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shanster [ 7.0 ]
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Perfect metaphor for real life, where the Americans end up gutting it out, and leading a coalition of countries against a universal foe. If you don't like the egotistical American view, make this movie in Cuba.
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chapter11 [ 5.0 ]
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I think Will Smith has the opportunity to be palatable as an actor (I dug "Men In Black" and "Enemy of the State" quite a lot), but "Independence Day" isn't a good vehicle for him. It's just too big and dumb and annoyingly preachy for its own good. It's got its own peculiar entertainment value, I suppose, but the drama (like "Armageddon," a better movie, but one which also relied too heavily on its dramatics) falls completely flat. When Bill Pullman's big "inspiring" presidential speech is less stirring than Will Smith responding to alien fire with "aw, I know y'all ain't shootin' that green sh*t at me!", well.... that pretty much explains it.
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sumbich73 [ 7.0 ]
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This movie was a cool take on an alien invasion of the Earth and also the idea of something secret going on at Area 51. I thought it was imaginative, even if it was a bit thin plot-wise. Will Smith was his usual charming, likeable, comedic self... and he made a good team with (somewhat) nerdy, intelligent, but also likeable Jeff Goldblum. Although somewhat of a borderline pro-US propaganda fest (which I don't mind, but let's call a spade a spade here) this movie neatly touches on the 'what if' question, as well as suggesting that maybe we don't take our 4th of July seriously enough. I'm not sure if that's what the writer of this movie was aiming for, but I thought if he did it was effective enough.
Oh yeah the dude from Taxi (I think he's Jewish in real life as well) was entertaining. It was almost like an all-movie cameo but he played a good role as the damn cold truth about all the jargon that scientists and the military use.
The bottom line is that this movie is paper-thin in some areas, but it is a feel-good movie with some relatively fresh ideas. I liked it.
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Jeff_Wilder [ 7.5 ]
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In some ways, this was the Star Wars of the generation that grew up in the 90s. WHile I will defend Independece Day on the grounds that it works as an entertaining popcorn movie, part of me feels that it in some ways contributed to the marginalization of the character-driven independent cinema that was common for a while in the mid to late 1990s. As a blockbuster it's not in the top tier. Entertaining sure. But it's not a classic.
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traino [ 7.5 ]
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I like science fiction films like this - will smith is a good actor - funny and believable at the same time - one drawback of the film - Jeff G. (the other actor) can't spell his name - not believable.
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FireGod [ 8.0 ]
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I have seen and heard people say that this movie has bad acting, bad writing and bad everything except for special effects. Frankly I wasn't all that impressed with the special effects. I was impressed with the writing, directing and (believe it or not) acting. Bill Pullman's performance was outstanding and Will Smith, who always has a huge screen presence and intense charisma acted very well. All sci-fi/action flicks get tons of criticism for acting. Why? Because most of those people don't like sci-fi/action, that's why. Also because a retarded element of this world seems to dislike movies that have a big budget and sci-fi/action films often do. Independence Day has better acting than most films that are nominated for Oscars. Just because a film is boring enough and stage play like enough to be an Oscar contender doesn't mean it has good acting.
Many people who hate Independence Day do because it is a movie mostly about Americans who save the planet. The United States was not the only country who took out the smaller ships, but the people who gave the mother ship the virus were Americans and the story focussed on people in the United States. Well, guess what? It is MADE IN AMERICA, with American directors, writers, and actors. Just because the United States makes the most and the best movies doesn't mean that they have some kind of obligation to use a sort of affirmative action system and make sure that they produce enough movies that focus on heroes who are non-american. Do you think that any other country in the world focuses attention on heroes from countries other than their own as much as you seem to think the United States should? Give me a break, and grow up.
Maybe one day the Academy and others will start to give sci-fi films the respect they deserve. Perhaps they will look back at Independence Day and shake their heads at their closed-minded ignorance.
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Stitch [ 4.0 ]
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Overrated and how! The audience clapped enthusiastically at the end but I just sat there thinking, "So". I will give that the special effects are phenomenal and that I did laugh at some of the lines (Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum in particular) but I felt like I was being manipulated to feel patriotism or something and I found that truly insulting. Bill Pullman is one of my favorites but here he was severely miscast. Just once I'd like to see another country save the world.
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earlgrey [ 9.0 ]
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In an age where flag burning and patriotism is unpopular, this movie offers a breath of fresh air! Bill Pullman stars as the President who eventually rallies the troops around the world to defeat the ailiens, who wish to exploit Earth's natural resources. Brent Spiner (Star Trek, Next Generation) plays the eccentric Dr. Oken, who has been sequestered deep underground inside Area 51. This movie will strike a chord with your Your patriotic heart strings. God bless America!
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Love_Spoon [ 7.0 ]
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I saw Independence Day on the holiday weekend of 1996 with my wife (my fiancee, at the time...). She worked in a home for the mentally handicapped, so we took the whole gang down to the theater to see ID4. Eddie, a Down's syndrome patient who was hard of hearing, went right down to the front row to hear better. One of the funniest things I've ever seen in a theater was when the earthlings started destroying the invaders, Eddie's silhouette against the movie screen, arms raised in triumph and shouting congratulations to the earthlings. I'm sure the other movie-goers didn't appreciate the humor of the situation as much as I did.
As far as actually reviewing the film, I suppose it was a great use of special effects (like the thousands of other critics have said), and it was a fun, improbable, patriotic, somewhat corny movie to watch on a Saturday afternoon. I do think that Bill Pullman's presidential speech was quite inspiring in its "controlled strength under pressure" type of tone. Really quite good for an alien movie.
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kipfizh [ 7.0 ]
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One of Will Smith's better efforts, showing that he really should stick to acting instead of his lame brand of rapping. Could have been even better but for the nauseating vomit-inducing president speech.
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| Weighted Rating | : 6.8 |
| No. Ratings | : 208 | |
| No. Reviews | : 22 | |
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