What a science fiction classic. Ok, maybe my colleagues won't agree with me on that one, but Independence Day was one of my absolute favorite movies when I was young, and to this day I get a kick out of all those iconic moments we've all seen a thousand times since ID4 hit theaters. The White House getting blown to smithereens? Awesome. Aliens making Data from "Star Trek" do their bidding with a psychic tentacle around the throat? Creepy awesome. Jeff Goldblum reprising his "Must go faster!" routine from Jurassic Park? Totally lame, but somehow still...no, that part was pretty lame. But to an 11-year-old (and thus, the vast majority of the movie-going public who share the 11-year-old's mindset)? Comedic gold. And who can forget Bill Pullman's President Whitmore speaking to the makeshift army of pilots before the final stand on July 4? "We will not go gently into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!" (Cue booming music.) (Follow with goosebumps.) Beautiful.
By now, Independence Day doesn't really give me any new form of satisfaction every time I rewatch it. It's not a particularly great feat of sci-fi filmmaking, but it does have its moments - there are some good visual effects and the aliens, while somewhat reminiscent of those from Alien, are unique and frightening enough for the movie's purposes. At this point my enjoyment for ID4 is purely nostalgic. It was one of those movies I saw multiple times in the theater as a kid and watched ad infinitum on VHS (old school!), and I've never been one to deny my inner child its small joys, so Independence Day remains one of my favorites.
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2 comments:
I definitely agree with this guilty pleasure addition. I'll stop and watch a scene or two when I'm flipping through the channels.
(I'm waiting for The Replacements to crack the GPM list, Ben!!)
Oh, don't worry Babs. It's comin.
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