Indepedence Day

Happy Independence Day everybody! Let’s celebrate by looking at Robert Emmerich’s 1996 film, “Independence Day.” Have you noticed that the opening to this film looks exactly like “A New Hope,” except for the spaceships firing at one another? Well on July 2, this mothership sends out huge daughterships, which look like flying saucers (which I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if they were), and they fly over some of Washington, D.C.’s most well-known places, like the Washington Monument and the White House. Like how all aliens might be well-known of doing, they even communicate by messing up the TV signals. Who may you ask that knows if these aliens are good or bad? Why Jeff Golblum of course, playing David Levinson, an MIT-graduate, who says these aliens are playing a “chess” game. I am not kidding, he even explains to his boss, Marty Gilbert, played by Harvey Fierstein, “It's like in chess: First, you strategically position your pieces and when the timing is right you strike. They're using this signal to synchronize their efforts and in 5 hours the countdown will be over.” When his boss asks, “And then what?” David’s response is, “Checkmate.” Really, I’ve never heard of anyone who has explained an alien attack like a game of chess. This is just bizarre. David, just because you play chess with your father, Julius, played by Judd Hirsch, doesn’t mean everything that happens is similar to a game of chess.

He does manage to warn President Thomas J. Whitmore, played by Bill Pullman, who you might remember as Lone Starr from Mel Brooks’ funniest work (in my opinion), “Spaceballs.” David gives this warning through a phone number that his ex-wife Constance Spano, played by Margaret Colin, who is a White House employee, apparently listed for emergencies. They gain entrance, warn the president, and escape through an Air Force One plane in time before the aliens blow everything up.

While the aliens are about to blow everything up, we see Captain Steven Hiller, played by Will Smith, getting jiggy with it with his girlfriend and exotic dancer, Jasmine Dubrow, played by rapper 50 Cent’s ex, Vivica A. Fox. He’s helping her raise her son, Dylan, played by Nicky Banks from that great 90’s sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Ross Bagley. Will Smith knows how to bring cool into every single one of his roles, doesn’t he? He flies with his fighter pilots to stop the aliens, but his friend Jimmy Widler, played by Harry Connick, Jr., gets killed. Why did Harry sign on for this movie, just because he had a role that he could die in? Did he not like the movie at all, that he decided to just sign on and get out as quick as possible? Hiller does manage to capture an alien when he crashes in the Grand Canyon. I do have to say, he greets the alien with one of the coolest lines he’s ever said in his films: “Welcome to Earth! Now that’s what I call a close encounter.”

On July 3, Air Force One lands at Area 51, where Major Mitchell, played by Adam Baldwin, is the commanding officer at. There Jasmine sees the President’s wife, First Lady Marilyn Whitmore, played by Mary McDonnell, who is seriously injured and she helps rush her to a hospital. Hiller drags the alien in his parachute, finds a bunch of RVs coming in his direction, and is picked up by Russell Casse, played by Randy Quaid, who says that he was abducted by aliens before, and is a drunk who isn’t loved by his children. When Hiller and the President meet and he tells him that he’s got an alien, they take that alien to Dr. Brackish Okun, played by Data from Star Trek The Next Generation, Brent Spiner. The alien mind controls him, but Major Mitchell kills him. Now an attack is planned. Also, the First Lady dies, which he only tells his daughter, Patricia, played by Mae Whitman. Does anyone find it insulting that she is called “Munchkin?” I understand that it’s her nickname, but she’s just a kid, there’s no need to say something like that to her regarding her height. Maybe it’s because she’s an adorable little kid that everyone calls her Munchkin with how sweet she is.

Finally comes July 4, where David is drunk until his dad comes in and has a talk with him, before saying to him to get off the floor or he’ll catch a cold. That gives David the idea to implant the infamous “Trojan Horse” virus on the ship and says they have to do that in order to blow up the ship. This looks like a job for Mr. Cool and a geeky computer scientist. General William Grey, who is the head of U.S. Space Command, played by Robert Loggia, tells them how long they have and what they need to do. Loggia modeled the character after generals of World War II, particularly George S. Patton. Also, the scientist fires the Secretary of Defense, Albert Nimzicki, played by James Rebhorn. The president gives a motivational speech, goes out to fight with his men along with Russell Casse, while his eldest son, Miguel, played by James Duval, watches on. Russell’s daughter, Alicia, is played by Lisa Jakub.

If you want to know if they win against the aliens, watch the film, I already gave too much of a synopsis. Final verdict: try watching this film, if you want, on Independence Day each year. It’s a fun popcorn movie, but doesn’t hold up today as well. There are obvious CG effects that you can point out in the film, the bright flashes between shots are annoying, and this is just human stereotypes fighting alien stereotypes. The characters are clichéd, and I guess you could say that there are a lot of plotholes, but there are some redeeming factors to this film. The explosions, spaceships, and Will Smith are cool.

Will Smith stated to James Lipton, "I love science fiction and a conspiracy theorist to no end. You see I get real good at acting to an X. There's a big X, and the monster's face is going to be right there. No, no, higher. A little lower than that. Ok, don't move! Don't move! And action. 'You monster!' It is light-years away from any type of performance, interaction, I mean, it is grueling. Special effects, because, there is no rhythm at all. And then the worst thing is that there is someone talking to you the entire time when you're doing special effects. 'And he moves to the left! Now he flew away fast!'"

Emmerich has announced that there will be two more films, making this a trilogy, calling them ID Forever Part I and ID Forever Part II, taking place 20 years after the original. Last month, it has been confirmed that Will Smith will not return because, according to Emmerich, “he’s too expensive.” Instead, Smith’s step-son will take over. However, Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum will return. Well, enjoy your Independence Day everybody, and make sure to go out and see some fireworks.