Independence Day
Published 2011-09-13
Film info
- Title Independence Day
- Director Roland Emmerich
- Year 1996
- Run time 2hr 25m
- Genres Action, Science Fiction, Adventure
- Tagline Earth. Take a good look. It might be your last.
- Cast Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman
When massive spaceships are spotted hovering above planet Earth, the world stands in awe and wonder. But this soon turns to terror as the aliens launch an all-out attack, devastating the planet's major cities. As the Earth's survivors try to come to terms with what has happened, a group of Americans including President Thomas J. Whitmore, fighter pilot Steve Hiller and computer boffin David Levinson decide to fight back.
Live Blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 1:41 | There isn't really a plaque on the moon, is there? |
| 2:31 | Ooh, Contact place in New Mexico. |
| 6:16 | The President can't walk around in a dressing gown, it's just not right. |
| 7:50 | I love those chess games in the park. I should add that to my Life List. |
| 11:38 | Flying whilst drunk does not seem like a good idea. |
| 12:58 | Ooh, NORAD mention. They must be informing santa of the Defcon upgrade. |
| 21:17 | Woohoo, Will Smith, finally! |
| 25:30 | I love how oblivious he is. |
| 29:11 | An alien invasion does tend to play havoc with your annual leave. |
| 35:44 | NASA would be foolish to turn down Will Smith. And now there's no space shuttle for him to fly. |
| 40:14 | It must be weird to have a personal history with the president. |
| 42:15 | The flashing lights thing doesn't seem like much of a welcome, really. There's no common language. |
| 47:58 | So much destruction! Wow. |
| 50:07 | They blew up the White House, so I'll let them off the dodgy dog moment. |
| 54:08 | Oop, it's all going a bit Top Gun. |
| 58:34 | How can you fight something that is completely shielded up? |
| 1:04:48 | They've got NORAD? No more Santa? |
| 1:07:55 | Is that the salt flats where they do the speed trials? I don't fancy walking over that in the hot sun |
| 1:12:53 | The machine suddenly woke up and they didn't think to mention it? |
| 1:19:52 | "I didn't wanna say nothing, I voted for the other guy." |
| 1:25:54 | I love the concept of having a domestic right before the world ends. |
| 1:31:57 | Stupid. How would he ever know where to find her? |
| 1:35:37 | "Everyone loses faith at some point in their lives. But we have to remember what we still have." |
| 1:40:07 | I like that the music is very old school. Old war films and the like. |
| 1:47:39 | "Aircraft from here will be joining others around the world..." Ooh, so the rest of the world does exist! |
| 1:53:48 | Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum make a good partnership. |
| 2:02:27 | The world is blowing up around them and they're cramming into a lift? We're not allowed in lifts if the fire alarm goes off! |
| 2:12:46 | "Elvis has left the building." ...and blown it up. |
Thoughts
Mr C floored me by announcing he hadn't seen this film. We had no idea what kind of movie we were in the mood for - both a bit exhausted from a long weekend's work. I came up with a shortlist and we selected Independence Day, even though it's a bit longer than we'd normally like. I've seen it a couple of times before, but actually can only recall three specific bits from it.
Mmmm, Independence Day. Aliens, action, Will Smith, crazy over-the-top speeches, humour, world in peril, what's not to like? Actually, the main story is silly, with plenty of bits that are unbelievable, but as a whole, it's good stuff. The humour, the partnership between Smith and Goldblum, it makes up for the ridiculous bits. The three bits I remembered were The White House, the Independence Day speech and the guy in the plane saving the day. There's quite a lot more to it than that, now that I was paying attention, and it was a lot better than I remember. Even though it was long, it was never really boring.
Rating: 4 / 5