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Independence Day

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Independence Day (1996)

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Reviews Counted:54

Fresh:33

Rotten:21

Average Rating:6.3/10

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]

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Release:

Sep 23, 2008

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Reviews for Independence Day

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1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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Independence Day backs up the commonly-heard claim that movie success often has little to do with a good story and compelling characters and everything to do with big stars, big production values and good timing.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
01/01/00
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

A gasping, bloated roller-coaster ride that veers from scenes of truly awesome destruction to stretches of numbingly bad melodrama and back again.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle

The build up is terrific, with enormous spaceships emerging from the clouds to hover silently over the world's major cities.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/17/01
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
BBC

Insanely pompous and brilliantly exhilarating in equal measure.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
03/05/08
Channel 4 Film

The earnestness, the effects, and the notion of a whole world forgetting its differences to defeat a common foe carry a certain charm.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
03/05/08
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The aliens, when we finally see them, are a serious disappointment; couldn't they think of anything more interesting than octopus men?

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 3 Comments
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinematter | comment Comment
01/01/00
Madeleine Williams
Madeleine Williams
Cinematter

Independence Day Restores Order to the Millennium.

Full Review Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul | comment Comment
09/01/09
Rob Nelson
Rob Nelson
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

Splendidly cheesy entertainment.

Full Review Source: CNN.com | comment Comment
03/05/08
Carol Buckland
Carol Buckland
CNN.com

No one who wants to see this movie needs me to recommend it to them, but if anyone wants to know, I say stay home and rent one of those other movies on video.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment 1 Comment
02/17/07
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Like cotton candy it's a high caloric treat that's always fun for the taste buds but little else.

Full Review Source: Critics Inc./America Online | comment Comment
05/14/01
Brandon Judell
Brandon Judell
Critics Inc./America Online

What's truly amazing about Independence Day is that it moves so quickly, has such a huge 'Wow!' factor in terms of special effects and is loaded with so much humor and so many amusing characters that even purists won't complain.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
01/01/00
Susan Stark
Susan Stark
Detroit News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...made up of bits and pieces of every sci-fi flick ever made. I loved it.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

At least Mars Attacks tried to be funny.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Oz
Oz
eFilmCritic.com

Forget government conspiracies about aliens -- what about the entertainment media's conspiracy to persuade America that this movie doesn't suck?

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment 6 Comments
08/13/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

Independence Day is a throwback to traditional entertainment with an old-fashioned, gung-ho good time thrilled up by 90s-style state-of-the-art technology.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Angie Errigo
Angie Errigo
Empire Magazine

It's the first futuristic disaster movie that's as cute as a button. Which, when all the special effects blow over, is what we Americans like in a monster hit.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
03/05/08
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Basically, this is almost perfect realization of the movie you eagerly anticipated when, as a kid, you saw some poster or coming attractions trailer for a 1950s-style alien invasion movie ...

Full Review Source: ESplatter | comment Comment
07/07/08
Steve Biodrowski
Steve Biodrowski
ESplatter

In space, no one can hear a frying Houstonian scream.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
03/08/02
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com
 
 
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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...

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