Well-Assembled Silliness: Independence Day (1996)

 

                       Image Copyright 20th Century Fox

     Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day is one of those movies that are basically critic proof, in the sense that the most common critiques of it pretty much miss the point entirely. Every time I read anything about the hackneyed dialogue, clichéd characters, and naïve patriotism in this movie, I tend to shake my head. In the case of a movie like Independence Day, these things are, paradoxically, strengths rather than flaws, because they play right into the film’s intended purpose- to be a high-budget throwback to those old, corny mid-20^th century sci-fi/disaster stories. Independence Day is the classic alien invasion film to end all classic alien invasion films, hearkening back to Cold War-era fears about malevolent saucer-men from space that have it out for us Earthlings. The movie incorporates nearly all of the requisite clichés, playing them to the hilt with great glee on a bigger budget than most old B-movies; even those who hate the movie concede that the effects are great. [Despite the presence of some CGI, this was basically one of the last gasps of old-school model work in American film, and it remains a wonder to behold.]

     At the same time, Independence Day is a product of the era in which it is made. The Cold War had just ended a few years before, with the United States as the triumphant nation. Silly as the movie’s unabashed American nationalism seems in a post 9/11 world, there really were hopes among some that the demise of the Soviet Union prefigured the permanent ascendance of American -or at least broadly Western- political and cultural values across the globe. Even today, knowing where things have gone since the 1990s, it hard not to feel something upon hearing the movie’s famous “Fourth of July” speech, even if it’s only bittersweet regret for the subsequent real-world demise of the hope and optimism for global unity embodied in President Whitmore’s words.

     Make no mistake, though; the primary attraction here is entertainment, and it’s present in spades. From the ensemble cast of delightfully clichéd and archetypical characters, to the silly one-liners and hilariously improbably situations, Independence Day milks its premise and setting to the fullest, offering viewers ample bang for their buck, so to speak. If you aren’t sold on the idea of the movie’s commitment to silly entertainment before everything else, watching it won’t do anything to convince you otherwise. But if you are, you probably won’t find yourself disappointed.

     Yet as much as the movie emphasizes daft fun, there is a method to its madness. Compared to many action blockbusters today, Independence Day is a model of restraint in a number of ways. For one thing, it has a very good sense of pace, taking its time to build up to the action and thus making the inevitable destruction/battle sequences something to savor. For another thing, it gives the majority of its characters something to do in the plot of some sort. And in yet another stroke of genius, the movie avoids overexposing the aliens themselves, preferring to keep them hidden for the entire first half, and only showing them sporadically throughout the second half. For these and other reasons, Independence Day can rightfully be considered an example of style over substance done skillfully.

     There are issues to be found. For example, a brief sequence at a strip-club is needless in light of the fact that the dialogue already revealed the occupation of the character in question, and it accomplishes nothing more than to be an offense to the eyes. This and a handful of crass comments add nothing of value to the movie, which would work perfectly well without them. Also, the family members of one of the characters feel underwritten, as though several critical scenes with them are missing from the final cut. [The eight-minute longer extended cut goes some way towards fixing this last issue, although the film is mostly the same otherwise.] For the most part, however, Independence Day stands as a well-assembled piece of daft entertainment, one which will continue to delight as long as moviegoers need an escape from reality into a world where a dog can outrun an explosion from a giant ray gun and a nerdy guy with a Mac can join forces with a Marine Corps pilot to fight alien invaders.

Actual Quality: 11/12

Personal Enjoyment: 11/12