RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Independence Day
Independence Day

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Independence Day (1996)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
52 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:78

Fresh:41

Rotten:37

Average Rating:4.2/10

Consensus: The plot is thin and so is character development, but as a thrilling, spectacle-filled summer movie, Independence Day delivers.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for sci-fi destruction and violence.

Runtime: 2 hrs 33 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Theatrical Release:Jul 3, 1996 Wide

Synopsis: 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,... 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. [More]

Starring: Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Margaret Colin

Starring: Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Margaret Colin, Judd Hirsch, Randy Quaid, Vivica A. Fox, Mary McDonnell, James Rebhorn, Harvey Fierstein, Robert Loggia, Harry Connick, James Duval

Director: Roland Emmerich

Director: Roland Emmerich
Screenwriter: Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich
Composer: David Arnold
Producer: Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich, Ute Emmerich, William Fay, Lincoln D. Hiatt, Peter Winther
Studio: 20th Century Fox

[See More Credits]

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Sep 23, 2008

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Independence Day

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
03/12/09
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: DVDFuture.com | comment Comment
10/18/08
R. L. Shaffer
R. L. Shaffer
DVDFuture.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: DVDActive.com | comment Comment
07/09/08
Chris Gould
Chris Gould
DVDActive.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: DVD Authority.com | comment Comment
03/19/08
Fusion3600
Fusion3600
DVD Authority.com

Where else but America can a drunken crop-duster become a hero by pulling a Slim Pickens and riding a nuclear payload to its target? What a country!

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
03/10/08
James Plath
James Plath
DVDTown.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: DVD Beaver | comment Comment
02/14/08
DVD Beaver
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Exclaim! | comment Comment
08/03/07
Exclaim!
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

In true summer-movie style, the plot is pretty preposterous ... but that doesn't matter. Independence Day succeeds as mainstream entertainment.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
09/01/06
Betsy Bozdech
Betsy Bozdech
Reel.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Movieman's Guide to the Movies | comment Comment
07/10/05
Brian Oliver
Brian Oliver
Movieman's Guide to the Movies

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Movie Gazette | comment Comment
05/06/05
Gary Panton
Gary Panton
Movie Gazette

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: The Cinema Source | comment Comment
08/14/04
Peter Hager
Peter Hager
The Cinema Source

If you haven’t bought the DVD by now, there’s no new reason to rush out and get it now.

Full Review Source: CinemaBlend.com | comment Comment
05/24/04
Rafe Telsch
Rafe Telsch
CinemaBlend.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Upcomingdiscs.Com | comment Comment
01/24/04
Gino Sassani
Gino Sassani
Upcomingdiscs.Com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
01/21/04
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Espace DVD | comment Comment
01/20/04
John Mayere
John Mayere
Espace DVD

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: GamePro | comment Comment
12/10/03
Star Dingo
Star Dingo
GamePro
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Dvdrama | comment Comment
07/31/03
Dvdrama
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: DVD Review.net | comment Comment
06/19/03
DVD Review.net
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: DVD.net.au | comment Comment
07/23/02
Steve Koukoulas
Steve Koukoulas
DVD.net.au
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/05/02
Boxoffice Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
1 2 >> >|
all

Latest News for Independence Day

November 16, 2009: Emmerich Talks Independence Day Sequels Opens in new window
All these years later, Roland Emmerich is thinking about returning to "Independence Day" -- and not with just one sequel, either. How does "ID4-Ever" sound to you? More...

November 02, 2009: 12 Facts About 2012
Did the Mayans really predict, all those centuries ago, that Earth would be visited by planetary apocalypse three years from now? It's open to interpretation -- Roland Emmerich... More...

March 03, 2009: Five Favourite Films with Bill Pullman
Few can forget Bill Pullman's rousing speech as the US president in Independence Day, but it's only one of a long string of vast and diverse roles that have seen him cast as... More...

March 06, 2008: Box Office Guru Preview: Ancient Action Arrives Again
For its third chart-topper of the year, Warner Bros. is going back in time with its ancient adventure 10,000 BC which aims to revitalize a box office on the verge of extinction. More...

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
77% 77% The Hangover
88% 88% Inglourious Basterds
66% 66% Public Enemies
24% 24% G-Force
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
82% 82% Paranormal Activity
57% 57% 9
44% 44% Jennifer's Body
58% 58% A Perfect Getaway

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Critics' Best & Worst

Critics' Best & Worst

RT's critic friends offer their choices

Total Recall

Total Recall

We list 10 New Year's Eve-themed films!

2010 Movie Preview

2010 Movie Preview

Find next year's top releases!

Shrek is Back!

Shrek is Back!

Celebrate Shrek's return with this trailer!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Weekly Ketchup: Annual Ketchup Edition
26
  • Harold Ramis Discusses Filmography, Teases Ghostbusters 3 Source: Heeb Magazine
12
  • National Film Registry Adds 2009 Selections Source: Hollywood Reporter
9
  • New Moon Tops Moviefone's 2009 List Source: Hollywood Reporter
29
  • Star Trek Tops 2009's Most-Pirated Movies List Source: Hollywood Reporter
19
  • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
111
  • New Toy Story 3 Clip, Photos Posted Source: Slashfilm
26
  • Danny Trejo Talks Machete, Possible Sequels Source: Collider.com
14
  • It's Official: Jackass 3-D Coming in 2010 Source: Collider.com
16
  • Bryan Singer Returning to X-Men for First Class Source: Superhero Hype
102
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Avatar, Sherlock, and Alvin Team Up To Break Records
373
  • Critics Choose Must-Sees and Worsts of 2009
230
  • RT Editors Choose Their Favorite Films of 2009!
139
  • RT's Ten Most Popular Movies of 2009
93
  • Total Recall: New Year's Eve Movies
42
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: 9 and Paranormal Activity
31
  • Critics Consensus: The White Ribbon Is Certified Fresh
23
  • Five Favorites of the Five Favorite Films of 2009
22
  • Friday Harvest: Eclipse, Robin Hood, and more!
14
  • Weekly Ketchup: Annual Ketchup Edition
13
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
74
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
22
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
24
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
16
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
24
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Independence Day at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Independence Day at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
Best Nude Scenes of the Year
Best Nude Scenes of the Year External Link

Moviefone lists their top ten nude scenes from film in 2009.

Hollywood.com's Best of 2009
Hollywood.com's Best of 2009 External Link

Thomas Leupp offers us Hollywood.com's take on the best films of the year.

Best Dozen of the Decade
Best Dozen of the Decade External Link

Last week, MSN gave us their top 09 films. Now see what their favorites of the decade are!

Top 10 Movies of 2009
Top 10 Movies of 2009 External Link

TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.

Top 20 of the Decade
Top 20 of the Decade External Link

Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo
About Us | Advertise | Contact Us | Press | Careers
IGN | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | Direct2Drive | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Game Sites | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | GIGA.DE | What They Play | Battlefield Heroes
By continuing past this page, and by your continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2010, IGN Entertainment, Inc. | Support | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! RSS Feeds
IGN’s enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA.
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.