Didn't I Promise You Fireworks?: "Independence Day" at 30

After three decades, Roland Emmerich's alien disaster epic is still a flawed but effective blend of cinematic wonder and blockbuster stupidity.

By: Josh McCormack

Thirty years ago today, Roland Emmerich’s “Independence Day” was released on nearly 3,000 screens across the U.S. By the end of 1996, the film had grossed more than $300 million domestically, contributing to an impressive $800 million haul worldwide. It was the biggest film of the year and, for better or worse, ushered in a new kind of blockbuster. It paved the way not only for Emmerich, but also for even more vulgar auteurs such as Michael Bay, whose prominence began to grow in the years after “Independence Day.”

While it was a big hit with audiences, critics were skeptical. Janet Maslin of The New York Times may have called it a “rush of gleeful, audience-friendly exhilaration,” but the late Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times found it to be “timid when it comes to imagination.”

Like all of Emmerich’s films, “Independence Day” is often criticized for its overly familiar tropes, one-dimensional characters and heavy emphasis on special effects over plot. As Emmerich went on to make lesser films such as “Godzilla” and “2012,” and as critically reviled blockbusters such as “Transformers” dominated the worldwide box office over the following 20 years, “Independence Day”’s success was often viewed as the impetus for the dumbing down of mass entertainment.

In their nearly 42-minute takedown of the film, the outspoken YouTube personalities of Red Letter Media, Mike Stoklasa and Jay Bauman, described “Independence Day” as a “watershed film” in a negative context.

“The movie ushered in an era of dumb script-writing,” Stoklasa argued. “It feels like a film version of a Saturday morning kid’s cartoon show.”

For all the initial success “Independence Day” enjoyed and the ire it eventually provoked, the last decade or so has shown that audiences’ interest in the film hasn’t sustained in the same way it has for other nostalgic blockbusters.

This was most evident with 2016’s “Independence Day: Resurgence,” a legacy sequel that brought back much of the old cast — sans Will Smith — and teamed them with younger actors like Liam Hemsworth, Maika Monroe and Jessie T. Usher. While the original film received mixed reviews from critics, “Resurgence” was almost completely panned, leading to a dismal 29% on Rotten Tomatoes. And this time, not even audiences had the film’s back.

But aside from a reference here and there, the “Independence Day” franchise has lain dormant. As audiences continue to focus on Marvel, “Star Wars,” “Top Gun” and low-budget horror movies made by former YouTubers, “Independence Day” seems more like a relic of cinema’s past than the touchstone it once was.

All of this is to say: now is the perfect time to revisit “Independence Day.”

No longer saddled with being viewed as the nadir of box office success, Roland Emmerich’s explosive vision of an alien invasion somehow seems quaint compared with modern-day blockbusters.

“Independence Day” is an undeniably silly — and oftentimes quite stupid — movie (thanks mostly to screenwriter Dean Devlin, who made a career out of plot contrivances and cringeworthy exposition dumps), but it’s also never messy.

Coming off nearly 20 years of Marvel films where — at their worst — it can sometimes be a struggle to know who is fighting whom or what they’re fighting for. In light of this, “Independence Day”’s simple-mindedness becomes an attribute.

Released at a time when audiences were more willing to suspend disbelief and embrace earnest popcorn entertainment, the film never wavers in its belief in humanity or its insistence that the alien invaders must be eradicated. While it’s somewhat hilarious that any questions of whether the extraterrestrials are friend or foe are solved so early in the film’s runtime — thanks to the showstopping White House explosion — it establishes the stakes immediately and gets audiences invested much earlier than a lesser film of this type would.

On top of this, “Independence Day” is committed to the archaic but effective “setup/payoff” rule of storytelling. It’s not subtle by any means, but so much of the film’s success hinges on this old-fashioned storytelling trope. Randy Quaid’s Russell is a Vietnam veteran turned town drunk who flies a crop duster and raves about his experiences being abducted by aliens. To his community — and even his family — he is a complete laughingstock. So, of course, he gets the chance to redeem himself by the third act and, as predictable as it might be, his final sacrifice still gets audiences pumping their fists 30 years later.

“Independence Day” also represents one of the last big-budget action and sci-fi movies that relied almost entirely on practical effects. From the model work to the alien puppets, the movie still holds up because it relies on some of the best old-school filmmaking techniques.

And at the center of it all is that ensemble cast. For all the things worth criticizing Emmerich for, it’s hard to deny he had an eye for casting in many of his early films. While there are some heavy hitters like Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman, the movie isn’t relying solely on star power. Great character actors like Harvey Fierstein, Judd Hirsch and Margaret Colin bring real life and eccentricity to this oversized Saturday morning cartoon.

And for Will Smith, a TV star making the transition to the big screen, “Independence Day” marked his arrival as a true movie star, something that would be solidified the following year with “Men in Black.” Even now, watching his heavily memed “Welcome to Earth” moment and the ensuing scene in which he drags an alien carcass across the desert is like being struck by a lightning bolt of charisma. While younger audiences might know him as the guy who only sometimes makes mediocre movies when he’s not slapping Chris Rock or freestyling in front of a plate of salad, there’s no denying that, at his peak, Smith was one of the great movie stars of his generation.

Thirty years later, “Independence Day” remains a flawed but effectively entertaining product of its time. In its silliness is a simplicity that I often yearn to see more of in modern blockbusters and an earnestness that allows audiences of all ages to feel invited instead of ostracized, as they so often do in this era of cinematic universes. 

While it might be hard to celebrate our country’s 250th anniversary with the real world serving as a reflection of our craven commander in chief, perhaps you can instead grab some friends, pop some popcorn and celebrate the 30th anniversary of MY president reminding us what the true meaning of Independence Day really is.