Customer Comments from Amazon.com

SHAWN WATSON(drewpee@globalnet.co.uk) from EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND , December 27, 1998 [1 out of 5 stars]
BAD, VERY BAD  This movie was not made for artistic purposes thats tiresome, the dialogue is uninspired, there is too much humour and why does AMERICA have to win all the
time? No offence. It's just a little up setting.

A viewer from BOSTON MA, USA , December 22, 1998 [5 out of 5 stars]
A GREAT SCINECE FICTION FILM THE BEST SINCE STAR WARS.
I liked INDEPENDENCE DAY tremendously it's effects and aliens are tops bar
none!!!. WILL SMITH, JEFF GOLDBAUM and BILL PULLMAN are great too as is the
rest of the supporting cast. The movie deals with aliens coming to earth
and what thier intentions are. What they are? I'm not going to say just
watch and have a blast like I did finding out this movie is the best
special effects bonanza since STAR WARS don't miss it if you love SCI-FI
movies like I do.

A viewer from Springfield, Illinois , December 7, 1998 [5 out of 5 stars]
One of the greatest movies (NOT films) of all time!!
Before reading this, go read all the other reviews submitted by amazon.com
guests. You will notice that recurring themes in the positive reviews are:
"...this movie has a touching hidden message that humanity is not the
center of the universe and that we should resolve our differences..." while
the negative reviews say "...this movie tries too hard to be serious, when
it is just plain stupid..."

LIKE HELL!!! This movie has not even the slightest hint of reality-based
hidden messages that touch the heart and heal the soul. It's a popcorn
movie, one with no brains and cardboard characters, and one of the greatest
movies of all time. The storyline flows perfectly, and the special effects
are nothing short of spectacular. All the actors understand exactly what
this movie is about and why it was made, and make no attempt to glamorize
it or take the material seriously. The relationships are soap operas, but
carried out in exactly the right way to fall perfectly in step with the
rest of the movie, which has some of the most heart-stopping, mind-blowing
action sequences you will ever see! When I first saw ID4 in theaters, my
heart flew out of my chest and I said "My God, this movie has really done
something."

It had obtained perfection.

leopoldine@jhu.edu from Baltimore, Maryland , December 6, 1998
[5 out of 5 stars]
This was just as great as Star Wars!
Anyonw who saw Men In Black and liked it is sure to love ID4. Although some
parts of the script are impossible most veiwers overlook that (David could
never have sent them a virus through computer unless the aliens had
Microsoft Windows) just because they want to see a funny, action-packed
movie with great actors and charectors(Bill Pullman, Will Smith). I
recomend this film to anyone who likes science fiction or comedy.

A viewer from PRINCESS ANNE, MD, USA , December 6, 1998 [5 out of 5 stars]
A GREAT MOVIE, A GREAT BIG MOVIE
INDEPENDENCE DAY IS A GREAT MOVIE, A GREAT BIG MOVIE, A MOVIE THAT GRABS
YOUR CEREBRAL CORTEX AND DONT LET GO. THE FX ARE AWESOME AND THE STORY OF
HUMANITY STRUGGLING TO FIGHT BACK IS MUCH MORE COMPELLING THAN YOUR AVERAGE
PSEUD0-SOPHISTACATE HOLLYWOOD LECTURE. ID4 IS WHAT MOVIES SHOULD BE AND TOO
SELDOM ARE. WATCH IT.

Studebaker Hoch, billythemtn@geocities.com from Santa Barbara, CA ,
December 5, 1998 [2 out of 5 stars]
Just what were they after?
One can only guess at what the producers of this were after: comedy? Not
that funny. Drama? Not particularly interesting. Homage or spoof of 50s
sci-fi? Maybe - although the contrived script and plot loopholes read as if
they were trying to imitate rather than parody cheesey 50s flying saucer
movies. The first part of the film holds up well with lots of suspense and
tension, but after the aliens start to pound earth the whole thing just
comes apart. Entertaining only if you're willing to put your brain on hold.

nicholas.forbes-warren@virgin.net from Birmingham, England , November 26,
1998 [5 out of 5 stars]
This one deserves twenty stars!
For sheer entertainment, very few films are up to the standard of
INDEPENDENCE DAY. From the director of GODZILLA and STARGATE comes a
classic, which deservedly won an Oscar for special visual effects. Alien
spaceships descend on Earth with the intention of cleaning up Earth's
natural resources and lasering anyone and anything that stands in their
way, and it is up to a motley collection of disaster movie cardboard(yet
entertaining) characters to save the world! Of course, the story has its
stupid moments and its continuity errors(re: the B-2 bomber banks left
after launching a cruise missile at an alien destroyer yet on satellite
reconnaissance imagery it turns right! Weird!) but you get so driven along
with the action you will ignore it! The best SFX are undoubtedly the
blowing up of the White House(was the alien ship piloted by Republicans? ha
ha), the destruction of New York . . . wow! The dogfights between the alien
attacker ships and the Marine/Air Force fighters are well realised and the
alien bombing of El Toro air station is so realistic you feel you're there!
As for the spirited performances, Will Smith's witty dialogue and Jeff
Goldblum's hammy attempts at a Clark Kent type of character amuse no end.
This movie has everything - action, excitement, SFX, romance, explosions,
nuclear bombs, spectacular space sequences, cities being destroyed,
unintentional comedy, and those aliens! If you see this on video, it is
best enjoyed in widescreen, and will be one you will never grow bored with.
A classic.

A viewer from va, usa , November 25, 1998 [5 out of 5 stars]
Independence day is one of the best films i have seen
Independence day is one of the best films i have seen. without the jokes
and ironisisms, it would have been boring. I also liked the serious side of
it and the suspense. the special effects were no worse than they were with
any other movie.

A viewer from san diego, california , November 22, 1998 [1 out of 5 stars]
OH, PUH-LEASE
This is one of those movies which really makes you question the state of
Hollywood today (another is a certain movie about a big ocean-liner which
hits an iceber - oh, never mind). "Independence Day" is defended as a
sci-fi bash which is somehow exempt from the laws governing what makes
sense and what doesn't. Movies do exsist which side-step these laws - "Men
in Black" is a sci-fi flick which is both entertaining and non-sensical at
the same time. Unlike "ID4," "MIB" is clearly a joke - a satirical poke at
itself and at science-fiction. It's a joke we get. Nudge-nudge, wink wink.
It's funny, and the humor is witty and intelligent.

"Independence Day," however, posseses the unfortunate pretense of
seriousness. We have scenes dripping with cliched melodrama; we have an
attempt by the writers to create a scientifically sound language of gadgets
and plans. Moreover, ID4 is plaugued with a disgusting macho,
"chest-thumping" American-ness which can only make the eyes of the
intelligent viewer roll. The dogfights are ridiculous; Jeff Goldblum's
magical virus-uplink with the technologically surperior alien mother-ship
is a riot.

The special effects are a bit cool, but they're NOTHING we haven't seen
before. The Star Wars trilogy (ca. late 70s early 80s) used giant models
more effectively; the computer-generated fighter-planes and alien attack
craft are dwarfed by Spielberg's dinosaurs.

It's dissappointing that every time I've seen ID4, the aliens lose. This is
a planet which NEEDS to be destroyed.

A viewer from Glendale, AZ , November 21, 1998 [5 out of 5 stars]
Excellent Sci-fi!
One of the great sci-fi movies of our time, ID4 Independence Day is a
roller-coaster ride of a movie. Action, Adventure, Humor, Romance, you name
it this movie has got it. Anyone that thinks this movie stinks does not
deserve the honor of being a movie fan. It is an excellent and powerful
ride of a movie. It's even better widescreen

john.reder@juno.com from Cincinnati, Ohio , November 18, 1998
[5 out of 5 stars]
This movie is great fun and it makes a good point!
Sure, you can slam the writing but do we really want to see this move toned
down just to make it more real to life? This movie has it all action,
romance, aliens, space ships, jet fighters, nuclear bombs and great special
effects! the heck with writing - if you want writing go read a book. If you
want thrills, spills and good fun then this is your movie.

Oh yes, the point that I feel this movie makes is that humans may not be
the center of the universe (even though we think and act like we are) and
if we keep blindly advertising our existance with radio waves etc. we just
might attract a life form that is higher on the galactic food chain than we
are and we had better be prepaired!

A viewer from Atlanta, Georgia , September 24, 1998 [1 out of 5 stars]
It Stank
This movie epitomizes everything that's wrong with Hollywood moviemaking
today. A ludicrous plot, stock characters, pathetic dialog and a host of
other ills make it unsuitable for anyone with an intellectual age in excess
of 12.

James Rowan (jimbob@imatrekkie.com) from Buckhannon, West Virginia, United
States , June 11, 1998 [5 out of 5 stars]
Great movie!
This was a great 90's science fiction movie. It had a detailed story line
and smash-bang special effects. The cast was made up of several hip movie
stars such as Will Smith and Bill Pullman. I especially liked the aerial
battle scenes. They were da bomb. I recommend this movie to anyone who
wants a movie they can watch over and over and never tire of.

Mad Sam from Washington , May 25, 1998 [1 out of 5 stars]
READ THIS
The person or persons resposible for writting this film should be punished.
If your going to make a serious a movie, then make a serious movie, if your
going to make a comedy, make a comedy, don't mix them. You can do that with
some films, but not the one because it does not cleary draw the line at
where the seriousness begins and the comedy ends. What makes me even more
mad is that I saw a critic on T.V. who said that it was THIS generations
STAR WARS, this scum should never even look the way of STAR WARS. The
special effects are the only thing that sold this poor excuse for a science
fiction film, and to tell you the truth they weren't anything that SPECIAL.

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