A Revisit of the 1996 Blockbuster “Independence Day” And It’s Forgotten Sequel

Since the summer movie season is a time for big summer blockbusters, I wanted to revisit a huge blockbuster that came out in 1996 (and its forgotten sequel). And, quick side note, speaking of blockbusters, I plan on checking out a few past summer blockbusters after I finish up my reviews for the upcoming Summer Film Festival!

This 1996 blockbuster ended up being one of the biggest movies to come out that year. And, this movie showed us probably one of the biggest alien invasions ever. The movie I’m talking about: “Independence Day.”

In this epic adventure, strange phenomena surface around the globe, The skies ignite. Terror races through the world’s major cities.

As these extraordinary events unfold, it becomes increasingly clear that a force of incredible magnitude has arrived; its mission: total annihilation over the Fourth of July weekend.

The last hope to stop the destruction is an unlikely group of people united by fate and unimaginable circumstances.

Sure, the 1996 movie “Independence Day” can have its flaws and can have a slightly predictable plot for first time viewers. But, it’s also one of those big blockbusters that is highly entertaining and it’s one of those movies that you can easily turn your minds off for a while, escape from everything and enjoy the exciting sci-fi action.

The 1996 movie delivers a lot of awesome action sequences. The initial alien attack that we see in the first half of the movie is still just as thrilling as it was when the movie initially came out. Also, the final battle where we see many of the characters battling the aliens in the air and at their mothership is very tense and exciting.

“Independence Day” also does a decent job blending action, sci-fi and humor. The movie features some humorous, witty moments, especially in the scenes where Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum appear together. There’s a moment in the movie where Smith’s character is ranting hilariously while dragging an unconscious alien does a great job breaking the tension for a short while.

During its initial release, “Independence Day” was a massive commercial success and a cultural phenomenon, leaving a lasting impact on the blockbuster genre. Sure, the movie didn’t get the best reviews from critics. Yet, with its intense, sometimes over the top action and great visual effects that still hold up, this blockbuster is still highly entertaining.

Now, let’s get to the forgotten sequel. In the 2016 sequel “Independence Day:

Resurgence,” as the Fourth of July nears, satellite engineer David Levinson investigates a 3,000 mile wide mothership that’s approaching Earth. 

Fortunately, two decades earlier, nations across the world started to use recovered extraterrestrial technology to develop an immense defense program.

When the alien invaders attack with unprecedented force, the US president, teams of scientists and brave fighter pilots spring into action to save the planet from a seemingly invincible enemy.

“Independence Day: Resurgence” can deliver some action sequences that can be a little entertaining. There’s a sequence where the 3,000 mile wide ship's gravity lifts all the skyscrapers and everything on the ground up before crashing them down onto the ground. This scene can be a little intense and visually decent, yet not as exciting as the first film’s big alien attack.

Despite the sometimes fun sci-fi action the sequel does offer, it does also lack the suspense and the entertainment value that the 1996 movie delivered. “Resurgence: also seemed to recapture the magic and excitement from the original. It also seemed like the sequel rehashed some of the ideas the filmmakers had from the first movie without beginning anything really new to the table.

You can currently stream “Independence Day” on Hulu and “Independence Day: Resurgence on Max (aka HBO Max).

• According to producer/co-writer Dean Devlin, the U.S. military had agreed to support the film by allowing the crew to film at military bases, consulting the actors who have military roles, etc. However, after learning of the Area 51 references in the script, they withdrew their support.

• Holds the record for most miniature model work to appear in one film. Model shop supervisor Michael Joyce estimated that more miniatures were used for this film than in any other two films combined. Due to the advances in digital technology since this film's release, most experts believe this record may stand forever.

• Dean Devlin said that most of the dialogue in the scenes Jeff Goldblum shared with Judd Hirsch and Will Smith was improvised.

• Production designer Patrick Tatopoulos presented Roland Emmerich with two concepts for the aliens. Emmerich liked both designs so much, he came up with the idea to use one design as the actual alien and the other to be a bio-mechanical suit the aliens could wear. Both of Tatopoulos's concepts appear in the film.

• Dean Devlin wanted the alien invasion to be on a grand scale, because he disliked how in the movies, alien invasions always happened in a low-key manner (landing in cornfields, etc).

• The huge hype that the film began generating in early 1996 caused Warner Bros. to postpone the release of Mars Attacks! (1996) from summer to Christmas, and Steven Spielberg (temporarily) cancelled his plans to direct War of the Worlds (2005).

• Soon after the success of the first film, 20th Century Fox paid Dean Devlin a large sum of money to write a script for a sequel. However, after completing the script, Devlin didn't turn in the script and instead gave the money back to the studio, as he felt the story didn't live up to the first film. It was only approximately 15 years later, that Devlin met up with Roland Emmerich to try again, having felt that they had "cracked" a story for a sequel.

• The movie had been given a $165 million production budget (not including marketing and distribution costs), $90 million more than its predecessor, Independence Day (1996), which had a $75 million budget 20 years earlier, and had a worldwide box-office take of $817.4 million, making it the highest grossing movie of 1996. "ID: Resurgence" however, only made $389 million worldwide, making it one of the biggest box office flops of 2016.

• Roland Emmerich cites Will Smith's exit of the production as a huge factor as to why the film was a disappointment, as they had to quickly re-write the entire script from scratch without his character and fast track everything else to make it to its July 2016 release date.