Review of Independence Day

Introduction

I remember sitting in the cinema five years ago when I first saw the trailer for Independence Day (or ID4), being astounded by the effects – particularly the scenes where the airbase is attacked by countless alien craft. Of course, I went along to see the movie, bought the VHS edition when it came out, and picked up the Region 1 “Five Star Collection” version when it came out last year – I’ve only just got round to watching it!

This DVD features both the theatrical edition and the extended "Special Edition" with an extra 9 minutes of footage.

Video

Video comes in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and is of an extremely high standard throughout the film. There is a very high level of detail, particularly evident during the scenes inside the mothership, and during the two big aerial battles. There is no sign of grain or dirt, and the image is colourful and stable at all times.

Visually, even five years on this film is remarkable, with some of the best effects ever committed to celluloid. Admittedly the setpiece explosion scenes where Washington gets destroyed look a little dated now, with the use of models clear to see, but the aerial battles, involving hundreds, if not thousands, of planes still look incredible.

Even the dreaded rear projection stands up to close scrutiny, except for the very last scene…

Audio

The soundtrack is the perfect compliment to the outstanding visuals – with the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix providing plenty of powerful effects and music throughout the film – all beautifully steered around the soundstage.

The opening sequence will see you subwoofer vibrating your room, and all the big sequences in the film benefit from sound coming from everywhere – the aerial battles feature planes, missiles, alien shots and alien craft moving all over the place – it sounds great!

Throughout all the sonic mayhem, the dialogue is always perfectly clear and understandable. I just wish it was DTS!

Features

The first disc contains two commentary tracks, one from Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, the other from the special effects supervisors, Volker Angel and Doug Smith – these are both on the first disc.

The second disc contains the interesting “HBO First Look: The Making of ID4”, an amusing “ID4 Invasion” mockumentary and a superb special effects documentary “Creating Reality”.

There’s also the original bi-plane ending, which is too cheesy for words and deserves to be on the cutting room floor!

Aside from the above, there are storyboards, trailers, TV spots, a gallery, artwork and a DVD-ROM game.

An excellent set of extras.

Conclusion

Overall, Independence Day is a very entertaining “pop-corn” movie – with a highly dubious plot, supported by some great action and outstanding special effects.

The cast are generally not too bad, although Bill Pulman is rather wooden as the President, but he does get to make the rousing speech that has everybody punching the air and whooping in delight! Will Smith is superb, and Jeff Goldblum is also very good.

The “computer virus” final twist to the plot is a little cheesy, especially given the problems that most people have getting two computers of the same type speaking to each other in the same room, it was amusing to see Goldblum’s machine successfully “Negotiating With Host” on an alien craft!

Great picture and sound are backed by an excellent package of extras, making this disc a recommended purchase.