Independence Day
Independence Day (also promoted as ID4) is a 1996 American science fiction action film directed by Roland Emmerich, written by Emmerich and the film's producer Dean Devlin, and stars an ensemble cast that consists of Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Margaret Colin, Randy Quaid, Robert Loggia, Vivica A. Fox, James Rebhorn, and Harvey Fierstein. The film focuses on disparate groups of people who converge in the Nevada desert in the aftermath of a worldwide attack by a powerful extraterrestrial race. With the other people of the world, they launch a counterattack on July 4—Independence Day in the United States. While promoting Stargate in Europe, Emmerich conceived the film while answering a question about his belief in the existence of alien life. Devlin and Emmerich decided to incorporate a large-scale attack having noticed that aliens in most invasion films travel long distances in outer space only to remain hidden when reaching Earth. Shooting began on July 28, 1995, in New York City, and the film was completed on October 8, 1995. Considered a significant turning point in the history of the Hollywood blockbuster, Independence Day was at the forefront of the large-scale disaster film and sci-fi resurgence of the mid-late 1990s. It was released worldwide on July 3, 1996, but began showing on July 2 (the same day the film's story begins) in original release as a result of a high level of anticipation among moviegoers. The film received mixed reviews, with praise for the performances, musical score and visual effects, but criticism for its characters. It grossed over $817.4 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1996 and the second-highest-grossing film ever at the time, behind Jurassic Park (1993). The film won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound. The sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence, was released 20 years later on June 24, 2016, as part of a planned series of films.
Dr. Okun: As you can see from the repairs, we've been trying to put her back together since the late 1960s. Don't tell me you've had this for 40 years, and you don't know anything about them? Oh, hell, no. No, no. We know tons about them. But the neatest stuff-- the neatest stuff has only happened in the last few days. See, we can't duplicate their type of power, so we've never been able to experiment. But since these guys started showing up, all the little gizmos inside turned on. The last 2 4 hours have been really exciting. Exciting? People are dying out there. I don't think " exciting" is the word I'd choose to describe it. You guys are hoping to fly this thing, huh? You said you can repair their technology. Can you tell us anything useful about them? Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, they're not all that dissimilar from us. Breathes oxygen. Comparable tolerances to heat, cold. Probably why they're interested in our planet. Hey. Hey.
Independence Day
When we found them, they were wearing some sort of biomechanical suits, but once we got them off, we learned a great deal about their anatomy. Eyes, ears, no vocal chords. We're assuming they communicate with each other through some other means. You're obviously not thinking about hand signals and body language. It's some kind of extrasensory perception. Telepathy.
Independence Day
David, you unlocked part of that technology. You cracked the code. Oh, no, no. All I did was stumble onto their signal. I don't know how helpful I can be. Why don't you show them what you've discovered so far, figure out what they haven't thought of yet, and we'll see if you're as smart as we all hope you are.
Independence Day
Captain Steven Hiller, United States Marine Corps. I'm sorry, Captain. This is a restricted area. I can't let you pass without clearance. OK. Come here. You want to see my clearance? Maybe I'll just leave this here with you. Let them pass. Let them pass. Get the hell out of the way. Did you see that? Come on down. Come on down.
Independence Day
Well, obviously, this cockpit was designed to seat three, though how they sat on that, I don't know. David: Gently. Uh, you see these gizmos flashing? Yeah. We've been working around the clock trying to get a fix on all this crap. Some stuff we figured out right away. Uh, this, we're pretty sure, is the life support system for the cabin. [Coughs] And, uh, this doohickey is connected to-- Oh...Well, it was connected to the engine. Here. Take that, will ya? Uh, these configurations, uh...
Independence Day
Well, to be honest, we--we--we don't know what the hell this crap is. But this is clearly what they use to guide and navigate their craft. Ha ha. Neat, huh? That's very good. Somebody grab my laptop there? Dr. Isaacs, can I just have the computer inside there? See these patterns here? They're repeating sequentially, just like their countdown signal. They're using that frequency for computer communications. Huh? See? That's how they're coordinating their ships. Huh. Ya know... you're really starting to make us look bad.
Independence Day