With a $71 million budget and mind-blowing special effects, INDEPENDENCE DAY is a grand, high-tech throwback to such films of the 1950s as THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and WAR OF THE WORLDS. Here, aliens, in numerous gargantuan spaceships, arrive without warning and hover over the world's most important cities, creating global panic. The nasty visitors use death rays to blow New York, Washington D.C, and Los Angeles to smithereens. A handful of plucky Americans, including the Clinton-esque President (Bill Pullman), a gung-ho fighter pilot (Will Smith) and a computer geek named David (Jeff Goldblum), attempt to devise a strategy against the invaders.
On July 4th, their risky plan is put into effect, as dozens of fighter pilots (including the President) wage an assault on the spaceships. However, their success (and the fate of the world) depends on David, who is attempting to disarm the aliens's mothership.
INDEPENDENCE DAY is a pyrotechnic, futuristic, disaster, action mondo-adventure about aliens attacking Earth and humans giving them the big boot. When mountain-sized flying saucers open fire on the world's cities, a ragtag band of colorful characters sets out to bring the alien critters to their pseudopodic knees. Borrowing liberally from science fiction classics like WAR OF THE WORLDS and THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and a host of disaster movies from TOWERING INFERNO to METEOR, ID4 maintains a mindless mission to entertain with dazzling special effects and unabashed feel-good charm. Academy Award Nominations: Best Sound, Best Visual Effects. Academy Awards: Best Visual Effects.
Released theatrically in the USA Tuesday July 2, 1996.
Color by DeLuxe; in Super 35 Panavision widescreen; digitally mastered in THX.
"Independence Day" earned $100 million at the box office in just seven days -- which is faster than any other film ever made.
Additional cast: Ross Bagley (Dylan).
Additional credits: Pamela Klamer and Julia Levine (set design); Terry Clotiaux (visual effects producer); Joseph Viskocil (miniature pyrotechnics/mechanical effects supervisor); Michael Joyce (model shop supervisor); Peter Winther (associate producer) and Jonathan Taylor (second unit camera).
Excerpt: "You know how I'm always trying to save the planet? Well, here's my chance." -- David Levinson (JEFF GOLDBLUM)
"What's the rush? You think we'll get to Washington, it won't be there?" -- Julius Levinson (JUDD HIRSCH), to his son, David Levinson (JEFF GOLDBLUM), while the two frantically drive to the capital city.
"Welcome to Earth." -- Capt. Steven Hiller (Will Smith), after punching the daylights out of an alien who has crash-landed in Arizona.
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Single Side - Dual Layer
Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
Letterbox - 2.35
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Dolby Digital Surround - English, French
Additional Release Material:
Audio Commentary:
1. Roland Emmerich - Director, Dean Devlin - Producer
2. Volker Engel, Douglas Smith - Special Effects Supervisors
Director of Photography
Karl Walter Lindenlaub: Director of Photography
Production Designer
Oliver Scholl:
Production Designer
Patrick Tatopoulos: Creature Designer, SILENT HILL (2006)
Costume Designer
Joseph A. Porro: Costume Designer, ULTRAVIOLET (2006)
Review 1:
"...INDEPENDENCE DAY fulfills the promise of the movies: to deliver the audience out of the everyday and into the sensational..."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.53-4 08/01/1996
Review 2:
"...A spectacularly scaled mix of '50s-style alien invader science fiction, '70s disaster epics and all-season gung-ho military actioners..."
Source: Variety
07/01/1996
Review 3:
"...Witty, of-the-moment fun." -- Rating: B+
Source: Entertainment Weekly
p.44 08/09/1996
Review 4:
"...For fun, fright and thrills, there's not a wilder joy ride around..."
Source: Rolling Stone
p.68 08/08/1996
Review 5:
"...A rousing state-of-the-art cartoon capped by an aerial-combat climax..."
Source: USA Today
p.1D 07/02/1996
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