Review of Independence Day (1996) by Adam B — 19 Jun 2012

I saw this at the perfect time. I was a budding 16-year old filmmaker who had just made his first feature length sci-fi movie. I was still geeking out over Roland Emmerich's prior movie, "StarGate". I was in the beginning stages of becoming a Jeff Goldblum fan. Will Smith hadn't made a dozen other blockbusters yet, so he was very fresh in this. Emmerich packed it with great character actors to cover up for the deficiencies of the script, something I feel worked to this day.

This is the last sci-fi epic made in Hollywood that effectively utilized practical/ miniature effects in the vein of the original "Star Wars Trilogy" (in addition to some limited CGI), so it has a nostalgic appeal that way.

I'd call this the most underrated box office smash from the 90's. It gets all this flack and yet it's light years better than any Michael Bay movie. It grossed $306 million domestic, making it the #6 film of all time when it was released. It also won the Visual Effects Oscar and was nominated for Best Sound. The David Arnold score is marvelous.

Yeah, I like this movie... it's not a great film but it has more than its share of classic moments.