"Now that's a close encounter!"      

INDEPENDENCE DAY (PG-13) 

After months of pre-release hype, Independence Day is breaking all kinds of mid-week opening records. The plot isn't too hard to figure out--aliens have arrived, they want to take over the world, and we humans, outgunned and outwitted, have to find a way to save ourselves.

There are two things that stand out in this movie: the special effects and the pacing of the action. If you enjoy watching cars getting thrashed around, masses of people screaming and running for their lives, and cities getting blown up, then this is definitely a movie for you! The old cliche applies here: this movie is a rollercoaster ride, and for that it's a good one!  Of course, massive suspension of disbelief is required for optimum enjoyment...after all, when you're on a rollercoaster, you never ask "why"...

IMPRESSIONS

Cool Casting: Will Smith (Fresh Prince of Bel Air) as a whiz-kid fighter pilot who tries to save the day. Great one-liners!

Curious casting: Bill Pullman (While You Were Sleeping) as the President of the United States. I'm not a big fan of his, but he pulls this one off...

Favorite scene: they blew up the Empire State Building!

Most distressing scene: they blew up the First Interstate Bank building (what'll happen to my checking account?)

Question left unanswered: if those aliens are so sophisticated, how come they don't have anti-virus software?

Responses from cyberspace -- thanks for the input, folks!

countrylass25@aol.com gives this movie  stars: "This is one of the best movies I've ever seen! I loved it! I could watch this over and over. The casting was superb, as was the acting. I'd definitely give it five stars! :)" (2/24/01)

michaelbriscoe@hotmail.com gives this movie  star: " Another war won only by Americans - despite the presence of armed forces from most countries in the world. The dog was pretty cue though." (12/24/00)

David Rogers gives this movie  stars: "Allmost as good as Godzilla! Nice touch destroying the White House (if only Clinton was inside). PS...What the hell does the 4 in ID4 stand for? 4th of July?" (4/27/00)

jc116516@jcu.edu.au gives this movie  star: "I found this film to be very disapointing, even considering i habbitually avoid movie hype. The number of flaws in the plot left me breathless (city destoyed but first lady in helecopter at ground zero survives to say goodbye to hubby etc), i was also stunned by the sudden drop in piloting skills by the 'aliens' once their sheilds had been dropped by a computer virus (i wont even begin to go into the absurdity of a man made computer virus infecting a totaly alien technology....). Add to this one dimentional characters, and you have one of the most expensive turkies ever made, the only possible reason i can think of for someone to buy this movie is to burn it, far from hollywoods finest hour. " (11/10/99)

Piccolo gives this movie  stars: "Un-Original, too predicable, and Will Smith. It had potential, and Judd Hirsch. Where's the script?! Hype City. Behold! Aliens being nasty and effects that cost a lot! And that's all. Yeah right. I remember seeing the trailer for this and thinking "oooh, that looks awesome". How wrong I was. A bigger budget piece of crap there has not been. Well, except for Scream 2. And Godzilla. Maybe Titanic. And Thirteenth Floor. Oh, and of course Avengers. Oh yeah, Deep Impact, I Still Know..., Wing Commander, kay, so let's just say it was crap. In fact it seems to be that the better the trailer, the crappier the movie. Godzilla's trailer looked awesome. I should have remembered back to this film before plonking down seven bucks for that stinker, but I digress. Independence Day. The alien's are coming, and while the world waits to see if they're evil or pleasant, they prepare their evil plan. Big ass space ships move in, Jeff Goldblum, a cable TV technician figures out they're gonna invade. Smart-alec guy, that Jeff. Like it'd take a brain surgeon... Will Smith, an Air Force fly-guy, is the hero of the hour (as always) who, after the aliens level everything and its mother to Kingdom come, manages to get the rag tag bunch of survivors together and chock one back for the humans. There's nothing in this film to keep you happy, unless big ass effects, shallow story, suspension of all disbelief and some patriotic rah-rah is your thing. Goldblum has played the exact same character all the way back to The Big Chill. I guess he's what you might call a non-actor. Smith is still the Fresh Prince, kind of a younger Bryant Gumbel with abs, you know what to expect. Randy Quaid plays the alcoholic ex flying ace who suicides to off some alien dimwits, Bill Pullman plays the flying President. Sounds stupid? There's a reason. It is. If you like this, you're as gullible as you think. Star Trek: First Contact was better." (9/19/99)

captron@twave.net gives this movie  stars: "A great movie.....and no one takes their clothes off or has wild sex. Can't wait for a sequel!!!" (8/24/99)

jessfrogy@prodigy.net gives this movie  stars: "The movie i thought ok its not gonna win the oscar but give it some credit it was exciting the special effects were really hardand it was really funny.But can u tell me how when the whole city of L.A. was destroyed why there were still palm trees standing" (8/19/99)

Stupidhead gives this movie  stars: "Okay, the FX were great, the rest of the movie was crap. (Note to Fuzzydog: why do you have to glitch words like shit and ass? Why?)" (8/3/99)

Klobb gives this movie  stars: "ID4, ID4, ID4... all boring 1-liners and hype makes a hard day suck... Good on the screen, sh** in your own home. Thoughtless, plotless and utterly slaggin' idiotic. Period." (6/24/99)

ShadowRaider_98@yahoo.com gives this movie  stars: "Less fun than Star Trek, Star Wars and Babylon 5" (6/24/99)

ID4.AlienZ@aol.com gives this movie  stars: "This was a really great movie. Very funny and very entertaining with really good special effects. The cast was great and the actors did a good job. Constructive criticism: the aliens should have won. Talk about the ultimate surprise ending!" (11/21/98)

LilyGirl23@aol.com gives this movie  stars: "I thought it was one of the best pictures I'd ever seen. The casting was perfect and I hope they do make a sequel." (10/15/98)

moejoe172@aol.com gives this movie  stars: "This movie is one of my all time favorites. All of the actors did a great job and the effects were incredible. The music was also incredible. It really set the mood of the scene. The best actor was Mr. Levinson, with his lines like, "If I had known I was gonna meet the president, I woulda worn a tie. look at me, I look like a schlamiel!" My second favorite was David. He was great. This movie is the best." (7/16/98)

darkclaw@mailcity.com gives this movie  stars: "Once again, nothing's perfect, but this is extremely close.. uhh.. Well, the casting was good, but the whole Connie/David Levinson divorced, but get back together thing was a bit cheesy, if you know what i mean. I think they only did that so they couldn't kill him off, or something. I'm glad they didn't though, and, if there's a sequel, as there are many rumours about, i hope he's in it, along with the others." (4/21/98)

David gives this movie  stars: "What a huge disappointment! I seriously cannot believe the hype on this movie. It wasn't anything special. Besides, Will Smith, the rest of it was cheesy, corny one liners that weren't needed, and goodness (!) I hate Bill Pullman! He cannot act! The special effects were good, but not as good as everyone reckons. The flop of '96 , in my books!" (2/3/98)

wogster@usa.net gives this movie  stars: "Being a techno-phreak and a ham radio operator, I wondered why the "aliens" needed our satelites to synchronize their attack and then at the end were able to receive the virus from the mother ship with no problem??? Seems to contradict the technological basis of the whole movie. Oh well. Good action, though. Worth seeing it over again just for the action. Great casting, too, by the way..." (1/4/98)

And1Champ@aol.com gives this movie  stars: "Great speech by Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum did all right but not that funny but a parts he was freaking funny. Will Smith was funny but gets kinda boring sometimes. The president was mean and ignorant, the movie gets boring at alot of parts. Same ol same ol, war fighting, air fighting in every scene. But it was pretty good. I'd say I can't imagine how Jeff Goldblum could go from a super movie like Jurassic Park to ID4. Oh well, good story, gets boring some spots, but it's worth the show." (6/27/97)

Adam gives this movie a  rating.  "The person on this page who gave his 2 1/2 star judgment to Dr. Moreau gave ID4 4-stars.  He or she says sarcastically 'The animals revolt some creatures die and then the end. Good story, huh?'  Well in ID4 the people revolt some people die then END OF STORY and vice versa for the aliens.  Neat story huh?"  (The person on this page who gave his 2 1/2 star judgment to Dr. Moreau is a he, and he thinks Adam is trying to tell him something...anyways...)