Independence Day (film)

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Independence Day

Independence Day movie poster
Directed by Roland Emmerich
Produced by Dean Devlin
Written by Dean Devlin
Roland Emmerich
Starring Jeff Goldblum
Will Smith
Bill Pullman
Margaret Colin
Vivica A. Fox
Judd Hirsch
Mary McDonnell
Robert Loggia
Randy Quaid
Music by David Arnold
Cinematography Karl Walter Lindenlaub
Editing by David Brenner
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s) Flag of the United States July 3, 1996
Running time 145 min. (Theatrical)
153 min. (Director's cut)
Country Flag of the United States United States
Language English
Budget $75 million,[1] though this has been disputed to $71 million[2]
Gross revenue Domestic:
$306,169,268[3]
Worldwide: $816,969,268
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Independence Day (also known as its promotional abbreviation ID4) is an Academy Award winning science fiction film directed by Roland Emmerich. The film's plot is about an attempted alien invasion of Earth.

The film's success was partially credited to an extensive marketing campaign which began in the United States with a dramatic commercial during the Super Bowl XXX.[4] It is the first movie to advertise during Super Bowls.[5] Fox spent $1.3 million to promote the film during the Super Bowl.[6]

The movie was scheduled for release on July 3, 1996,[citation needed] but due to the high level of anticipation for the film, many theaters began showing it on the evening of July 2, 1996,[citation needed] the same day the action in the film begins. The movie's total worldwide gross was $816,969,268 - the 18th highest worldwide gross for a movie all-time, and rated the 49th best sci-fi movie of all time.[7]

Contents

When Earth comes under attack from an advanced extraterrestrial species, the survivors must band together to repel the invaders.

On July 2, an alien mothership enters orbit around Earth, deploying several dozen smaller spacecraft to hover over many of the world's major cities. Satellite transmissions from the craft are discovered, by scientist David Levinson (Goldblum), to be a timer which he believes is a countdown to a coordinated attack by the aliens. Having made his way to the White House with his father, he warns President Thomas J. Whitmore (Pullman) of the impending attack. After three US Air Force helicopters are shot down by an alien spacecraft while attempting to establish communications, the president orders the evacuation of affected cities. Before the countdown reaches zero, he flees the White House aboard Air Force One with his staff and Levinson. At zero point, the hovering alien spacecraft open fire upon their targets with advanced directed-energy weapons, incinerating entire cities and killing millions.

One of the alien ships using force fields to fend off missiles fired from American aircraft.
One of the alien ships using force fields to fend off missiles fired from American aircraft.

The United States counterattack is coordinated from El Toro and sees the alien spacecraft assaulted by Marine Corps fighter aircraft. The attacks are useless, as both the larger craft and individual fighters launched from within are protected by seemingly-impenetrable force fields. After leading his unit of fighter pilots in an attack against the aliens, Captain Steven Hiller (Smith) is involved in a dogfight with an alien fighter which sees both crash in the desert. Having parachuted to safety, Hiller subdues and captures the injured alien. As the El Toro airbase has since been destroyed, Hiller takes the alien in the direction of the nearby Area 51 base, where the president and his remaining staff have also landed. There, they discover a top secret facility housing a captured alien fighter and three alien bodies recovered from Roswell in 1947.

When lead scientist Dr. Brackish Okun (Spiner) examines the new alien specimen, it attempts escape and takes control of his mind. When questioned by President Whitmore, through a telepathic connection it reveals that its species travels from planet to planet, destroying all life and harvesting the planet's natural resources, before moving on to the next conquest. The alien attempts a psychic attack against Whitmore and is killed by military personnel. Whitmore orders a nuclear attack on one of the larger alien spacecraft which is hovering over a by-now-evacuated Houston, but as the craft is still protected by its force shield, the attack fails.

The alien fighter approaches the mothership.
The alien fighter approaches the mothership.

Levinson devises a plan to gain access to the interior of the alien mothership in space in order to introduce a computer virus and plant a nuclear device on board. This, it is hoped, will cause the shields of the Earth-based alien craft to fail long enough for the human resistance to destroy them. Hiller volunteers to fly the captured alien fighter and Levinson accompanies him to upload the virus. With satellite communications knocked out, the Americans use morse code to coordinate an attack with the remaining air forces around the world, timed to occur when the invaders' shields are set to fail.

With the successful implantation of the virus, President Whitmore leads the US fighter jets against an alien spacecraft on approach to Area 51. The attack is initially unsuccessful and the fighters soon exhaust their supply of missiles. The underside of the alien craft opens up as its primary weapon of mass destruction is prepared to fire on the base. Russell Casse (Quaid) finds that he possesses the one remaining missile. The firing mechanism damaged, he pilots his jet into the opening in a kamikaze attack. The ensuing explosion causes a chain reaction which destroys the alien spacecraft. Human resistance forces around the world use the same weak point to destroy the remainder of the alien ships, while the nuclear device planted by Hiller and Levinson destroys the alien mothership. Hiller and Levinson escape unharmed, crash-landing their captured alien fighter in the desert close to Area 51.

  • Will Smith as Captain Steven Hiller; US Marine Corps F/A-18C pilot at the forefront of the human resistance counter-offensive, Hiller's ambition before the alien attack is to join NASA's astronaut training programme.
  • Bill Pullman as President Thomas J. Whitmore; former Persian Gulf War fighter pilot and current President of the United States.
  • Jeff Goldblum as David Levinson; an MIT-educated scientist working as a senior manager for a cable television company who discovers the aliens' invasion plot and formulates a plan to defeat them.
  • Judd Hirsch as Julius Levinson; Jewish immigrant and widowed father of David Levinson.
  • Mary McDonnell as First Lady Marilyn Whitmore; the wife of President Whitmore who is wounded while fleeing the destruction of Los Angeles, later dying of her injuries.
  • Margaret Colin as Constance Spano; the White House Communications Director and David Levinson's ex-wife, she divorced David because of his lack of ambition. Reunited during the attack, they reconcile their differences and remarry.
  • Vivica A. Fox as Jasmine Dubrow; an exotic dancer and girlfriend of Steven Hiller, the two marry shortly before he leaves on his mission to disable the alien mothership.
  • Randy Quaid as Russel Casse; an alcoholic crop duster and veteran pilot of the Vietnam War who claims to have been a former alien abductee, Casse is ridiculed by his neighbours and held in contempt by his son until the alien attack, when he sacrifices his life to destroy the alien spacecraft hovering over Area 51.
  • Brent Spiner as Dr. Brackish Okun; the chief scientist at Area 51 in charge of investigating the aliens, later killed by an alien captured by Steven Hiller.
  • Harry Connick, Jr. as Captain Jimmy Wilder; a US Marine Corps pilot and best friend of Steven Hiller, killed while fleeing a failed attack on an alien spacecraft.
  • Robert Loggia as General William Grey; the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
  • James Rebhorn as Albert Nimziki; the Secretary of Defense and a former CIA officer, later fired by President Whitmore.

The idea for the film came when Emmerich and Devlin were at a bar mitzvah for Emmerich's sister-in-law's child. A rabbi asked if Emmerich believed in aliens. He said he didn't, then the rabbi said "What if you wake up one day and see a massive spaceship the size of a city overhead?" Emmerich turned to Devlin and said "I think I have an idea for our next film".[8]

The name in its promotion ID4 was chosen due to legal troubles over using the title Independence Day.[9]

The US Army allowed the production crew to film in Nevada and they helped them with anything they required. The crew then told the army that they wanted to film inside Area 51. The army rejected this and cancelled them filming near the base.

The film was shot in United States, Kenya, Egypt, Iceland, Sweden and Australia.

The score of the movie was composed by David Arnold, performed, conducted and arranged by Nicholas Dodd. Arnold won BMI Film & TV Award,[10] and Grammy Award.[10] The CD was released by BMG Classics, one (or two[11]) day before the movie was released.[12]

Author Stephen Molstad wrote a tie-in novel to help promote the film shortly before its release in the summer of 1996.[citation needed] The novel goes into further detail on the characters, situations, and overall concept that the film lacked.

Following the success of the film, a prequel novel entitled Independence Day: Silent Zone was written by Emmerich, Devlin, and Molstad in February 1998.[13] The novel is set in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and details the early career of Dr. Brackish Okun.[14] The novel goes into much detail on the aliens' technology and goes into even further detail of the crash at Roswell, New Mexico. Okun discovers that a second craft crashed in a part of Mexico nicknamed the "Silent Zone." Future Secretary of Defense Albert Nimziki has a small role in the novel as the director of the CIA.

Molstad wrote a third novel, Independence Day: War in the Desert in July 1999.[citation needed] The novel is both a midquel and sequel to the film. Set in Saudi Arabia on July 3, Captain Reg Cummins of the RAF and many of his fellow pilots lead a successful attack on one of the many "city destroyers." The novel mainly deals with Cummins and his pilots fighting a ground war with aliens that survived the destruction of their ship, which the characters infiltrated earlier in the novel to dispose of any survivors. The novel also goes into detail of the aliens' psychic abilities, their use of ground vehicles, their hand-held weapons, and also contains a subplot of a blooming relationship between Cummins and a Saudi noble's daughter. Cummins and Colonel Thompson are the only characters from the film to be featured in this novel (they being the two British pilots briefly seen receiving the Morse code message); however, President Whitmore is mentioned.

Right after the success of Independence Day, it was considered that these novels should be made into movies, but the idea was scrapped.[citation needed]


Ratings
Australia:  PG
Canada:  PG
Chile:  TE
Finland:  K-12
France:  U
Germany:  12
Iceland:  12
India:  U/A
Ireland:  PG
Italy:  T
Netherlands:  AL
Norway:  11
Peru:  14
Portugal:  M/12
Singapore:  PG
South Korea:  All
Spain:  7
Sweden:  11
United Kingdom:  12
United States:  PG-13

  • Domestic Total Gross: $306,169,268[1]
  • Foreign: $510,800,000[1]
  • Worldwide: $816,969,268[1]

Independence Day took £6.8 million at the box office during its opening weekend in the UK.[15]

One factor of The box office success of Independence Day is due to the heavy marketing campaign behind it.[16]

Independence Day is ranked as fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 63% positive rating, with 19 out of 30 critics giving it positive reviews.[17] It has a 59% on Metacritic.[18]


Many viewers felt that the main plot was simply a cursory re-telling of the H. G. Wells novella The War of the Worlds, after lacing it with contemporary social and environmental issues, and packaging it with "eye-popping" special effects.[19] The primary plot twist between the two is that a man-made computer virus is substituted for a naturally-occurring disease as the driving factor in defeating the marauding aliens, promoting the concept that man has more direct control over the outcome of the desperate situation than in Wells' original story. However, the remainder of the plots are nearly identical: earthly military technology is largely ineffective in resisting the invading aliens; the aliens' primary purpose in invading Earth is to harvest resources from the planet (either humans as food in H. G. Wells' original story, or natural resources in this adaptation); and once the aliens are defeated, humanity becomes united through their struggle against a common foe. Even a minor plot point where a primary character is unexpectedly re-united with his wife (estranged in this adaptation, separated by the chaos created by the invading aliens in H. G. Wells' original) is captured by both stories.

The patriotic overtones of the film were widely criticized by foreign reviewers. Movie Review UK described the film as "A mish-mash of elements from a wide variety of alien invasion movies and gung-ho American jingoism".[20]

Bill Pullman's pre-battle speech, in which he states that victory in the coming war would see the entire world henceforth describe July 4 as its "independence day", was described as the "the most jaw-droppingly pompous soliloquy ever delivered in a mainstream Hollywood movie" in a BBCi review.[21]

The movie was nominated for the Academy Award for Sound,[22] and a Saturn Award for Best Director, Best Science Fiction Film, Best Special Effects, Best Actor for Jeff Goldblum, Best Actor for Will Smith, Best Costumes, Best Music, Best Performance by a Younger Actor for James Duval, Best Supporting Actor for Brent Spiner, Best Supporting Actress for Vivica A. Fox, and Best Writer.[10][23] It also was nominated for a C.A.S. Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Feature Film",[10][24] and a MTV Movie Award for Best Action Sequence, Best Breakthrough Performance for Vivica A. Fox, Best Male Performance for Will Smith, and Best Movie.[10] For its short comings, it was nominated for a Razzie Award for "Worst Written Film Grossing Over $100 Million".[25]

  • The Katina level of the video game Star Fox 64 is a homage to the climactic battle scene of the movie, featuring squadrons of friendly aircraft dog-fighting swarms of alien ships beneath a giant saucer-shaped mothership.[26][27] The mothership also destroys the base by shooting a laser beam into it, like the movie, and is destroyed by blowing up the laser emitter.
  • In the computer game Supreme Commander, one of the super units, the Aeon CZAR, bears resemblance to the alien destroyer depicted in Independence Day and has a similar city destroying energy beam similar to the movie.[28][29]
  • The movie, Returner was influenced by Independence Day.
  • In the game Metal Slug 2, the ending is a parody of Independence Day, including the scene when Russel Casse crashes his plane against the alien spacecraft.

on August 4, 1996, BBC Radio 1 broadcast the one-hour play Independence Day UK, written, produced, and directed by Dirk Maggs, a spin-off depicting the alien invasion from a British perspective.[30] None of the original cast were present. Dean Devlin gave Maggs permission to produce an original version, on condition that he did not reveal certain details of the movie's plot and that the British were not depicted as saving the day.[30] Devlin was credited as "Creative Consultant". It won the 1996 Talkie for Best Production.[31]

Independence Day UK was set up to be similar to the 1938 radio broadcast of The War Of The Worlds; the first 20 minutes were set as being live. It did not stir panic as War of the Worlds, but there were a few phone calls to the BBC Duty Office.[30]

The British setting was more an excuse to make fun of Hollywood action heroes. They had one character say at the end "I bet the Americans claim the credit for this!"[30] Maggs achieved authentic aircraft and cockpit interior sounds by recording at the an Royal Air Force RAF base.[30]

An Independence Day video game was released in 1997 for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn, PC, and Mobile.

The theatrical version of the film was 2 hours, 25 minutes. A Special Edition, released on DVD, contains an additional nine minutes of footage. Much of the reincorporated material involves the Casse family. For example, it reveals that Troy is chronically ill (in the theatrical cut, he just throws up along the way) and receives treatment in the Area 51 infirmary upon arrival. The extended version of the movie has also been aired on television.

Devlin told Sci-fi Wire that he and Emmerich were planning a sequel to Independence Day. "Roland and I, we're back to work on doing a sequel to Independence Day," Devlin said in an interview. "I think we finally found a story that we wanted to tell."[32] Devlin hoped to get as many of the original cast as possible. He refused to comment on the sequel's plot. A majority of the cast stated that they would like to star in the sequel.[33] Devlin wanted Will to return because he was great to work with: "He was the guy who was willing to stand out in the sun, in baking heat, and be his own stand-in while the cameras were being set up. He was such a trooper during the making of the picture."[33]

At the 28th annual Saturn Awards, Devlin revealed that the plot's story was influenced by the September 11th attacks.[34] After the attacks, Davlin felt that "there was something in the culture that reminded us of the message of the movie and how people came together. We were deeply effected about that. We were asked a lot of questions in the press in relation to seeing those images. So it spurred a lot of discussion, and out of those discussions came a way of doing the film. And we move from that."[34] He later told Scifiwire,[35] that it "started because people were asking us about images that were fantasy images that then looked so frightening real in the [wake of] horrible events that took place."

Devlin also felt that 9/11 was parallel to Independence Day;[33] "how the world came together in the aftermath". Oddly, when George W. Bush was talking about disclosed details of the failed Al Qaeda plot to fly a plane into the tallest building in Los Angeles, Fox aired numerous images from Independence Day, showing the reported target of the attack, the Library Tower, now known as the U.S. Bank Tower.[36]

A year later, Devlin told Sci-fi Wire that he and Emmerich were working on the script.[37] If the script did not turn up as good as they desired, they'll "bury it". He still declined to discuss the plot, but added that the quality of the screenplay was a key factor in getting the original cast.

  1. ^ a b c d INDEPENDENCE DAY Box office mojo.com. Retrieved on September 25, 2007
  2. ^ Independence Day (1996) Synopsis Rotten tomatoes. Retrieved on September 25, 2007
    'With a $71 million budget and mind-blowing special effects, ..."
  3. ^ Box Office Mojo: Independence Day (Retrieved on December 14, 2007)
  4. ^ Independence Day: 5 Star Collection (1996) DVD movie guide Retrieved on October 1, 2007
  5. ^ Films pass on Super Bowl: Only two studios lock down game time Variety.com. Retrieved on October 1, 2007
  6. ^ UW-Eau Claire Marketing Researchers Study Super Bowl Ad Successes University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Retrieved on October 1, 2007
  7. ^ THE OFCS TOP 100 SCI-FI LIST Online Film Critics Society. Retrieved on October 5, 2007
  8. ^ DVD commentary
  9. ^ Trivia for Independence Day (1996) IMDb. Retrieved on October 16, 2007
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Awards for Independence Day IMDb. Retrieved on September 29, 2007
  11. ^ Independence Day Filmtracks Editorial Review: Filmtracks. Retrieved on October 9, 2007
  12. ^ Independence Day: Original Soundtrack Recording Product Details Amazon.com. Retrieved on October 5, 2007
  13. ^ Independence Day: Silent Zone Product Details Amazon.com. Retrieved on October 8, 2007
  14. ^ Independence Day: Silent Zone by Dean Devlin; Roland Emmerich; Stephen Molstad Publisher's Notes Biblio.com. Retrieved on October 8, 2007
  15. ^ (October 1996) Front desk news: Independence Day (in English). Empire (magazine), pp. 17. 
  16. ^ (September 1996) Front desk news: ad-solutely fabulous (in English). Empire (magazine), pp. 12. 
  17. ^ Independence Day (1996) Also known as : "ID4" Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on October 16, 2007
  18. ^ Independence Day Metacritic. Retrieved on October 16, 2007
  19. ^ Independence Day review on www.film.com/movies
  20. ^ Independence Day review on www.u-net.com.
  21. ^ Independence Day review on www.bbc.co.uk/films
  22. ^ Academy Awards Database Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved on October 19, 2007
  23. ^ Past Saturn Awards saturnawards.org. Retrieved on October 19, 2007
  24. ^ The Cinema Audio Society Awards For Outstanding Achievement In Sound Mixing 1993 - 2002 cinemaaudiosociety.org. Retrieved on October 19, 2007
  25. ^ 17th Annual RAZZIE® Awards (for 1996) Razzie Awards. Retrieved on October 19, 2007
  26. ^ Star Fox 64 review GameCritics.com. Retrieved on October 29, 2007
    "Star Fox 64 pays tribute to films like Star Wars, Aliens, Independence Day, and even the anime classic, Mobile Suit Gundam, by either intellectually stealing elements or comically parodying them."
  27. ^ Trivia for Star Fox 64 IMDb. Retrieved on October 29, 2007
  28. ^ Supreme Commander Gsmespot Game Guide Gamespot. Retrieved on October 29, 2007
    "Like the ships in Independence Day, it can fire a beam cannon at the area directly underneath it..."
  29. ^ Reviews: Game Supreme Commander (February 27, 2007) Sci Fi.com Retrieved on October 29, 2007
    "The Aeon have a flying fortress that's like the UFO in Independence Day, complete with its "goodbye White House" beam weapon."
  30. ^ a b c d e Independence Day UK dswilliams.co.uk. Retrieved on September 25, 2007
  31. ^ Dirk Maggs - Director bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on October 28, 2007
  32. ^ ID4 II Is In The Works Sci Fi.com Retrieved on November 5, 2007
  33. ^ a b c An Interview with Dean Devlin ign.com. Retrieved on November 18, 2007
  34. ^ a b Saturn Exclusive: Dean Devlin on INDEPENDENCE DAY 2 Mania Movies. Retrieved on November 5, 2007
  35. ^ 9/11 Inspires ID4 II Sct-Fi.com. Retrieved on November 24, 2007
  36. ^ Only on Fox: Cable channel aired photos of aliens attacking Library Tower (Thu, Feb 9, 2006) Media Matters for America. Retrieved on September 25, 2007
  37. ^ ID4 II Script In Works Sci Fi.com Retrieved on November 11, 2007

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Awards
Preceded by
12 Monkeys		 Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film
1996		 Succeeded by
Men in Black
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