Independence Day (1996) review

(7/10)

Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum kicking alien butt on July 4th? Sounds great!

PLOT:People all over the country have noticed that ther is a disturbance in the signal on their televisions and radios; people all over the world have noticed the giant saucers hovering over their towns. President Thomas Whitmore (Bill Pullman) and his assisants are trying to figure out what to do about the commotion. One lucky computer genius named David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) cracks the aliens' code and warns the president that its a countdown. As soon as the countdown ends, the aliens start to destroy the Earth's major cities. The president and most of his crew just barely make it out in time. Now it's up to President Whitmore, David Levinson, out-of-work fighter pilot Steven Hiller (Will Smith), and the guys from Area 51 to figure out how to stop this menace. It's a cheesy alien plot executed unevenly.



ACTING:The acting was pretty decent for all this movie had to offer. I've seen all of these guys do better, but this wasn't too bad at all. The shiners are Will Smith as Capt. Hiller, Jeff Goldblum as David, Bill Pullman as the president, Randy Quaid as Russell Casse, and Brent Spiner as Dr. Okun.

SCORE:The score was all for dramatics, but it played well.

EFFECTS:For the time being, the effects were major eye candy. The looming saucers looked amazingly menacing, the explosions looked real, and the aliens looked creepy. It was all for a good look, which it had.



OTHER CONTENT:The movie wasn't half bad for entertainment, but as a film it doesn't stand well. The plot's uneven, it can't be taken truly serious, it can get cheesy, and the character development has some major problems. If one can learn to get over that, enjoy the effects, humor, and sci-fi action along with a surprisingly good script, then this should be a very entertaining ride.

OVERALL,a good sci-fi action with an uneven plot, good acting, dramatic score, eye-dazzling effects, and a good script, but the other mistakes include it's lack of seriousness, increase of cheesiness, and problems with character development.