic aerial battle between U.S. Marine F-18
Tomcats and alien ships, perhaps one of the single most exciting scenes I
have ever viewed. Just consider the situation for a minute, our own
military up against aFrom rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Jan 20 23:33:13 1997
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From: [email-masked] (ChadPolenz)
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Subject: REVIEW: INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996)
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                            INDEPENDENCE DAY
                       A film review by Chad Polenz
                        Copyright 1997 Chad Polenz

****
1996, PG-13, 145 minutes [2 hours, 25 minutes]
[science fiction]
starring: Bill Pullman (President Thomas Whitmore), Will Smith (Captain
Steve Hiller), Jeff Goldblum (Dave Levinson), Margaret Coplin (Connie),
Randy Quaid (Russell Case), Robert Loggia (General Gray), Judd Hirsch
(Julius "Pops" Levinson), produced by Dean Devlin, written by Dean Devlin,
Roland Emmerich, directed by Roland Emmerich.

	Wow! I am so blown away by this film that I am nearly speechless.
Rarely does a film come along that is such an excellent blend of excellent
storytelling, suspense, and adventure and is able to synchronize it as
well as this film does. At times this movie becomes something more, it is
something that can unite everyone together and move an audience. This is
an excellent achievement in great storytelling, special effects, and most
of all its ability to take a rather complicated plot and make it so
breezy. The sensation and excitement are unlike anything I've ever
experienced since the "Star Wars" trilogy, and that's something even
remotely difficult to stand up to.
	The story starts out with some scientists realizing that something
huge is approaching the Earth and is giving off a radio code that is
reducing itself as it constantly recycles - a definite warning of some
type. It gets closer until they realize that it is actually a group of
huge UFOs approaching the Earth's atmosphere. Even though not much has
happened, the sense of intense excitement and suspense builds very
quickly, we are wondering who these aliens are and why they are here.
	When the ships finally enter the atmosphere, panic ensues and
President Thomas Whitmore (Pullman) addresses the country and tries to
calm everyone down. One of the scientists who first discovered the aliens
(Jeff Goldblum as Dave Levinson) has an ex-wife (Margaret Coplin as
Connie) who is an assistant to the president and is able to meet with him
and warn him of the countdown. Suddenly the suspense builds to a boil as
they realize that they are about to be obliterated. We get quite a cliche
escape scene and many terrifying devastation scenes, but the suspense,
combined with the excellent special effects are so unbelievable that it is
all breathtaking.
	What follows is a fantastic aerial battle between U.S. Marine F-18
Tomcats and alien ships, perhaps one of the single most exciting scenes I
have ever viewed. Just consider the situation for a minute, our own
military up against aliens from another planet - how cool is that? In most
stories of the genre we are so far behind in technology that we are
immediately incinerated, here we at least fight back, but do not win (at
first). 
	Will Smith also stars as one of those pilots - Captain Steve
Hiller, and he was perfectly cast for the role. His character is quite
hyper and yet easy going, he seems so right for the film, unlike a
character that could have been played by Harrison Ford or Tom Cruise. When
Hiller is psyched to "whoop E.T.'s ass" we know exactly how he feels, and
when he is actually able to shoot down one of the aliens he is still so
psyched that he cold cocks the alien and knocks him out! It does not seem
at all corny or trite at the time, the audience is just as psyched and as
scared as Hiller is, it works well and this is how the entire movie feels.
	We did not win because we cannot overpower their technology, will
these visitors conquer the planet or just destroy it? When the president
and the military all meet at super secret "Area 51" they realize that the
CIA had captured an alien ship 50 years ago and has learned much about
their anatomy and technology. This is the only real time that film starts
to become a little too formulated, just the basic idea of what is
happening reminds one of an Ed Wood film. We even get a mad scientist of
sorts, but is this a parody or something to be taken seriously?
	Like all other stories of the sort, Devlin and Emmerich's script
makes us wonder if there is any chance at all for victory, and of course
some kind of loophole is found, and of course it will take a super
exciting, cliffhanger scene to overcome the conflict but the payoff is
well worth it. At first we witnessed our boys lose to the aliens and it
was exciting just because of the mood, now that the entire world is united
together and actually winning it brings about a sense of courage, pride,
excitement and suspense.
	"Independence Day" isn't Shakespeare but it's still very
excellent, it might not be the most realistic story but I think that's the
point. We tend to take our movies too seriously today, if we just leave
our cynicism behind and use our imagination we'll experience something so
fantastic words will not be able to describe it. (7/7/96) (12/9/96) [other
films of this genre: the "Star Wars" trilogy, "The War Of The Worlds,"
"V," other films by Emmerich: "Stargate"]