Independence Day (DVD)

...to be a review of Independence Day. Is it? Err, could you just remind me how that one goes again? Marauding aliens attack Earth. Oh yeah...that's the one where those Mexican ladies kept doing things to farmyard animals wasn't it? No, that was one of those 'adult' films that can send you blind - Now stop stalling and get writing.

When an alien ship approaches Earth, the US (of A, I hasten to add) welcomes them with open arms but despite ...
...hype has died down, does Independence Day (ID4 hereafter) deserve a repeat viewing?

The obvious thought that springs to mind when you watch ID4 is that this is V with a decent budget (and for the uninitiated, V was a 1984 mini-series in which alien visitors came to Earth and...err tried to give us a good kicking. And there was some eating of gerbils and the well fit Jane Badler). The two do have many similarities with the most obvious ... more

Oh I love this film. Admittedly you're going to get sad watching any film that involves a dog falling down a well and having to be saved but The Dog That Fell Down A Well And Had To Be Saved is something else. Firstly...Err Neil, this is supposed to be a review of Independence Day. Is it? Err, could you just remind me how that one goes again? Marauding aliens attack Earth. Oh yeah...that's the one where those Mexican ladies kept doing things to farmyard animals wasn't it? No, that was one of those 'adult' films that can send you blind - Now stop stalling and get writing.

When an alien ship approaches Earth, the US (of A, I hasten to add) welcomes them with open arms but despite their best efforts the aliens refuse to respond. With their giant ships hovering over major cities everyone is at a loss as to what the aliens want. While the government plots what to do next, the people of the world hold their collective breath but disgraced scientist David Levinson discovers something quite worrying. Hidden amongst the undecipherable alien transmissions is a countdown - but a countdown to what? The answer becomes all too clear when the timer runs out and the alien ships unleash a devastating attack on the planet. Can mankind survive and defeat the seemingly undefeatable invaders?

You can kind of tell that my enthusiasm for this 'epic' was not at it's highest by the way the Laserdisc sat on the shelf for nearly three years before finally getting an airing. At the time of it's release the world had gone seemingly mad for it (as I believe they say in Manchester) but was the world right to? Now, after all the hype has died down, does Independence Day (ID4 hereafter) deserve a repeat viewing?

The obvious thought that springs to mind when you watch ID4 is that this is V with a decent budget (and for the uninitiated, V was a 1984 mini-series in which alien visitors came to Earth and...err tried to give us a good kicking. And there was some eating of gerbils and the well fit Jane Badler). The two do have many similarities with the most obvious being the actual ships in which they travel and the ultimate goal of the marauding aliens (i.e. wipe out mankind). But to call ID4 and V one and the same is actually wrong as V (for all it's faults) was actually deeper and more moralistic. Think I'm lying? Well put it this way, compared to ID4 it was.

ID4 as a concept isn't too bad but it does try to update that 70's product, the disaster movie. Being the 90's though things were bigger (i.e. global) but we still get the cast list of thousands, the multitude of 'small' stories, and mankind standing up against adversity. Actually, when I say mankind, I really mean America. Now in our post September 11th world America has gone jingoism mad but ID4 was well ahead of the game on this front and to a non-US audience it kind of grates. Yes it would have been stupid to try to make this a global story with vignettes from around the globe but ID4 really shoots itself in the foot with it's whole attitude of America being brilliant and the rest of the world being idiots (hmmm, why are the words 'pot', 'kettle', and 'black' springing to mind). The stereotypes come into play and once again the world must hide behind the shield of global protection that America creates. The US goes takes on the alien invaders single handedly and organises the rabble that is the rest of the planet. But being America, stealth and intelligence go out of the window and, in truth, who needs them when you have some hot shot pilots armed with some gung-ho lines (usually involving the word 'sucker').

But if we put the jingoism to one side what are we left with? Admittedly it's not much but even what IS left isn't that hot. Making the aliens pretty much faceless is a good approach and a lack of explanation regarding what they were after actually works well here as the audience are just as frustrated (if you care that much) as the cast. We don't have any forewarning of what's coming and that's one in the film's plus column. Beyond this though there's little. The characters are 2 dimensional in the extreme and there's almost a complete lack of history or emotional depth. Yes Jeff Goldblum has a dad but that's about as far as it goes. Also, being a blockbuster, logic goes out of the window and in it's place we have coincidence. Lucky that David's ex-wife (or something) works with the Pres isn't it?

And finally we come to the cast. As this a galaxy of stars production I'll have to skip many but the main players will get a mention. It would be nice to think that ID4 could whip up a great cast in the style of the 70's disaster movie. Yes the films were hideous and the stars were obviously slumming it but they WERE stars - not so here. The less than brilliant Will Smith once again pretends that he's an actor and you can think of Smith as being the black Chris Evans - you either love or loathe. I, surprise surprise, fall into the second category but which ever way you line up on the Smith debate, this is very much business as usual. Delivering his nonsensical lines in the same 'home-boy' style way as in everything else he's ever done, Smith relies far more on 'attitude' than actual talent...and that kind of sets the pattern for the pretty much whole film. Bill Pullman tries to be earnest as the President but the structure and style of the film soon shift him away from being believable and turn him into a another gun-totting 'hero' (in the hour of destiny the Pres...jumps in a fighter jet and leads the attack himself - Wooooo, go America (oops, sarcasm overload)).

It's Jeff Goldblum who is actually the best the film has to offer and as the 'quirky' professor type, Goldblum is very much in his element. He is definitely the best the film has on show and he works well with his 'dad' Judd Hirsch. Small roles for Robert Loggia and Randy Quaid reassure us that there is actually some acting talent out there but looking down the cast list you see that there really aren't any big names to draw the crowds in. Media celebrities yes, but genuine talent? Hmmmm.

Director Roland Emmerich also co-wrote the screenplay and as such he should have a great understanding of the material and from what we can see on screen, he does - it's just a shame that the material is of a combat fatigue style rather than a multi-layered effort. ID4 is unashamedly action orientated and if you're looking to get whipped up in a seemingly never ending stream of explosions and 'macho' moments then it'll be very much the film for you. Emmerich does this side of things well but it's the other aspects of the story that are undeniably weak. There's practically nothing beyond the action, there's no moral, no questioning of man's fragility, or anything even approaching an intelligent thought. From a story point of view he tries to encapsulate so much but while the use of terms such as 'Area 51' might get X-Files fans excited, the reality ends up being almost cartoon-esque. The wiry haired scientist, the 'broken' spaceship (that only Goldblum can fix and only Smith can fly), the stream of coincidences and 'lucky' breaks - it's lazy storytelling that treats us (the audience) with scant regard. Ever get the impression I wasn't impressed?

The effects are excellent though and in this department the film can't be faulted. The scenes of The White House being blown to smithereens are now almost iconic and from an effects point of view, ID4 is excellent.

Is it worth a watch though? Well if you haven't seen it and you're in something of an action orientated mind, then yes it's worth a look. It'll take you on a rollercoaster ride of thrills and spills (eurgh, I hate using that phrase) and as brain dead entertainment it's great. If you're looking for more than brain dead entertainment though, ID4 is probably not for you. The stars and stripes waving style of the film grates enormously and if you got annoyed with films like U-571 then this will certainly have you pulling great chunks out of the chair arm.

It did usher in a new wave of disaster style movies (where America saved everything and everyone time and time again) and can be seen as the 'serious' version of Tim Burton's Mars Attacks but at the end of the day this is little more than an update of Wells' War of The Worlds (even down to using a 'virus' to defeat the aliens). Unlike Wells though ID4 is un-intelligent fodder and never challenges us mentally for a second. It never makes us ask 'what if...?' or force those tiny grey cells to work for a change.

And wouldn't you just know it, in this age of the sequel there's ID4-2 somewhere on the horizon. What are you going to try this time guys - letting the rest of the world have a go?
 

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