# How would you change the movie "Independence Day" from what it is to a good movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 4, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177 "2012-07-04T03:09:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/81 "2012-07-06T01:36:25Z")
How does it differ from a typical flux capacitor? ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/82 "2012-07-06T02:57:08Z")
Okay, about nuking Houston: The good guys posted some soldiers to act as forward observers in some sort of armored vehicle under a freeway overpass in Houston. The nuke is delivered and everything goes boom. The good guys then call their observers, who are apparently none the worse for wear to find out that the nuke wasn’t effective. What kind of armored vehicle can survive a direct nuclear strike? If our own stuff could survive the nuke, why did the good guys think it was strong enough to take out the alien ship? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/83 "2012-07-06T02:59:52Z")
“Are you boys cooking up there?” “No.” “Are you building an interociter?” “No!” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/84 "2012-07-06T03:03:02Z")
Dude, where’s my interociter? ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/85 "2012-07-06T03:10:55Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > What’s next? Do you want to color in the first 30 minutes of The Wizzard of Oz? > > Heritic!! 🙂 Not if you put Rincewind in it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/86 "2012-07-06T03:32:01Z")
What if the aliens turned out to be teenage ninja turtles? No wait. Sorry. You said good movie. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/87 "2012-07-06T03:56:08Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > No, what is _wrong_ is the jackasses who laughed at him all those years, and there he is sitting with the rest of the pilots and the dude from the CIA rolling his eyes when he introduces himself and says he wants to get back at the aliens for abducting and probing him > > HELLO - what is that huge ship floating overhead? Aliens … wow, whodathunk they might have actually abducted someone while researching the planet for takeover. You know, that always bothered me as well. Obviously the drunk isn’t _that_ insane, seeing as how aliens just butt-raped the entire human race. After that, someone being abducted isn’t so far fetched. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/88 "2012-07-06T04:31:17Z")
> [@Drum\_God](#): > > What kind of armored vehicle can survive a direct nuclear strike? If our own stuff could survive the nuke, why did the good guys think it was strong enough to take out the alien ship? One that is 10 miles away? The crew might be glowing, but the vehicle would survive. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/89 "2012-07-06T05:59:11Z")
Worst. Sci-Fi. Film. Ever. Take out the president’s character entirely. Let him get the news about the Macs then take a cyanide capsule. Presidents don’t fly jets at spaceships. Presidents’ jets are RC if anything. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/90 "2012-07-06T10:15:56Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Worst. Sci-Fi. Film. Ever. > > Take out the president’s character entirely. Let him get the news about the Macs then take a cyanide capsule. Presidents don’t fly jets at spaceships. Presidents’ jets are RC if anything. This president flies jets at spaceships, because as they stated, they needed every pilot who could fly. Unlike some of the other actual volunteers (Russel, who flew F-4 Phantoms in the 70’s), Whitmore (bet you didn’t remember he had a name) had actually flown combat jets fairly recently. But yeah, back to the armored vehicle, it was observing from some sort of minimum safe distance, so it was far from having to deal with a “direct strike” with a nuke. By all appearances, they only had to deal with a bit of the overpressure wave and some debris. The vehicle was very possibly designed to protect the crew against Nuclear-Biological-Chemical threats (read: It has armor plating, door seals, and good air conditioning). Scrub down the exterior of the vehicle before the crew gets out to get rid of any radioactive debris and they should be fine. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/91 "2012-07-06T13:22:28Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > No, what is _wrong_ is the jackasses who laughed at him all those years, and there he is sitting with the rest of the pilots and the dude from the CIA rolling his eyes when he introduces himself and says he wants to get back at the aliens for abducting and probing him > > HELLO - what is that huge ship floating overhead? Aliens … wow, whodathunk they might have actually abducted someone while researching the planet for takeover. Do you know was one of the eye rollers? Adam Baldwin. Clearly he was doing it to deflect attention away from the fact that Serenity was parked around the corner and they needed to get the hell off that planet before shit got real. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/92 "2012-07-06T13:44:00Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Do you know was one of the eye rollers? Adam Baldwin. Clearly he was doing it to deflect attention away from the fact that Serenity was parked around the corner and they needed to get the hell off that planet before shit got real. Very difficult to recognize him, as he was not wearing a hat (he obviously removed it to improve his disguise). ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/93 "2012-07-07T03:09:27Z")
> [@](#): > > But meanwhile, you had to off poor Harvey Fierstein? Tru’ dat, still mad every one of the 400 times I’ve watched this. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/94 "2012-07-07T03:26:37Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > So, keeping the premise the same (vastly overpowering alien invasion strikes the earth unexpectedly), what would you change to make it a better movie? What would I change? Everything. I almost walked out of this movie at the theater when Wil Smith “borrows” a helicopter (he’s a jet pilot) and fly’s blindly through the night and locates his girlfriend who happens to have have rescued the President’s wife. (did I remember that correctly?) Truly the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. Add to that the scene in the tunnel when there is a huge explosion and his girlfriend manages to get out of the car and into a service door while the flame front of the explosion moves up the tunnel at the speed of pudding. And the drunking hillbilly ex-pilot. ooooohhhhhh I’d go see it again if they would edit it so he’s slowly tortured by watching himself act. Seriously the worst movie I’ve ever paid to see. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/95 "2012-07-07T05:28:21Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > So, keeping the premise the same (vastly overpowering alien invasion strikes the earth unexpectedly), what would you change to make it a better movie? Have Matt Damon co-star and rename it “Bourne On The Fourth of July” (OK, I stole that from another thread) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/96 "2012-07-08T03:07:56Z")
I honestly can’t figure out why people don’t like the film. The things people claim are plot holes aren’t if you engage your brain, as shown by the responses in this thread. Everything in the movie works in that universe as presented. Then again, I also liked the **Lost in Space** movie. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/97 "2012-07-08T12:43:42Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I honestly can’t figure out why people don’t like the film. The things people claim are plot holes aren’t if you engage your brain, as shown by the responses in this thread. Everything in the movie works in that universe as presented. because it sets the (limbo) bar of stupid ever higher for movies. Directors aren’t just walking under it - they’re driving 18 wheelers and flipping off the audience. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/98 "2012-07-08T13:33:07Z")
To change IDay to a good movie I’d recommend an adjustment to the viewer’s expectations. I like it more than any superhero movie I’ve seen, and that’s what it’s competing with: inherently unbelievable films that can be entertaining within that constriction. I’ve only seen it on TV, but it wears very well, which is probably my favorite thing about the film. As for what could make it “better”, eh… I’ve never worried about that. The girlfriend’s escape is a little annoying, the dog is a little too wholesome. Shrug. The movie disables my analytical mode in charming fashion. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/99 "2012-07-08T18:40:22Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Nuking the mothership destroys the shields, no hacking. Absolutely. Jeff Goldblum is playing with the Heisenfram Resonator in the captured ship and realizes communication from mother ship = shields. Remember the ship was completely inactive until the aliens showed up so this scenerio makes sense. Jeff and Will go up thinking we nuke the ship and bug out. They get captured just like the original and get out the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177/100 "2012-07-08T20:03:45Z")
Independence Day is the only movie I’ve ever seen more than once in the theater, and I saw it about four times. It was a perfect movie. Okay, granted I was 14 at the time, but I still have some fondness for it. When I briefly met Adam Baldwin at Comicon, I tried to joke with him about ID4, but his mind was clearly somewhere else at the time. I do find it funny that _16_ years after its release, this movie _still_ causes so much outrage. I mean, I can understand it for, like, the Star Wars prequels; the Star Wars fanbase is enormous and won’t lose momentum for decades if ever. But this is just a silly Roland Emmerich one-off. The Core uses arguably worse science and, while it may get more hate when talked about, it doesn’t get talked about as much as ID4. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-change-the-movie-independence-day-from-what-it-is-to-a-good-movie/627177.md?page=6)