# Dear Og, I forgot how bad "ID-4" was... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2006, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239 "2006-07-05T02:43:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/21 "2006-07-06T03:23:18Z")
[QUOTE=Charger] I also assumed that the alien computers were compatible with Macs because the aliens were evil. [/QUOTE] No, you’re thinking of microsoft, the _TRUE_ face of evil in the computer industry… ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/22 "2006-07-06T03:30:15Z")
[QUOTE=Charger] Everyone always points out the science of that scene, but what bothers me more is that they desperately try to make that dog’s leap for life so dramatic. They assume that we are going to be on the edges of our seats with concern for the dog, while not caring that a wall of fire kills hundreds of other people in the tunnel. I **so** wanted to see that dog get swept away in the fire as the door was about to close (which it didn’t). [/QUOTE] One of the first unwritten rules for screenplay writers is Don’t Kill the Dog. (Exception: _Ol’ Yeller_ or something similar where that’s the whole point) **DesertRoomie** is always muttering “Don’t hurt the puppy,” during the dog-in-danger scenes to which I reply, “They never kill the dog.” 99+% of the time, I’m right. I always enjoyed P.J. O’Roarke’s pocket synopsis of the movie: “Aliens come to Earth and destroy Washington. Then they get hostile.” DD ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/23 "2006-07-06T03:35:07Z")
I loved the fact that if it is Day in America… well hell, it’s daytime all over the world!! ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/24 "2006-07-06T04:00:27Z")
I like how they never thought of using B-1 and B-52G bombers with _stand-off cruise missiles_, or at least exocet-like ship-killers on the big disc ships. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/25 "2006-07-06T04:13:31Z")
[QUOTE=MacTech] In the New York tunnel scene, where Will Smith’s girlfreind, her son and their dog are running from the fireball, said fireball would have consumed the oxygen in the tunnel, potentially suffocating the people in the tunnel [/QUOTE] As we recently learned in another thread, this scene now makes perfect sense: They were being protected by the Puppygod. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/26 "2006-07-06T04:29:08Z")
Say what you will, but this movie DID inspire the SNL sketch where Pullman’s character runs for reelection against, and debates, Bob Dole… ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/27 "2006-07-06T12:16:38Z")
I got a soft spot for any movie that gives us such a memorable line as “Welcome to Earth, bitch.” The Bill Pullman rouding speech is completely hilarious. I think the funniest cheese ball scene, however, is when Randy Quaid’s kid is outside the war room as Quaid sacrifices his life for those on the ground. It takes a lot of damn gall to write the shit this movie’s got. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/28 "2006-07-06T13:13:08Z")
Despite the goofiness of this movie, I will always have a soft spot for it because of the original theatrical teaser. The ships arrive over our cities, we look up…cut to the release date. No real clue given as to whether these ships would be hostile or not. A teaser that teased! It didn’t give away the plot! All too rare. One other thing to add – the famous shot from the second round of trailers, where the White House gets vaporized by an attack from the air. At the time, it was an illicit thrill to imagine it could happen. Looking back now, post-9/11, I find myself nostalgic for a world in which that was a tiny thrill, instead of an image that brings up strong memories. It doesn’t make me “upset” to see it…it makes me feel all-grown-up, but not in a good way. Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/29 "2006-07-06T13:13:30Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] What the Hell do people mean when they talk about “turning their brains off” when they watch a movie? [/QUOTE] It means that it’s a comic book movie–i.e. it’s about as intellectually demanding as a comic book–and you should either accept it at that level or leave it alone. The Star Wars, Matrix and Terminator series are examples of comic book movies. It seems to me that most action flicks are comic book movies these days. I can sympathize with the complaints here, but to my mind it’s rather like complaining about the physics of a Superman comic. Why bother? What’s the point? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/30 "2006-07-06T15:46:11Z")
[QUOTE=MacTech] SDWAHOGTYKWMAMSASTP [/QUOTE] Snappy. Has a real ring to it. My family and I have a soft spot for Bill Pullman so we absolutely cracked up when he declared “I belong in the sky!” The tween boys piled in around us (we must have seen it opening day) wondered how we could laugh at such a Serious Moment. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/31 "2006-07-06T15:46:26Z")
[QUOTE=MacTech] … then again, the Mac has _always_ been the most compatible computer when it comes to non-native OS’s, Unix, Linux, Virtual PC/windows, even unknown, non-human designed OS’s [/QUOTE] Apple’s been working on Rosetta longer than we thought. It is amusing that in the movies, that there is a truly universal connection scheme that lets a Mac talk connect to an alien computer and doesn’t even need any adapter plugs. Or are the aliens using unsecured WiFi with open SSID? ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/32 "2006-07-06T16:56:14Z")
My bigger issue… Where was the rest of the Military? You mean to tell me that our entire naval fleet, our ground to air defenses and all taht are just cardboard cutouts? We’ve only got a couple hundred planes to work with in the face of this enemy? Granted, not much of that would’ve made much difference, but still, would’ve been nice to see a couple of destroyers, etc… launch everything they had when the shields went down. I like it like I like Twister… fun and good effects, but don’t pay too much attention to the details. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/33 "2006-07-06T16:58:08Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] Apple’s been working on Rosetta longer than we thought. It is amusing that in the movies, that there is a truly universal connection scheme that lets a Mac talk connect to an alien computer and doesn’t even need any adapter plugs. Or are the aliens using unsecured WiFi with open SSID? [/QUOTE] Worse than that… it was a parallel printer port… the bane of computer security folks everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/34 "2006-07-06T17:06:28Z")
[QUOTE=LonesomePolecat] The Star Wars, Matrix and Terminator series are examples of comic book movies. [/QUOTE] ID4 and the Terminator movies are not even remotely in the same category of dumbness. ID4 is idiotic, doesn’t take itself seriously, and has multiple gigantic plot holes any one of which renders the entire movie basically pointless, and which taken together make it beyond parody. The terminator movies are generally very smart and cohesive, with an occasional minor plot hole, and with actual ideas and things to say. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/35 "2006-07-06T17:26:30Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] Yep, stupid movie. As noted, the basic premise had potential (if not originality). What the Hell do people mean when they talk about “turning their brains off” when they watch a movie? [/QUOTE] > **[Suspension of disbelief](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_of_disbelief)** > > Suspension of disbelief, often willing suspension of disbelief, is a person's intentional setting aside of critical thinking, logic, or real-life expectations when experiencing a work of fiction, in order to better enjoy it and be absorbed into its narrative. Historically, the concept originates in the Greco-Roman principles of theatre, wherein the audience ignores the unreality of fiction to experience catharsis from the actions and experiences of characters. The phrase was coined and elaborat... ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/36 "2006-07-06T18:22:34Z")
[QUOTE=Leaper] Say what you will, but this movie DID inspire the SNL sketch where Pullman’s character runs for reelection against, and debates, Bob Dole… [/QUOTE] Don’t blame me: _I_ voted for Kodos. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/37 "2006-07-06T18:22:39Z")
Odd, our July 4th tradition is to watch 1776. To each his own. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/38 "2006-07-06T20:15:10Z")
I don’t dislike _ID4_ very much – I haven’t seen it in years, but I recall it as a fun, goofy, mindless movie with nifty dogfight scenes. Now, Emmerich and Devlin’s next movie, the Sony-branded remake of **Godzilla,** _that_ I hate… ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/39 "2006-07-06T20:32:20Z")
[QUOTE=simster] Granted, not much of that would’ve made much difference, but still, would’ve been nice to see a couple of destroyers, etc… launch everything they had when the shields went down. [/QUOTE] Or better yet, ripple fire of ICBMs from an Ohio class Fleet Ballistic Missle submarine. Then, a long range shot of several MERVs air-bursting over an alien craft. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239/40 "2006-07-07T02:17:06Z")
It’s stupid and I love it. I watch it if there’s nothing else on. But I still drives me crazy that Nimzicki didn’t tell anybody about Area 51 when the ships first turned up. Or when they started blowing up cities. Or even after he and the President were forced into the air. And how the hell does Will Smith get through all that superior armour and knock the alien out? But it’s worth it just to hear him shout "I coulda been at a _barbeque!_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-og-i-forgot-how-bad-id-4-was/363239.md?page=3)