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Movies / Upcoming / Independence Day
Independence Day

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Independence Day (1996)

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Reviews Counted:17

Fresh:11

Rotten:6

Average Rating:6.5/10

Consensus: The plot is thin and so is character development, but as a thrilling, spectacle-filled summer movie, Independence Day delivers.

Runtime: 2 hrs 33 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: With a $71 million budget and mind-blowing special effects, INDEPENDENCE DAY is a grand, high-tech throwback to such films of the 1950s as THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and WAR OF THE WORLDS. Here,... With a $71 million budget and mind-blowing special effects, INDEPENDENCE DAY is a grand, high-tech throwback to such films of the 1950s as THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and WAR OF THE WORLDS. Here, aliens, in numerous gargantuan spaceships, arrive without warning and hover over the world's most important cities, creating global panic. The nasty visitors use death rays to blow New York, Washington D.C, and Los Angeles to smithereens. A handful of plucky Americans, including the Clinton-esque President (Bill Pullman), a gung-ho fighter pilot (Will Smith) and a computer geek named David (Jeff Goldblum), attempt to devise a strategy against the invaders. On July 4th, their risky plan is put into effect, as dozens of fighter pilots (including the President) wage an assault on the spaceships. However, their success (and the fate of the world) depends on David, who is attempting to disarm the aliens's mothership. [More]

Starring: Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Margaret Colin

Starring: Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Margaret Colin, Judd Hirsch, Randy Quaid, Vivica A. Fox, Mary McDonnell, James Rebhorn, Harvey Fierstein, Robert Loggia, Harry Connick, James Duval

Director: Roland Emmerich

Director: Roland Emmerich
Screenwriter: Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich
Composer: David Arnold
Producer: Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich, Ute Emmerich, William Fay, Lincoln D. Hiatt, Peter Winther
Studio: 20th Century Fox

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Independence Day

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1 - 10 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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It coulda been a contender.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
01/01/00
Urban Cinefile Critics
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
10/18/08
Washington Post
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As unavoidably entertaining as it is hopelessly cornball.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/05/08
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
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Maybe the moviemakers' mission was to boldly go where everyone in Hollywood has gone before: the bank.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
03/05/08
Rita Kempley
Rita Kempley
Washington Post
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So much about ID4 is so old it's inevitable that homesick audiences, eager for familiar scenarios, will embrace it as if it's nothing but new.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
02/14/01
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
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Independence Day is a throwback to traditional entertainment with an old-fashioned, gung-ho good time thrilled up by 90s-style state-of-the-art technology.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Angie Errigo
Angie Errigo
Empire Magazine
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The film has a genial it's-only-a-movie attitude that sets it apart, quite emphatically, from other blockbuster action movies.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Caryn James
Caryn James
New York Times
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As for the human characters, they give merely adequate back-seat support to the special effects that drive this big-budget thriller.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Kevin McManus
Kevin McManus
Washington Post
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Though the movie isn't too deep, it's certainly a rousing state-of-the-art cartoon capped by an aerial-combat climax that, to its credit, isn't anti-climactic.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Mike Clark
Mike Clark
USA Today
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The aliens, when we finally see them, are a serious disappointment; couldn't they think of anything more interesting than octopus men?

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 3 Comments
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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1 - 10 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Independence Day

November 16, 2009: Emmerich Talks Independence Day Sequels Opens in new window
All these years later, Roland Emmerich is thinking about returning to "Independence Day" -- and not with just one sequel, either. How does "ID4-Ever" sound to you? More...

November 02, 2009: 12 Facts About 2012
Did the Mayans really predict, all those centuries ago, that Earth would be visited by planetary apocalypse three years from now? It's open to interpretation -- Roland Emmerich... More...

March 03, 2009: Five Favourite Films with Bill Pullman
Few can forget Bill Pullman's rousing speech as the US president in Independence Day, but it's only one of a long string of vast and diverse roles that have seen him cast as... More...

March 06, 2008: Box Office Guru Preview: Ancient Action Arrives Again
For its third chart-topper of the year, Warner Bros. is going back in time with its ancient adventure 10,000 BC which aims to revitalize a box office on the verge of extinction. More...

See All

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