Independence Day

Despite its shamelessly dumb plot, this classic crowd-pleasing blockbuster is perfect to watch on the Fourth of July. The writers, Dean Devlin & Roland Emmerich, originally wanted to pay tribute to the old alien invasion classics from Hollywood’s Golden Age while also combining those tropes with the modern style of a huge disaster film, and huge this movie is indeed. One of these spaceships hovers over all of New York City, encasing every inch of it under its own shadow before it ignites explosions across the streets. Once the destruction is over, the overwhelming aftermath is presented in all its glory, complete with the Statue of Liberty broken off its foundation. 

​​Then there’s the iconic shot of the White House being blown up. This shot was used to sell the movie when the trailer played during the Superbowl; everyone went so nuts over seeing the White House blow up that a new standard was set for all film trailers airing during the Superbowl from there on out. Yet all the more spectacular to watch beyond the destructive mayhem is the aliens themselves; their designs are quite scary with the concept of this smaller more vulnerable alien hidden inside a larger, much more imposing alien. But it’s the way the alien moves and the texture of its flesh that really sells its disturbing screen presence. Therefore, Independence Day certainly deserves a one-time watch to see some filmmakers simply having fun.

PG-13 (LSV)
Sci-fi/Action
2 hr. 25 min.

Watch it for FUN.
Watch it to feel HAPPY and AFRAID.