Director Roland Emmerich's 1996 sci-fi blockbuster sees aliens reach Earth. And they're clearly hostile: their plan is to suck the planet of all its resources, leave behind a burnt cinder circling the sun, and move on. Planting giant ships above the world's major cities, they unleash destruction on an unprecedented scale (superbly caught by the special effects).
All attempts to fight back are met by hordes of fighter craft until pilot Steven Hiller (Will Smith) manages to down one and capture the pilot. In tandem, scientist David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), having worked out their purpose, also works out a way to destroy them, but he and Hiller need a spacecraft, which happens to be at a secret base near Las Vegas...
Emmerich has great fun with the special effects, while Smith as the alien-ass-kicking pilot and Goldblum as the geeky scientist make a great pairing. There are also wonderfully comic cameos from Randy Quaid as Russell Casse, a crop duster previously abducted by aliens for whom the invasion comes as no surprise, and Brent Spiner (Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation) as Dr Okun, the stir-crazy scientist in charge of the secret base.
The child of countless science-fiction movies, Independence Day is rollicking, fast-moving fun, and even if the fate of what's left of the human race is never in doubt, there's enough tension and action to carry even the most jaundiced viewer along, even those who wonder why aliens never have a virus-check on their ship's computers.
Independence Day is a Film programme that first aired in 1996 and has been classified a 12 certificate.
