Independence Day [Blu ray] :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

War of the Worlds

2008-10-06
I don't know how to explain to somebody that likes this why this movie sucks. Here's a few random things that come to mind in no particular order: 1) Will Smith is an uninteresting actor except for when he was in MEN IN BLACK and some other movie I can't remember the title of. 2) Bill Pullman is the president. 3) The president is one of the heros of the movie. LAME. Presidents are cowards and frauds that would hide in a bunker somewhere. 4) The plot is dumb and sucks; particularly the silly backstory between the president and Jeff Goldblum. 5) The name of the movie is lame. INDEPENDENCE DAY. Right. First we kicked British --- and now the aliens. America Rules!!! USA! USA! USA! America is saves the planet. The way the aliens are defeated- Lol! OK, "it's just a movie". It was a virus that destroyed them like in some other story about an alien invasion, but this time one for the alien's computers. "Star Wars" for the next generation I spot a reviewer claim?! SAY WHAT?? Sorry, that reviewer doesn't got a clue. And comparing it to STARSHIP TROOPERS? No, that is completely wrong. Saying this movie is better than STARSHIP TROOPERS is a complete misunderstanding of what STARSHIP TROOPERS was about. They didn't get it. STARSHIP TROOPERS is both a brilliant satire AND highly entertaining, well crafted sci-fi adventure flick in certain aspects masquerading as a B movie as well as perfect parody of WWII propaganda films. TROOPERS lightheartedly calls the viewer's attention to the propensity of propagandized humans for senseless violence without conscience, comicly using a war of humans versus mindless, souless, agressive "bugs" to make the point. Stuff that works: I like seeing the White House explode and other stuff. The alien ships look pretty cool.

Brilliant entertainment

2008-10-01
You don't need the philosophies of Plato or Schopenhauer or Descartes to watch this film. Watch it for what it is: an suspenseful action-packed sci-fi film. Although it does seem a bit long (just over 140 minutes), the film doesn't seem to drag at all. The subplots are interesting, and the special effects won't really disappoint. The actors and their characters are memorable (the chemstry between Goldblum and Hirsch is a plus for the father-and-son genre). David Arnold's music is spectacular, and it's one of my favorite scores. And finally, I don't really mind the overpatriotism found in this film, just as long as I can focus on the action and the aliens.

A-

Flawed yet still fun disaster flick

2008-09-13
Before superpowered crimefighting men in tights dominated the summer movie landscape, there were asteroids (Armageddon, Deep Impact), tornadoes (Twister), and giant lizards (Godzilla) destroying national landmarks that caused people to flock to their air-conditioned movie theaters in the summer months. But the film that seemingly started it all was 1996's Independence Day.

Directed by Roland Emmerich and produced by Emmerich and his partner (or in most cases, co-offender) Dean Devlin, the "masterminds" behind the so-so sci-fi film Stargate. While on the press junket for Stargate, they were questioned about their belief in aliens, which they responded that one day we may wake up to find alien spaceships in the sky. At that moment, the concept for their next film was born.

Some call Independence Day "the Star Wars of the 90's", but Independence Day lacks the religious mysticism and homages to Westerns and samurai films. What it does have is a love for old sci-fi B-movies like The Day the Earth Stood Still, movies made to be more fun than based in heady subtext or scientific fact.

The story takes place over the span of three days: July 2nd, July 3rd, and July 4th. The film begins on July 2nd with the ominous shadows of the invaders' massive spaceships slowly enveloping everything they pass, and we're introduced to a number of characters and their own storylines, so many that I might not be able to list them all here. You have President Whitmore (Bill "I'm Not Bill Paxton" Pullman), a former Gulf War fighter pilot whom the opinion polls are turning against for his seemingly ineffectiveness and lack of resolve. You have M.I.T. grad turned cable guy David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) whom is still coping with his divorce and uncovers the aliens' secret plan. You have Air Force pilot Steven Hiller (Will Smith), who applies to be an astronaut but is rejected because of his relationship with his girlfriend, a stripper and single mom named Jasmine (Vivica A. Fox). Oh, and then there's Randy Quaid's Russell Casse, a Vietnam War veteran who spends his days in a drunken stupor, supporting his three children as a crop duster and recalling his own alien abduction. All of their destinies somehow intersect throughout the film as the extraterrestrials launch their attack,

The aliens attack on July 2nd, blasting blue-green rays of energy down on major cities around the world, causing tidal waves of fire that kill millions and leave the cities in flaming ruins. The Earth forces mount an aerial counterattack on July 3rd, but are vastly outnumbered and quickly overwhelmed by the swarm of technologically-advanced aliens, whom then take out most Army bases. Frustrations mount as it becomes more and more apparent that the aliens seem unstoppable. The remaining American forces retreat to the modern-day mythical Area 51, where they organize one final strike at the aliens on July 4th.

Many of the characters are stock and cliche, like the science whiz no one wants to listen to but who is always right, or the trigger-happy government suit whose only response to a problem seems to involve firing all available weaponry at the enemy despite the repeated failure of said weaponry. (Emmerich and Devlin are known for falling back on these very cliches in their other movies, as evidenced by their Independence Day follow-up Godzilla), and several of the plot points seem highly contrived and unlikely. A simple computer virus being compatible with advanced alien technology seems ridiculous, so the possibility that said computer virus being capable of taking down technologically-advanced alien force fields is even more ridiculous, and that's saying a lot when you're talking about a movie about an alien invasion. But the special effects are the real stars here (though some shots do look noticibly green-screened if you look closely), and the underdog story of outgunned and outmatched Earth forces taking on a seemingly invincible alien threat is a crowd pleaser. And you can't help but cheer a little bit when poor Russell Casse gets his revenge. This is probably the best film by Emmerich and Devlin to date, something that doesn't look to be changing anytime soon.

Good character developments & acting. Special effects were good at that time but not good compared to movies of the last 4 years

2008-08-25
It has good character developments and acting. The special effects were good at that time but not good compared to movies of the last 4 years. It's worth watching.

Independence Day

2008-08-25
I lost my original copy in the divorce. This is a cool movie.
Randy Quaid Rules

independence day

2008-08-21
One of the biggest box office hits of all time delivers the ultimate encounter 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. But wonder turns to terror as the ships blast destructive beams of fire down on cities all over the planet. Now the world's only hope lies with a determinded band of survivors uniting for one last strike against the invaders - before it's the end of all mankind.System Requirements:Run time: 147 minutesFormat: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY/ALIEN INVASION Rating: PG-13 UPC: 024543444237 Manufacturer No: 2244423

Still a great flick

2008-08-20
This movie is TRULY one of the best and names itself the Science Fiction version of "Top Gun". The actors were great. Will Smith got "jiggy with it" as a hotshot F/A-18 pilot in the movie; Randy Quaid (the older brother of Dennis Quaid) proved to be the comic relief; Bill Pullman's character transformed from a President with the problem of a nation into a reborn veteran; and Jeff Goldblum became more brilliant than ever! The only difference between "Independence Day" and "Top Gun" is that the 2 adversaries were humans and aliens instead of Americans and Soviet pilots. Independence Day is really just patriotic drivel in means of plot and adventure. But the film comes into its best moments when the action sequences hit the screen. Buildings explode and men die in beautifully choreographed fashions that raise the bar for many modern action films today.

ID4

2008-08-12
One of my favorite summer movies of all time, enjoyed it even more on blu ray. Great picture & sound. Paying extra for it sure worth it. There is no shame in recommending it!

Its a Remake

2008-07-28
Why didn't HG Wells get any credit on this one. It quite obviously War of the Worlds. Even the way the aliens were taken down...war of the worlds earth's bacteria killed em...ID4, a computer virus. Same thing 'from a certain point of view' (Thank you Obi)

This post is for people with IQ's over 90

2008-07-27
Anything below 90 IQ and you'll have no idea about what I'm talking about. People say that with movies like this you have to leave your brain at the door, the problem is, they don't tell you just how much you have to leave behind. Well....With this movie, the only way you can accept it, is to bring 10% of your brain. Any logical aspect of your mind will be thoroughly insulted with the whole concept and the lame a** storyline with an unbelievably predictable plot.

In this movie, the director and writers are saying "Your so stupid, that we can feed you any crap and bull and you'll take it like a fish". And by looking at the reviews here, it certainly seems to be just that. Here is SOME of my list of amazingly craptastical issues I personally had with the movie. Lest I had accidentally brought 15% of my brain had been a mortal life changing mistake.

(Wife/Tunnel/Fireball) Wife in car sees fireball coming at her, has time to get out of car, run long ways down tunnel, find a door in tunnel, try to open door but locked, kick door down and get in all while the exploding blast took 5 min to get to here, but it didn't end there. When she got in the door she realized her dog was missing. Still fireball blasting in her direction had time to call her dog. Dog responds and starts running in her direction and jumping just in time to miss the fire blasting behind him.

(Wife/Husband/Desert) Husband wandering aimlessly in desert just happens to run into his wife who happens to be caravaning with America finest trailer trash park.

(Amazing Virus compatibility) Mac is a great computer, but it's amazing just how the aliens had the same operating system as we do that we could download a virus to their computer. AMAZING!

(Trailer trash F-14 pilots) All our skilled highly trained F-14 pilots are all dead, but the planes somehow all survived.
"Any of you trailer trash have flight experience?"

(Highly Skilled Alien Pilots out piloted by trailer trash pilots) I have nothing more to say on this one.

I honestly looked forward to this movie and am more than willing to leave my brain at the door, but there are some movies, as such, that is so horribly written and insults your intelligence so bad, that even when leaving your brain behind that you just can't get by how dumb they think you are.

On another note, I'd like to accredit the people who had done the special effects. Where the people who had put months into perfecting the explosions and overall graphics of the movie, the screenwriter had only spent a half day on writing his quality script. It's sad to see so much hard work done, only to be insulted by a half as* job of writing. My review may not be the popular one, but I'll be damned before I ever suck up to this crap.