Independence Day1996

86/100 Now this is the kind of film I like most. Its schlock, in fact it's premium schlock, and it knows it's schlock but still takes itself seriously, and the result is just amazing. First off, I'd like to mention the pacing here. I was rarely bored throughout the movie, and I'd say most of the scenes are well-placed and further the plot. In addition, most of the characters are brilliantly set up and paid off later. There's also a ton of iconic scenes here, so many I can't name all of them. The CGI is off-the-charts here. Sure, there may be some moments which were kind of dated, but the highs here are done better than most movies I've ever seen, on the same level as Jurassic Park, my personal favourite movie in terms of effects. This helps in the creation of the aforementioned iconic scenes, such as when the aliens blow up the White House. In this day and age, who can blame them, really? The performances here are also really good. This is back when Will Smith was generally considered a good actor, and he does great here, as does Jeff Goldblum, though it's going to be a while before he's not just Ian Malcolm for me. The side characters are also done really good. I liked Randy Quaid as a drunken pilot who got pegged by aliens. The standout performance is of course Bill Pullman as the President, especially with that iconic speech, one of the best in film. This film's nothing special, it's not a masterpiece or anything, but it's great at being fun, and I think that makes it good in my eyes at least. It's entertaining, and I really couldn't ask for more. A great movie overall.