Independence Day

“I steal, you steal, we steal.” Or how Emmerich and Devlin got together, dumped their brain concoctions into a common cauldron, stirred it properly and prepared an inedible slop. I turned off my brain and just wanted to have fun, but even a lobotomy wouldn't have helped. The massive avalanche of clichés and stupidity swept me away in such a way that I wouldn't want to repeat it. (11.05.2003)

"Genossen, hässliche Diversanten aus dem Weltall sind in unserem Land gelandet, um Kartoffelkäfer auf unseren fruchtbaren Feldern auszusetzen. Genossen, wir werden nicht zulassen, dass die Staaten unterwandert werden! Außerdem ist der siegreiche Juli, also auf Sie." Kapitalistischer Realismus in voller Stärke, so wahnsinnig wie bolschewistische Agitprop, so spektakulär erbärmlich. Und außerdem - die Figuren. Ein gutmütiger "Nigga“, ein heldenhafter Präsident und Pilot, ein Säufer mit dem Herzen eines Don-Kosaken... oh je, Entschuldigung... ein furchtloser Cowboy... Eine einfach brillante Inszenierung eines stinkenden, erbärmlichen Furzes. Ein Film über nichts mit schönen Effekten. Hollywoods Glanz und Düsternis in voller Wirkung. War das nicht eine Sonderanfertigung für das Weiße Haus? Edit 2011: Nolens volens muss ich zugeben, dass mich dieser Film (wie viele bolschewistische Agitprops) amüsiert und mich mit einer besonderen Freude am absoluten Wahnsinn erfüllt. Im Nachhinein vergebe ich also einen zusätzlichen Stern, denn im Vergleich zu dem Schmierenstück namens World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles ist es ein königliches Vergnügen und verdient nicht die gleiche Bewertung... (25.01.2004)

Switch off your brain, make a big bucket of popcorn for yourself, turn the volume up (there’s no point in watching it anywhere else but at either a home or a regular theater) and make yourself believe the misleading phrase “it’s a spoof" and, mainly, take it easy. If you manage to persuade yourself that it really is meant as a spoof then it is an excellent B-grade catastrophe movie with a huge budget and well known, but mostly terrible actors (with one exception of Will Smith, brimming with snappy lines) and it’s decently paced. On top of all that it’s too long and overflowing with American pathos to an extent that can be trumped only by Emmerich himself in his subsequent movies. (22.04.2005)

Emmerich's hand broke off with a touch of pathos. Bill Pullman is completely off with his heroic president, Will Smith is embarrassing, Jeff Goldblum is as if he wasn't there - just a smaller overrated mishap. The undisclosed variation of War of the Worlds didn't work out and despite the gripping scene of the destruction of the White House, I have an aversion towards this film. (26.01.2006)

Honestly speaking, I don't consider myself a fan of the highly peculiar director Roland Emmerich and his pompous megalomaniacal movies. The theme of alien invasion has been seen countless times in B-movie sci-fi films before Emmerich, and Emmerich simply decided that if he couldn't make the first one, he would at least make the biggest alien invasion in the history of cinema. So the sky is filled with thousands of gigantic flying saucers. I mean, why not use the cliché that the movie audience has perfectly absorbed in their blood? These monstrous artificial bodies have dozens, even hundreds of kilometers in diameter, and apparently, neither the screenwriter nor the director are burdened by the problem of maneuvering such oversized vehicles in the gravitational fields of the moons and planets of our solar system, nor the fact that they suddenly appear here. Otherwise, it is exceptionally pathetic, patriotic, and heroic. So, who can get into a fighter jet to bravely face an alien invasion? The American president, of course. Emmerich has not yet made a masterpiece in the genre, and Independence Day is no exception to that rule. Overall impression: 40%. (03.01.2008)

A visually stunning masterpiece with fantastic music and a likeable cast. The script is packed with action and there isn't a single dull moment, there’s always something happening, one twist after another, and some scenes are truly fantastic (Area 51, city destruction, the scenes after the apocalypse, etc.). In addition, Roland Emmerich brilliantly combines visuals with music in a way similar to Michael Bay, for example. The pathos must be taken with a grain of salt, and whether we like it or not, we have to admit that Bill Pullman has charisma. It's not smart sci-fi, it's popcorn entertainment, but damn well directed, well acted, and decently told. Overall, Independence Day is unequivocally Emmerich's best film, or rather, his only truly good film. (04.09.2005)

The Hollywood high-budget blockbuster of the 1990s in its full and immaculate glory. I’ve seen it at least thirty times, but the intensity of the experience remains unrelenting and the internal scheme of the narrative as a mediator of a global catastrophe is exemplary. There are dozens of characters, but each of them has an important function in communicating with the viewer, who learns about the alien attack from the point of view of the president, a brilliant scientist, a verbose soldier and the general population, so the presentation of the plot is really incredibly complex and well thought out. It may reek of American pathos and naivety, but Independence Day is simply so well constructed, scored and acted, supported by amazing visual effects and the ultimate adrenaline rush, that I will watch it thirty more times in the future and the general term "Legend" will increasingly come to mind. An incredible romp that will never get old and, above all, will never be surpassed within the genre. (24.09.2011)

Independence Day is in a typically Emmerich vein, with this film being one of the first pieces to feature the director’s penchant for monster-scale visual effects, as well as the catastrophic-apocalyptic feel and the American heroism of the main characters. The cast was mostly likeable, the plot moved along, although twenty minutes less running time would not have hurt, and from a technical point of view it is a very successful achievement. In short, one of those films that is great for switching off the brain and unwinding. (11.07.2016)

It was a great science fiction for its time, and perhaps it's not surprising that it's still a great science fiction after almost twenty years. Emmerich managed to create a great visual effects film that perhaps best depicts the fear of being invaded. Yes, it's very American, but that's clear from the title, isn't it? Some moral speeches about world unity might sound a bit forced, but it probably wouldn't work without them. (20.10.2014)