Synopsis:

The ultimate encounter for mankind occurs when mysterious and powerful aliens launch an all out invasion against the human race. The spectacle begins when massive spaceships appear in Earth's skies.  Wonder soon turns to terror as a hidden signal between the ships is discovered and may be a countdown to our demise.  The world's only hope lies with a determined band of survivors, uniting for a strike against the invaders - before it's the end of mankind.

The Freak's Rating: C+ : As with Predator, this one made it to the top of my list due to its re-release on Blu Ray.  My ears were just dying to test out my new DTS Master Audio and so I picked the two of these up for a steal at my local Target.  Independence Day is remembered in my mind along the same lines as Armageddon, an incredibly cheesy summer blockbuster meant to hold my attention and keep me entertained solidly for two hours.  I had forgotten it was nearly two and a half hours and just how poorly written this film was.  To be fair, I was a younger and uneducated filmgoer when this was released, but I'm sad myself that I purchased it.

Roland Emmerich, who has also produced such duds as Godzilla and The Day After Tomorrow, continues to dissapoint me as a director.  Similar to Jerry Bruckheimer, Emmerich seems to feel as if throwing a talented (or at least recognizable) cast together, put them in stereotypical roles and adding some impressive audible and visual effects makes a good movie.  The sad part is that as far as a studio is concerned, it does.  Independence Day made a killing at the box office and solidified Emmerich as well as Will Smith (the lead) as bankable.  This truly was a vehicle for Smith, who only had the Fresh Prince series and Bad Boys under his belt.  His next project was Men In Black and from there the rest is history.

Despite Independence Day's horrible writing, it is fairly entertaining.  The special effects are decent, though I did prefer the audio in Predator.  ID4 (as it was known) stands up as a typical summer blockbuster.  The casting would be forgiven if only the script had an ounce of reality to it.  ID4 has lots of big explosions, no real payoff.

Sebastian's Rating: B : oh come on, don't forget this was made like years ago. It's a popcorn movie but i dont think it was made to be anything else. i have this movie at home and i love watching it i mean of course it's nothing spectacular but hell it's entertaining. when im playing games on my laptop it's the sort of movie i have in the backround.

because it's fun, nothing more, nothing less than a solid B :)

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