I'm watching "Independence Day" for the first time. Two thoughts:

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. It sucks.

2. Nothing happens. Considering that it's a Sci-Fi Action movie, it's 95% talk (in tiny rooms).

[SarahB]

1. But Vivica is smokin hot!

[NewJeffCT]

46. that alone makes it worth the price of admission

just that scene with her in the strip club in the beginning...

:wow:

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. And 3. It's not even interesting talk

It's all contentless exposition because the director doesn't know how to tell a fucking story.

[Pale Blue Dot]

11. Randy Quaid just said "I guess I picked the wrong day to stop drinking."

How do they even get away with that? Why wasn't the screenwriter shot, preferably after lengthy and painful torture (like having to watch this movie)?

[TommyO]

17. Since when is honoring Airplane worthy of shooting a screenwriter?

YIKES! I can't even spell-check a subject. Sheesh.

[Pale Blue Dot]

20. "Honoring" or plagerizing?

And I would suggest that and action movie that's "honoring" a comedy by quoting a line that's making fun of stupid action movies is missing the point (at a bare minimum).

[dysfunctional press]

3. how do judd hirsch and jeff goldblum drive to nyc to d.c. in 6 hours...

when all the major cities are being evacuated?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

6. Why, the secret NJ tunnel

of course.

[DS1]

36. Zion Cabbie Gets You There

:hide:

[LynneSin]

48. with Judd Hersch driving 40MPH

I always wondered that one too

[Shine]

4. Yeah, but it's "Bad Science Fiction"...which, in our house, is a much-valued genre

esp. by MrShine. :D He loves, loves, LOVES all that shit.

He's a nerd, go figure.

:hi:

[Oeditpus Rex]

12. Hey, does he watch 'Cinema Insomnia'

on KTEH Saturday nights?

It's had a run of "Ho! Godzirra!" movies for the last month or so, but once in awhile there's a really good piece of cinematic schlock, like "When Worlds Collide" or "The Blob."

[Shine]

16. Sat nites are "date night"...but we could always tivo it.

I'll pass this little newsflash on to him. Thanks! :hi:

Cinema Insomnia. Catchy.

[NMDemDist2]

5. if you'd seen it in the theater with full surround sound you might feel

differently.

we were left gasping for breath at the end of the first day

I like the movie a lot even still :hi:

[1monster]

18. Me too! I loved it. And it scared the heck out of my kid. Years later

he stil won't watch it again.

[Left Is Write]

24. I saw it in the theater too, and I really liked it.

[Omphaloskepsis]

30. I worked in a movie theater when it came out..

We had it on three screens, about 1700 seats (between three screens) that were full for every showing every day for two weeks. The thing is all of the movies sold out because people couldn't get a ticket and they wanted to see something. We had about 15,000 people going through every day. It was fucking crazy. The best $4.25 per hour I have ever made.

[Richard Steele]

7. The best summation I ever heard of that movie:

"It's like a two-hour commercial for itself".

I'm not even sure what that MEANS....but it sure felt
right when I heard it.

[Pale Blue Dot]

14. That's a great review. Certainly better than anything the screenwriter thought of.

[Oeditpus Rex]

8. Dude, you're married to SarahBelle

and you're watching movies? :shrug:

[Pale Blue Dot]

13. Dude, we're sitting in the bedroom now.

I'm on the desktop and she's on the laptop, and we're both posting on DU.

Maybe you can go 24/7, but I'm more... human.

[Oeditpus Rex]

19. Sorry, man

I just wanted to compliment your outstanding taste in women. Guess I didn't do it very well. :blush:

[Louis Cipher]

9. Have the Atlanteans emerged from the deep yet?

Oops, sorry.

[ChoralScholar]

10. The part where the President grows a backbone is pretty cool.

Also Commander Data (Brent Spiner) as the wacky research director.

But, it is not a very cohesive movie, I'll admit.

And I'll tell ya who's hotter than Vivica in this movie (although she IS hot)

[Fox Mulder]

15. I like that movie.

I've enjoyed it every time I've watched it.

[donco6]

22. Me too.

I found it highly entertaining. And I love Jeff Goldblum. He's hilarious!

[LynneSin]

49. I never thought of Jeff Goldblum as a hunk until that movie

He was damn sexy in ID4

[donco6]

55. Give a guy a cigar and look out!

:)

[A HERETIC I AM]

21. Geographical inconsistencies in that movie.....

In the scene where Will Smith flies his fighter over LA toward the ship, they are clearly flying over the LA basin but the dogfight/chase scene with the alien craft takes them through canyons and he crashes on a white lake bed or salt flat.

There are no canyons like those within 300 miles of LA. The nearest ones would be the Grand Canyon and there are no white salt flats anywhere near the Grand Canyon. There are white lake beds not far from LA (Edwards AFB) but there are no canyons anywhere near there.

He drags the carcass of the alien across the salt flats when he meets up with the convoy of RV's. They take him to "Area 51" supposedly. Area 51 is 150 miles from the grand canyon and while there is a dry lake bed there, it isn't white.

His girlfriend goes to "El Toro" airbase and the scenery looks as if it is in the middle of nowhere.

El Toro MCAS is in Irvine, CA, just off the I5 Freeway and it is surrounded by housing developments. She was in LA when the attack happened. She drove 50 or 60 miles down to Irvine after all of LA was destroyed?

Why the hell would some TV producer and his doddering father be allowed on AF1 in a national emergency?

(ok, not a geographical point, but there you go)

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

40. Dude, you pointed out inaccuracies in Independence Day.

Seriously, these are the ONLY problems you came up with?

Independence Day Producers 1 - A HERETIC I AM 0

[A HERETIC I AM]

43. Ya got me.

I stayed up all night, watched the movie 7 times and yes, thats all i came up with.

I am a moron and you are a genius.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

44. No need to get hostile.

I'm just pointing out that it's a movie that in no way asks to be taken seriously.

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. I enjoyed Jeff, though.

[Redstone]

25. Three words: Lame jingoistic fantasy.

Redstone

[fortyfeetunder]

26. It's supposed to rile up your patriotic senses

Think it debuted in July 4 1996 or thereabouts. Yawn...

[FVZA_Colonel]

27. It was 1996; what else can be said?

Damn, I feel old being able to refference a date in that fashion...

[Wetzelbill]

28. look for the classic racial stereotypes

smart Jew. Young angry athletic black man not smart enough to get into NASA. Single Black Mom who is a stripper. They go on and on. Classic stereotypes. :)

[unpossibles]

34. don't forget the big one at the end

that aliens are Mac users.

:)

the movie was simultaneously horribly bad and enjoyable. I like bad sci fi movies, which this obviously was meant to be.

[Wetzelbill]

39. I like how the black people in Africa run out in spears and loincloths

somehow, their country managed to take down the aliens, yet they are still in loincloths. :)

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

41. Don't forget the crazy drunken country white dude.

[elocs]

29. It's a personal thing like "broccoli is bad, it tastes like shit".

Your opinion others may and will differ. I liked the movie and have watched it more than once on the big screen using my front projector and surround sound. Randy Quaid's last scene is great.

[terrya]

31. I love the fact....

that these aliens can destory entire cities...that are freaking impervious to a nuclear blast, for fuck's sake. And yet...are vulnerable to a computer virus. Jesus. :eyes:

One of the stupidest big budget crapfests ever filmed.

[ProfessorGAC]

32. Interesting

I saw it in the theater when it first came out. I spent the whole movie complaining about the flaws.

Then i started watching it when it was on cable, and the more i see it, the more i like it.

Maybe it has to grow on you, or something.

My biggest flaw:
An interstellar travelling race needs to come down to 1500 feet to engage their weaponry? They have to come down to a level that the puny humans can actually reach? Stupid.

But, like i said, the more i watched it, the more i could ignore the flaws and just dig the story. And, i love the characters.

Did you know the Goldblum and Smith ad libbed their dialogue during the mother ship scene?
GAC

[bigwillq]

33. I thought it sucked too.

Stupid movie.

[deutsey]

35. It's a really dumb movie and I hated its glorification of war mentality

i.e., the warrior president and the movie's negative, ridiculing portrayal of peace advocates.

But mostly I just thought the movie was boring, predictable, and dumb.

[kwassa]

37. I really enjoyed "Independence Day"

the only film by this director I liked. "Godzilla" had none of the humor, or the one about the end of the world as we know it.

What sold the movie to me was the gee-whiz, tongue-in-cheek quality of the film. It was ridiculous and over the top, but it was meant to be. It was just fun, and since I live near DC, it was great to see the neighborhood get liquidated. It was self-satirizing.

This was also true of the movie "Volcano" which was of much lower quality, but the site for the volcano in the movie was about 4 blocks from where I used to live in LA. It erupted in the local park, next to the Page Museum and LACMA. I got to see the Macy's burn up, and lava flow up LaCienega.

I don't watch most sci-fi or action films, because they are often dumb, in my opinion.

[hippiechick]

38. It's harmless "there's nothing else on" fun, IMO

... Sunday afternoon channel-surfing material ...

[grace0418]

42. Bill Pullman's speech at the end has to be one of the worst bits of film footage ever.

It's not Bill's fault. It's just unbelievably heinous writing. GACK.

[havocmom]

45. It's better in a big-screen theater...

During one of the scenes where a major city gets zapped, some nut may jump up and cheer. OK, maybe only if you are in the same theater as, oh, say me. Old bf* still embarrassed about that one.

*"OK, sit down or I may have to shoot ya"

[MilesColtrane]

47. I'll admit being sucked into the theater based on the trailers.

But, I soon realized that I was watching a bad version of an Irwin Allen film with multimillion dollar special effects.

Why do squid-like blobs with tentacles have bucket seats in their spaceships?

[NewJeffCT]

50. I liked it in the theater

I thought it was a fun lightweight sci-fi movie - a B movie with a big budget and a burgeoning A-list star in Will Smith.

[LanternWaste]

51. watch as though you're watching a disaster film...

Don't watch it as though you're watching a science-fiction movie, watch as though you're watching a disaster film such as Airport '77, Miracle Mile or the Poseidon Adventure. In this context, it stays much closer to the standard fare of the 70's, and it was in this context that I actually enjoyed the film (with the standard amount of guilt for admitting that...)

[Aristus]

52. Did you notice how Jeff Goldblum's character and the alien mothership

used the same computer operating system?

That's pretty cool.

[Ekirh]

53. I treat this movie like I treat Twister. .

I in no way defend it as a great/good film . .

Yet when it comes on cable . . I inevitably end up watching it and finding it fun.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

54. 3. It rips off...

at least a dozen other good sci-fi flms in the process.

My Mom and I saw it in the theatre and we spent the entire show pointing out plot points, characters, and even camera shots that had been blantently lifted from other films. It was like they pulled all of sci-fi's greatest hits and tried to edit them together to make a super sci-fi movie. The result was pablum. :eyes:

Gals take note: if you ever run into Jim Wong, the young-ish Asian guy who opens the movie by getting the signal the aliens are on their way, one word of advice: MAKE OUT WITH HIM!

We worked on a short film together and, after a halloween bash at his pad, we got to locking lips -- the guy is an amazing kisser. Super dee-licious! I cannot recommend him enough. :9