Badmovies.org Forum

I have run into some folks who think ID4 (Independence Day) deserves to be here.

I personally never understood that--IMHO it is the best "alien race invades earth" to have been made to date. You wanna take terrible just look at the new War Of The Worlds movie from not long ago.

I place ID4 in the "bad, and not in a good way" catagory. It has quite a bit of uvbelievable crap in it, and all in all, it's not that entertaining. The idea a fighter pilot, would intentionally come in physical contact with something not of this world. That's just absurd, but not as absurd as the guy knowing how to program a virus for the system of a alien spacecraft. Also, the idea that a pilot would know how to fly the thing, let alone be any good at it, just makes to movie, ,well, stupid.

Personlly, I enjoyed Mars Attacks much more, but it's not meant to be taken so seriously. .

ID4 is an overblown B-movie without the charm. If millions are going to be spent on fx...you would think they would spend just a little more on the script writers...instead of rehashing old sterotypes and ideas that were old by the early 60's.

 It's an ok time-waster...but a waste of money.

I love ID4.

Sure, it's full of plot holes, Will Smithisms, extravagant fx, goofy writing and the requisite cliched President's speech.  All part of the charm.

It's a fun film into which I can lose myself for a couple of hours.  I expect nothing more from it than that.

It's decent film.  Nothing great but it's a good way to waste two and a half hours.

I have to disagree with your opinion of the War Of The Worlds remake.  I was floored by just how good that film was.  The initial attack in that film gave me chills my first time viewing it.  Fantastic film.

I thought it was bad for two reasons. First the plot which was just updated and cobbbled together from various better 1950s scifi alien invasion films.

Also I had troulbe with the amount of suspension of disbelief required for a scifi popcorn movie. The computer virus, flying the ship, teaching so many variously skilled pilots to fly F-18s so quickly, and there being so many of one type of aircraft to be scrounged up, etc.

But what was the one thing that told me I would hate the rest of the movie was when Will Smith's wife ducks into that supply closet to escape the fireball about to cook everyone in the tunnel. She survives with the dog that we last see leaping into the room as the fireball is reaching where they are. So there is no combustion zone in their world? Fire and heat only travel in straight lines? The superheated air wouldn't be impossible to breathe even if they aren't directly burned somehow?

That's when I knew the filmmakers really didn't give a crap to tell a good story, just blow stuff up and by the numbers plotting. You knew Randy Quiad's pilot had to have his return confrontation with the aliens and redeem himself by saving the day, the noble sacrifice was optional.

I remember back in 1996 when I first saw the trailer for ID4 while at another movie and I thought it looked like the coolest movie ever!

Then my buddy Chris & I went to see it.
I can remember standing in line and even where we sat in the theater clear as day.

And I remember how disappointed I was in the film while watching it.

I wanted to see a very serious look at an alien invasion.
I wanted to see total brutality and blood & guts and I wanted to watch the human race seriously struggle to reclaim the planet.
(kind of like the humans vs. machines in the Terminator films)
I wanted gritty hardcore reality.

ID4 had too much lighthearted campy comedy for me and it totally turned me off.

That's not to say that it's 100% bad.
It isn't.
It has good production values and some genuine moments of suspense.
But that whole "lightheartedness" that permeates ID4 was what killed it for me.

I enjoyed this movie quite a bit.  Sure it's got a ton of ridiculous plot holes and everything else, but, eh...didn't bother me.  I got a real kick out of those people on top of the building with the signs welcoming the aliens  :teddyr:  It was just fun, not to be taken seriously, watch stuff blow up, get a few laughs.

Didn't care for that War of the Worlds remake at all.  The beginning was awesome, they did a great job with the special effects, but after 90 minutes of Maverick and his god-awful kids and the reunion with his god-awful wife I was very put off by it.  I guess I'm not in the target audience for that because when I see Tom Cruise I don't automatically go "ooooh!!!, aaaaah!!!". 

I thought ID4 was a disappointment.  And that "laptop upload to the superior alien computer" scene was one of the stupidest moments in film history.

Me, I've got no problem with it.  It's a fun popcorn flick.

ID4 isn't a terrible movie.

It is what it is, and that's a good timewaster. 

There's definitely been worse movies.

I like this, although I wouldn't buy the dvd or anything.

I don't think it's a bad movie.

Of course, you have to suspend disbelief a little, but overall it's an entertaining movie and I like the special effects.  Judd Hirsch is the best and Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman are VERY easy on the eyes.  Adam Baldwin as the Airforce (?) guys is pretty sweet too.

And call me a lame-o, but every time I see Bill Pullman do his independence speech to the newly recruited pilots, I cry my eyes out.

I loved Mars Attacks and bought it on DVD.  Whenever I need a good laugh, I bring it out.

I also enjoyed War of the Worlds.  Not really a Tom Cruise fan, but he did okay in this one.  The special effects were awesome, but the ending was a little lame.  I still bought it on DVD, but for $10 I'm not going to quibble.

ID4 was mediocre.  Not bad, not good. 

It felt like they couldn't make up their mind to do a campy romp invasion movie or a serious gritty invasion movie, so they sort of did both at the same time.  So instead of a relaxing warm bath or a bracing cold shower, you just sat in a tub of lukewarm water.

I saw ID4 in the theater, and thought it was pretty good...then again, I was 13 at the time, and when you sit me down with a soda, and popcorn, I'm liable to like just about anything.   :teddyr:

It's a very cheesy film in a lot of ways, and I can tell already that it's not going to age well.  What ticks me off more, though, is the fact that there are some good actors in the cast, like Harvey Fierstein, Brent Spiner, Randy Quaid, and Mary McDonnel, who are all killed off, while guys like Will Smith and Bill Pullman are allowed to survive.  That's just a personal gripe of mine, though. 

It's good for a one-time viewing, but I wouldn't recommend owning it on DVD to anyone. 

Meh, just another alien invasion movie.

I didn't like ID4, I though it was pointless and quite dumb.  I think it should be on this site.  I would write a review for it, but I don't feel like sitting through it again.

ID4 was glossy; I'll give it that.

Besides what's already been mentioned, the thing that bothered me was the aliens; they were so vastly more intelligent than us but when it came down to explaining their motivation, it was nothing more than the locust mentality.  Seemed like a weak cop-out to me <shrugs>

I would give ID4 a little more time to ripen before putting up here. I think that any bad movie that had blockbuster status needs a good 20 years before it can be considered a B-Movie. The budget was far too high to be a B-Movie, budget aside it has all the other markings of a B-Movie. Plot holes, Will Smith punching an alien and the notorious uploading the virus scene.

Myself, I liked it. I think that early on the movie is good and plausible. The middle part with the aliens blowing everything up was also quite enjoyable. It's the final third where the movie just loses it.

My feeling is: If people can accept the corny B-movie flavor of Star Wars, they shouldn't have trouble with Independence Day.  Both movies are pulp sci-fi writ large.

Yeah, but Star Wars has other things going for it like imagination, memorable characters, nifty ideas like the Force, etc.

We're not talking about some low-budget attempt at serious cinema that came out all goofy due to amatured at the helm, or something that is terrible and it's flaws are entertaining, it's IMO, a long, boring, predictable, ludacrisly out of touch film, tha was hyped WAY more than it ever should have been. ID4 sucked everywhere it wasn't supposed to, and in the most unspectactular ways.


Actually, this site seems more suited to bad movies that are bad in a fun and entertaining way, ID4 IMO would get one slime or even a skull, based on entertainment value.

Akiratubo, I'm not saying that ID4 was as good as Star Wars, but seriously -- everything cited as a plus (The Force, the characters...) are cliches swiped from somewhere else.  There's plenty of corny in Star Wars, and that's part of its charm.  ID4 has plenty of corny that it doesn't pull off so memorably (mostly because it isn't wrapped around the Campbellian myth structure), but I don't see how someone could adore the one and despise the other.

And Ghouck -- well, I guess everyone's got to be a jihadist about something.

Ok, , ,maybe you're taking my opinion a bit too seriously. Take a deep breath, , count to ten, , , relax , , ,,

This was just a good, fun, popcorn movie.  Entertaining, but not to be taken too seriously.  I still catch parts of it on TV from time to time.

Count me in with the "enjoyed it on a popcorn film level" crowd. I like the film, but acknowledge how "Hollywood" it is with its gigantic plot holes, logic lapses, etc.

That's close to my own assesment.  It wasn't good enough to be good, and it wasn't bad enough to be good.  Just sort of offered up as a way to kill 90 minutes, like most disposable Hollywood product. 

To me it's one of those movies that really engrosses you while you're watching it, then when you're leaving the theater you think "Gee that was stupid".  The movie is amazingly rewatchable.

I totally agree that it is re-watchable. This movie was one of the movies in the breakroom at one of my old jobs. It has a high re-view tolerance.

As for Star Wars it is not at that level. For all the ideas that Star Wars lifted from other films it is still a classic.

ID4 is a movie that tried to be serious, it wasn't intentionally corny. It just ended up that way. It wasn't a bad movie either in the technical sense. It simply suffered from some spotty writing and plot holes. If someone with half a brain had reviewed the script and re-tooled a few things it would have been much better. That's simply what its missing.