User Comments for Independence Day

Limey (1 out of 10 )
Aaargh, god, I hate it...HATE IT...HATE IT....HATE IT!!! Independence Day is Hollywood gone mad!!! While, of course, Americans save the world, other countries do get to play a supporting role in the liberation of the earth. Turn back the clock sixty years and you may well have encountered Brits such as those portrayed in Independence Day. They’re all pipe smoking fighter pilot aces in incredible flying machines, with names like Monty, Bertie, Ginger and Biggles, and they all say things like tally-ho, pip-pip, and “last one to stick it to the martians is a sausage-guzzling swine,” as they soar of in their Sopwith Camels. The French, on the other hand, are also depicted in an image belonging to the Second World War – scurrying through sewers, hunched in dank cellars and beneath the streets of Paris, smoking endless cigarettes while communicating over archaic radios. Also, get this, they’re wearing bloody berets and blue and white hoped shirts. Defies belief, doesn’t it? Message to Hollywood – the French Resistance packed up a long time ago!!! But the icing on the cake – or the arse hair on the turd, whichever way you care to look at it – is Bill Pullman’s ‘rousing’ speech, which suggests that the whole world should celebrate July 4. God, it gave me shivers, like listening to Henry V at Agincourt!

Farmgal (10 out of 10 )
I'm just wondering but why didn't you like it. It seemed that you didn't defend your point to where it held water. If you could tell me in a few words why you didn't like it then I'll tell you the reason's I do like it.

Limey (1 out of 10 )
I didn't like it because it was silly, badly scripted and - as per my previous comments - resorts to the most nauseating stereotypes.

Ratchet (10 out of 10 )
This movie was a wonderful movie! The acting, the story, the intensity...it was all worthwhile watching! It was one of the few movies where the total destruction of the world was at stake, and it included the other countries OTHER than America! Plus the speech by Bill Pullman was to suggest that the whole world should celebrate the 4th of July together as not the independence of the americans, but to celebrate humanity's liberation from the alien race that has come to exterminate them. Jeff did a wonderful acting job, being the actor that does mostly a panicked or calm technician, scientist, or a normal human being.

Angsuman Chakraborty (3 out of 10 )
Pros: Interesting storyline. Cons: Lots of stereotypes. Most corny of them all - prez leading the aerial combat. Negative protrayal of Russians and others. Yet another - America "saves the day" megalomaniac movie :)

maynard (10 out of 10 )
Just curious but why do all of you people have to be such movie critics. I mean for Christ sake! Can't you just sit back and watch the god damn movie?! And if you can't then just shut your mouth and keep your comments to yourself because it ruins the movie for everyone else.

Limey (1 out of 10 )
Maynard, love, if we all did that there'd be no need to come on to the IMSDB and witter on about nowt for hours on end, now would there?

Evan (10 out of 10 )
Limey, 1 out of 10? A bit harsh, don't you think?

Old Bean (6 out of 10 )
Yes, yes, yes, it's all very Hollywood and there's more stereotypes in there than you can shake a bloody stick at but that doesn't stop it being an entertaining movie altogether. The reason it focused on the American side of things so much is simply because it was made by Americans and they are just writing about what they know best which I'm sorry to say is only Americana and nothing to do with the rest of the world. Hats off for trying to portray that the whole world played some part in it's own liberation, cringe worthy as the stereotypes were. What I don't get about this film though is the assumption that the US president can just walk into Area 51 willy nilly as if he is really in charge of that country. This frankly is bullshit. Because we all know that the US president is not the most powerful man on the planet and that America is not the most powerful nation. Both are simply puppets to the Illuminati which is controlled by about 2000 of the richest families world wide and most of them are British... Ahem... Yes. The film was mediocre and entertaining while it lasted, complete and utter bollocks as it may be. And with that I bid you goodnight.

Ella (10 out of 10 )
I absolutely loved Independence Day. Bill Pullman was direct and demanding. I loved how they kicked the aliens in the rear in the end and how the story built up to that point. Geesh, are you looking for reality or show business? Movies that are too real are boring to me. It's why I go to the movies - to get AWAY from reality.

Beauceephus (7 out of 10 )
Mindless entertainment at its best. Destruction sequences and special effects in general were excellent. Acting was average at best, and Randy Quaid's character was one of the worst I've ever seen in any movie, anywhere, in my entire life. He wasted every scene he was in, and the movie would have been better off without him. Don't see this movie expecting to solve any problems, and don't expect any deep thinking. Go to watch a rousing "us vs. them" movie with lots of stuff blown up extremely well and some really fabulous mid-air dogfight sequences.

MPS (10 out of 10 )
Not to burst any body's "anti-American" bubble or anything but if you actually watch the film, the aliens came to this planet, place their ships strategically and then blow the SHYT out of NATO and WESTERN ALLY FORCES before America was hit. Yeah, the Americans fough the aliens and were the first victors, that we are shown, but as someone said, Americans wrote it. If it had been Australians who qwrote it then the whole movie would be based down here in Oz or in Europe if the Europeans wrote it, etc. So yeah, just enjoy a great movie!

Brian (10 out of 10 )
MPS said it best - the country that movies like this are based around is usually the country in which they are created. Also, let's not forget the fact that millions of dollars were spent creating this movie, which is what helped gave it the awesome special effects. Do you think it would have been economically feasible for the producers to travel to every single major city in every single country in the world to film this movie, just to capture a few minutes worth of each place being attacked? Another point I'd like to mention is the fact that the title of the movie itself is called INDEPENDENCE DAY. Now let's think here for a minute - what country nationally celebrates Independence Day, July 4th, every year? Could it be AMERICA? It's really no wonder that a movie with that title would be based in America. And although there were a few cheesy stereotypes here and there (blame Hollywood - they aren't exactly perfect), the idea that this movie takes an American holiday and turns it into a global holiday is pretty admirable. If you're going to sit there and bash on this movie just because of stereotypes and the fact that it takes place in America, then that really isn't constructively criticizing the movie to a fair extent. Things that should be criticized in any movie are things such as the acting, the script, the main plot, etc. In my honest opinion, the producers did a darn good job in portraying something completely fictional and making it look completely real. Most of the typical alien-attacking-the-earth movies have terrible special effects and/or aren't even realistic (see Plan 9 From Outer Space). This was a well-thought out movie with a great plot and great special effects, where the main attack against the aliens was a long, tough process that was carefully thought out and executed.

Alan (6 out of 10 )
It was a fun movie until the end of July 3rd. Everything that happened after that was too sappy. The aliens should have won. Or the film makers should have come up with something a lot better than the apple computer virus saving the world. As references to War of the Worlds go, turning the age old virus into a computer virus should have never left the drawing board. Silly idea. Also, watching Jeff Goldblum pretend to be drunk has to be one of the most embarrassing pieces of acting in modern cinema.

Milo (1 out of 10 )
Okay then Brian, here I go: the acting was bad, the script was bad and the plot was bad. Me pissing and moaning about anything else is purely incidental!

Dirtcreature (8 out of 10 )
Anyone who thinks this movie was awful has obviously never endured Jaws 3 or Cradle Of Fear. As for Plan 9 From Outer Space, you can't really bad-mouth it seeing as it was made to be as camp as hell by Ed Wood! All too easy to poke at films like that. What I find odd is that people seem to want to be disappointed in films. Even someone made this flick so even the tiniest laws of physics were obeyed, someone would still complain. For a sci fi adventure, it was a good fictional bit of fun. Stuff the nihilists who enjoy finding everything to be rubbish and enjoy.

Domdom (10 out of 10 )
I think that the people who have put really low ratings should be ashamed of themselves because I have seen loads of movies that are like Independence Day and they are amazing! I am only 15, but I have seen about 30,000+ films in my life. Boil your heads off film critics if you cannot find the good points of a film.

Limey's Cousin (6 out of 10 )
I can bet that all the people who think this movie is pap are Brits. Brits are slightly harder to please when it comes to film making, they pay attention to detail. Watch any Brit flick that's not Notting Hill or Love Actually and you'll find that most of them ooze a gritty realism and pay extraordinary attention to detail. Hollywood's days are numbered. If it's not relying glitzy special effects set against far-fetched storylines it's some tired to the point of dying romcom. Entertaining as this film is, it's far from sophisticated which is something hollywood can never be.

Jon (5 out of 10 )
This movie was what it was. A big, loud Summer blockbuster with expensive special effects. It was not an intellectual sci fi film to say the least. It's plot was for sure lifted from War of the Worlds with a few doses of "Earth Vs the Flying saucers" here and there. So there was a definite harkening back to the "good ol' US of A" type of messages in those classic 50's movies. But, true, 1950's stereotypes are now laughable. Anyways, bottom line is that this was a movie about an Alien invasion of America that was written and directed by a German, so go figure.

Andy (10 out of 10 )
People please, it is a movie! It is meant to entertain. Now rather it was bad entertainment or good entertainment is up to you. If you want believeable or factual watch a doccumentary not a Hollywood movie. Oh and the last time I checked, Hollywood is in the "good ol' US of A". When the Germans or the Brits make a movie that grosses as much at the box office as this one did, I promise I won't be mad if the alien invasion happens acrossed the pond. I for one found "Independence Day" quite entertaining.

Anonymous (9 out of 10 )
Pretty good movie. Alien invasion hmm like that's going to ever really happen. I am not really into aliens and UFOs. I did like some of the lines said in the movie like: Release Me! And Doesn't anybody have any more missiles?

Someone (9 out of 10 )
The movie was okay. Only reason I gave it a good rating is that it has Jeff Goldblum. I love me some Jeff.

Luis Prada (8 out of 10 )
Limey, I can understand what you're talking about. About how the film is so pro-American that it believes that the world would be saved by ONLY the Americans and that everyone else in the world would just tag along for the ride. But, this isn't America's fault. The writer and director is German. I would venture to guess that he was writing a film that he thought would best represent America. So, he laid on all the pro-America stuff on pretty think.

Anon (5 out of 10 )
Can I remind people that Roland Emmerich is in fact German? And that hollywood is a globalised set of studios owned by multinational conglomerates and their subsidiaries/daughter companies... how much more global can you get??

Someone Else ATS (10 out of 10 )
The movie was great. Some nice special effects like the destruction of the states of US and a great panoramic picture of the Taj Mahal and some other important places around the world. Also, this movie was a hit around the world and it still is! The movie it's more like a "classic fun that everyone see and feel the movie". Like Brian said, "MPS said the best".

dorman (9 out of 10 )
Great film. The stereotypes are obvious and a tad patronizing, as a brit I don't talk like they do in the film. But to be honest, America has a vast army and air force, would've been more realistic if the Chinese had a bigger say, you know, having the biggest air force in the world and all that. But an overall great film, very entertaining to watch.

SGEEWIZ (10 out of 10 )
This story is about people working together for a common goal and getting their priorities straight. Yes some of the characters are stereotypes, however, the lessons taught far outweigh this shortcoming. Fairy tales are enjoyable, stereotypical and if were are luck inspirational. I can watch this movie over and over again!

Shunzilla (7 out of 10 )
A lot of your Brits seem to have misinformation about the world. Old Bean: the Illuminati controls the world and is predominantly British? Because they are 'the wealthiest'? Don't make me laugh. So many of your statements are wrong, where to begin... The world is much more chaotic than you think, and believing in a global shadow government is a defeatist mechanism saying 'There is nothing we can do, because there is an all-powerful decider who will decide for us.' The wealthiest people in the world are Americans, not British, simply because the US has the largest and most dominant economy in the world, and has enjoyed this position since WWII, because we were the only remaining world power who's industrial sectors weren't destroyed. Out of the top 50 richest people in the world, all billionares, 23 are Americans. There is only one Brit in the top 50, and he is beat out by many Indians, Saudis, Chinese, and even a Canadian. dorman: The USAF, even back in the mid 90's when this was filmed (before the 4th generation of fighters were built) had the largest and most advanced fleet by far. With the wartime escalations in present day, it's even larger and more technical. This is due to the fact that the United States was the ultimate player in a 45 year arms race with a nation called the USSR who had (and who's predecessor, Russian Federation still has) the second largest air force in the world. China is ranked 3rd, and has a lot of old aircraft and legacy issues. To give you an idea on who would perform best at mass force reactions, such as seen in the movie,the USAF has more active fighters than China has total service planes, and the USAF has more service planes than both Russia and China's air forces combined. Is all this negativity some sort of passive aggressiveness for not being "Number One" anymore? Or is it insecurity because your empire global and standing is in such ghastly decline? Getting beat by Canadians, what next..

longjohn (9 out of 10 )
I guess our British cousins never heard of the concept of satire. The stereotypes were intentional as was the 'bad' scripting. Even the President's speech just before they flew in to destroy the alien craft was an amalgamation of several famous speeches and lines from old Hollywood movies. Anyone who took this movie seriously needs to seriously have their heads examined to find out where they hid their sense of humor.

The Bringer Of Peace (10 out of 10 )
All of you who are putting negative comments, just keep to yourself. Haven't you ever heard the phrase, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it"? You're just starting up arguments and idiotic conversations about the pros and cons of an amazing movie. You don't seem to realize that the people in America are almost entirely from OTHER COUNTRIES. The USA therefore represents the world, and if you disagree, just read Shunzilla's comment for more reasons that you people are very unintelligent. Just shut up and help keep the peace on places where other people can see (and no, those things did not need to be said, if you are thinking so. "Hate it... HATE IT..."?). Haha. Kinda funny; It's actually a law in the US to keep the peace.

Lupilu (9 out of 10 )
This film was not a satire, it was a serious movie written and made by one of the highest grossing writers/directors working today. I agree that the film was written and directed by a German, but his writing partner at the time Was Dean Devlin, American. And while the studios may be an international conglomerate, the people doing the work, the costumes, sets and such are, vast majority American's so the minutiae of this work is from an American psychology and as most Americans don't even own a passport and can't even identify American on a world map, stereotypes for the most part are what is left. Personally I love this movie, Hollywood is the centre of the western movie industry, and it can only make movies from it's own perspective. Just as the you. Ok. Industry can only make movies from our own perspective. I enjoy both types of movie making and think there is a place for both.

Zack (10 out of 10 )
Mostly directed at a few of the comments at the top relating to it being "written by Americans". main writer, director and producer of the movie, Rolland emmerich, is a German. This may seem to be an American victory movie, but it's supposed to be a victory for the world. That's the point. On another note, it's a damn good movie. The corniness is what makes it great. If you don't like it, at least give a better reason and know your facts. In the words of Will Smith just before he blows the aliens to bits: peace.

Seriously? (1 out of 10 )
Awful. Just dreadful. I'm an American and I can't bear it. Randy Quaid's "I'm back!" scene is one of the most cringe worthy shit shows I've ever witnessed. Bill Pullman's gravelly delivery also too embarrassing to watch. The touching scenes with the kids? Yawn. The rousing orchestral soundtrack? Hilarious. Horrible all around. Its popularity is a sad commentary on the sophistication of the masses. Then again, competing for success in this world against a hoard of Independence Day fans fills me with a supreme confidence. Granting this turd 10 stars should qualify you for a free shiny toy. Ooo, shiny.

Hal (8 out of 10 )
I've never seen a movie on this board draw as much ire as this one. Reading through the script now. Pretty solid. I gave it an 8 because some of the one-liners were just too cringeworthy for me. But structurally it's very strong and an easy, visual read.

jared (10 out of 10 )
What is the saying/prayer I do believe will smith says (but I could be wrong about him being the one who says it) while they're in jets right before they attack the first alien space ship? It's been awhile since I've seen the movie but I remember whoever says it is in a jet getting ready to attack. I remember cause when whoever said it gave me goosebumps cause it was that awesome of a speech. Please let me know what it is.

Haakon Stenseth (10 out of 10 )
It's some years ago I watched this movie in Cinema here in Norway and I have watched it on my computer too, but that I don't understand why wasn't there any line, what the farmer kid said on this movie after Russell had dust the wrong field and his son drove away with his motorbike after he talked with his dad. I don't think I'm right, but it seems that the farmer kid said: Una cita travèz that means an appointment through, but I'm not sure it was that the farmer kid said on Independence Day.

Salim (10 out of 10 )
Did anyone else notice this script misses out the bit where Jeff Goldblum says to Will Smith "you think you can really fly that thing?" And Smith replies "you think you can do all that bull**it you just said?".

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