Independence Day (DVD)

The military have noticed a large object coming towards the Earth and soon Washington is covered by a large Alien ship and smaller ones have cover other cities around the world. Elsewhere an ex-scientist, David Levinson has picked up a signal which is being sent by these ships through our own satellite systems. David has discovered that the Alien ships plan to blow up the cities within the next 24 hours and take over Earth. David tries to get hold ...
...she is not interested in what he has to say but after some perseverance he manages to talk to her and they then both explain to the president what he has found.

The Military with the help of Will Smith plan to send their own attack on the alien ships but when this fails they have to re-think their plan. We soon see the fate of the world being left in the hands of a select few but can they destroy the aliens and save our planet?
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The military have noticed a large object coming towards the Earth and soon Washington is covered by a large Alien ship and smaller ones have cover other cities around the world. Elsewhere an ex-scientist, David Levinson has picked up a signal which is being sent by these ships through our own satellite systems. David has discovered that the Alien ships plan to blow up the cities within the next 24 hours and take over Earth. David tries to get hold of his ex-wife who is working at the Whitehouse but she is not interested in what he has to say but after some perseverance he manages to talk to her and they then both explain to the president what he has found.

The Military with the help of Will Smith plan to send their own attack on the alien ships but when this fails they have to re-think their plan. We soon see the fate of the world being left in the hands of a select few but can they destroy the aliens and save our planet?

I have seen this film several times on the television but this was the first time I actually sat and watched the whole thing. I have to say that I was quite impressed by it. I found the storyline to be good and believable for a fantasy film and I enjoyed the way it was put across on screen.

The characters in the film were all very good and I enjoyed seeing will Smith playing the role of Captain Steven Hiller, he looked great in his uniform and he made the character very believable. I think he worked well with the other actors and he did even bring a bit of humour to the film. In particular I liked the scenes with him and the alien in the desert! Geoff Goldblum played the role of David levinson and he too did a great job and I liked how he was given a back story with his ex-wife and thought that this gave the film a bit of depth. He worked well with the character of his father and they too bought some humour to the film. Other actors in this film included, Bill Pullman as the President and Mary McDonnell as the first Lady. Each of these character all managed to bring something different to the film and all made it that bit better to watch.

The effects in the film were very good and all looked very realistic. I did find the appearance of the Aliens a bit scary at first, especially when one was being cut open and the inside jumped out! They did look good though and not what I would have thought an alien would look like. The effects of the spaceships and the American fighter jets having a battle did look great and I think a lot of time and effort went into the making of these scenes. The music throughout the film was good but nothing amazing. The tracks which were used were appropriate for the paces used and helped with the setting of the scene.

I did find the addition of Brent Spinner to the cast a nice surprise. He played the role of Dr Brackish Okun, he has not been seen in many films since his Star Wars days and I think he did a great job in this film.

My only concern with this film was that I found the ending was very predictable and fro half way through I had worked out just what was going to happen and there was just no surprise to it at all but aside from that then this film really is wroth a watch.

The DVD which I have does have some special features which includes:-

- Main feature includes 8 minutes of restored footage - not included in the theatrical -release, DTS audio and restored picture quality
- Audio Commentary by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin
- A sneak preview behind the scenes of The Day After Tomorrow.

I am not a fan of bonus features so I have not watched these so therefore I am unable to comment on whether they are worth a watch or not.

The running time of this film is 147 minutes which I found to be a little long and though that they could have made just as good a film by loosing about 30 of these minutes. The certificate of this film is a 12 as it does contain moderate horror and one use of strong language. I would say that I agree with this certificate but I don’t think there was any horror however moderate, but I did find the appearance of the aliens a bit disturbing at the beginning but saying that I am a bit of a girly with scary things!

We bought out DVD many months ago now and I cannot remember the price we paid but shop at places like Amazon and EBay and you should be able to pick this up for just a few pounds. I am going to recommend this film as it has a good story, great acting and Will Smith looks mighty fine in it!

 

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