Search found 1 match: Roland Emmerich

Released in July of 1996, the sci-fi/disaster film Independence Day was ushered into theaters. Audiences were extremely kind to the film, as it became second highest grossing movie ever (and as of the writing of this review, it remains in the all time top 50). Independence Day helped revive the Hollywood disaster sub-genre, of which I am quite a fan of. For that reason, Independence Day has my gratitude. Unfortunately, that's probably the nicest thing I can say about the picture.

After mysterious flying saucers of massive size are spotted all around the globe, there is much speculation and concern. And before much time has passed, a these saucers begin a gigantic attack on much of America, greatly diminishing the population. These events bring a dozen seemingly un-related people together to organize a desperate plan to save their country, and their planet.

145 minutes is an inexcusable length for a film with this little plot. The watch-checking began less than an hour into the film, and was repeated in 10-20 minute cycles after that. A bore, a chore, and a snore, director and co-writer Roland Emmerich has no idea how to keep the audience interested in this surprisingly mundane and tedious American Army enlistment advertisement.

Independence Day lacks any of the positive qualities from better disaster, sci-fi, or popcorn movies. The sense of grief, doom, and genuine destruction one feels in a film like Spielberg's War of the Worlds is missing here. The energy, scope, and timeless effects of films like Star Wars aren't present. And the fun, excitement, and enthusiasm of successful blockbusters like Pirates of the Caribbean fails to materialize. What we get instead is a plodding, uninvolving, and tragically unremarkable film that doesn't provide nearly as much entertainment value as a film of this type should.

The cast suffers from characters too weightless to be labeled as "thin." Jeff Goldbloom and Will Smith essentially portray themselves, and Smith reminds how grating he can be when working with a lackluster script. Bill Pullman as the president of the United States never channels the sense of heroism one would expect, and is actually a fairly unlikable screen presence for much of the picture. Judd Hirsch and Harvey Fierstein are reasonably successful in comedic supporting roles, though Fierstein is only present during the first act.

If nothing else, David Arnold's triumphantly old-fashioned action score provides the energy and scope the movie itself is desperately missing. It's not subtle, nor necessarily unexpected, but it's memorable and fun in ways the film could only dream of. Hollywood needs more scores like this.

The special effects have aged terribly. The third act suffers significantly from deus ex machina. And the sheer amount of explosions cause the film to feel like a parody of itself. And that last point accurately represents the film's biggest flaw (and arguably, it's biggest draw for some). Despite its over-the-top nature and silly plot, Emmerich plays everything completely straight. Never does the movie seem to realize how absurd it is, and with that comes many missed opportunities. I love David Arnold's score for this, but given the obnoxiously patriotism throughout the movie, wouldn't it have been fun if the action scenes had been scored with arrangements of "The Star Spangled Banner" and "Stars and Stripes Forever?" The entertainment value sadly isn't here, and considering the potential of the project, that's just a crying shame.

Score: 4/10