# Independance Day is FAN-TASTIC! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 27, 2005, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828 "2005-08-27T02:11:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828/41 "2005-08-29T20:06:30Z")
I personally liked Independence Day, I think the reason I liked it is that it’s really homage to prior Sci-Fi flicks rather than a stand-alone film. Think about it, there’s nothing you haven’t seen before. The huge city size ships are right out of “V” The alien fighters are nearly identical to the ships in the original War of the Worlds. The aliens in Bio Suits resemble Predator, out side a vague resemblance to ET The helicopter scene in Washington was right out of Close Encounters The scene where Smith and Goldbloom take of for the mother ship is reminiscent of the Viper launches in the original Battlestar Galactica Even Brent Spiner’s character was a tip of the hat to Star Trek. Data = Alien Android Nerd studying Humans; Dr Okum = Nerdy Human studying Aliens. Earth saved by virus as mentioned also from WotW There are more but you get the idea. . That’s my take on it anyway, though I could swear I heard exactly that when it was originally released. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828/42 "2005-08-29T20:24:55Z")
I made my husband watch it because I wanted him to suffer like I had suffered. 😃 I wouldn’t call it the worst movie ever, but from someone who will watch almost anything simply because it’s sci-fi, I give it two thumbs way down. It’s not even sci-fi - it’s a pure action film that has 0.05% sci-fi in it. This is my constant gripe with Hollywood - using phasers instead of guns doesn’t make a movie sci-fi, dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828/43 "2005-08-29T21:43:41Z")
> [@](#): > > This is my constant gripe with Hollywood - using phasers instead of guns doesn’t make a movie sci-fi, dammit. I’d quibble that, yes, it does make it sci-fi. But it doesn’t make it science fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828/44 "2005-08-29T21:54:56Z")
Armegeddon is easily worse than ID. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828/45 "2005-08-29T22:03:58Z")
> [@detop](#): > > Obviously, you haven’t watch _Battlefield Earth_ yet. Actually, to keep it in the Devlin/Emmerich family, I think Son’y _Godzilla_ gets the nod here. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828/46 "2005-08-30T01:16:25Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I also rolled my eyes at the rest of the world sitting on their butt waiting for the Americans to come up with a solution. What did the Brit say? “About bloody time!” :rolleyes: And they almost always have a Japanese guy looking in the camera and making a quick and decisive military pronouncement. The President’s speech was well done. But after the speech… GOOD GRIEF! they showed this uniformed pilot give the most ridiculously over-the-top salute I have _ever_ seen. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828/47 "2005-08-30T04:00:44Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > GOOD GRIEF! they showed this uniformed pilot give the most ridiculously over-the-top salute I have _ever_ seen. _WORSE_ than a Double Rimmer salute? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828/48 "2005-08-30T04:06:56Z")
You guys keep talking about how great the speech was - um, no. It wasn’t. It was sad. And not sad in the good way. Sad in the “Holy crap, I can’t believe they’re trying to pass this chichéd schlock off as dramatic” way. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or roll my eyes at how over-the-top it was. ---
**Author:** ![garius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e19b73/32.png) [@garius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garius)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828/49 "2005-08-30T17:46:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Why should the movie be any different from real life? Nah, if it were true to life then it would have cut to show us Europeans already half way through implementing a plan that: - Was cheaper - Was less costly in both lives and material - Was more environmentally friendly - Was more likely to be successful - We’d invited you to take part in two days earlier Then it would have cut back to show you lot stubbornly going ahead with you’re own plan anyway. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828/50 "2005-08-30T18:00:59Z")
It is said that NASCAR is so popular because it makes lots of noise and consumes lots of resources, which Americans love to do. So those would be high priorities on any American plan. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828/51 "2005-08-30T18:05:23Z")
Good morning. In less than one hour movie studios from here and Dollywood will be reminded of the largest pile of crap in the history of mankind. Crap. The word has new meaning for all of us now. We are reminded not of our petty box office takes but of Godzilla, The Patriot and the Day After Tomorrow. Perhaps it’s fate that today, August 30th, we will once again be reminded of just how shitty Roland Emmerich’s films really are. They will not vanish without a fight. They will live on. We will survive. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828/52 "2005-08-30T18:57:12Z")
> [@garius](#): > > Nah, if it were true to life then it would have cut to show us Europeans already half way through implementing a plan that: > > - Was cheaper > - Was less costly in both lives and material > - Was more environmentally friendly > - Was more likely to be successful > - We’d invited you to take part in two days earlier > > Then it would have cut back to show you lot stubbornly going ahead with you’re own plan anyway. > > 😃 Sorry, but if you are going to stereotype us Americans, at least get it _right_. It’s not “you’re own plan”, it’s “_your_ own plan”. Thank you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828/53 "2005-08-30T20:19:32Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Sorry, but I just have to join the pile on. > > Them: Mastered interstellar space travel and have huge fleets of high speed ships. > Us: Been sending stuff into space for 40 years (as of 1996). > > What do they do when they get here? They hijack _our_ comsats for communication. > > Right. The more interesting question is, what do they want with us? What could WE possibly have in the way of natural resources that they can’t get from a hundred thousand worlds? It sure isn’t high tech. I’ve thought it throuh for stories on my own, and the only reason an FTL civilization would attack us would be that they are psychotic by our standards and do it just because that’s what and who they are. We literally aren’t worth the bullets it would take to kill us, to someone that advanced. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828/54 "2005-08-30T20:23:10Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > I’ve thought it throuh for stories on my own, and the only reason an FTL civilization would attack us would be that they are psychotic by our standards and do it just because that’s what and who they are. We literally aren’t worth the bullets it would take to kill us, to someone that advanced. Which means the most “realistic” alien invasion movie ever made was _Mars Attacks_! :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828/55 "2005-08-30T20:26:11Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > I’ve thought it throuh for stories on my own, and the only reason an FTL civilization would attack us would be that they are psychotic by our standards and do it just because that’s what and who they are. We literally aren’t worth the bullets it would take to kill us, to someone that advanced. Well, if FTL is a scientific possiblilty (stick with me here) then humanity could someday be dangerous to them. Best to take care of it now while humanity isn’t a threat. I see, in a situation like this, humans being seen as being the “psychotic” ones. Of course, why they don’t just virusbomb us into oblivion is another question. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828/56 "2005-08-30T20:58:01Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Why should the movie be any different from real life? In real life, everyone wouldn’t have agreed. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828/57 "2005-08-30T21:13:38Z")
> [@garius](#): > > Nah, if it were true to life then it would have cut to show us Europeans already half way through implementing a plan that: > > - Was cheaper > - Was less costly in both lives and material > - Was more environmentally friendly > - Was more likely to be successful > - We’d invited you to take part in two days earlier > > Then it would have cut back to show you lot stubbornly going ahead with you’re own plan anyway. > > 😃 Would it have shown the French holding out? Cuz then, it would truly have been a European plan. ---
**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828/58 "2005-08-30T21:31:09Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Of course, why they don’t just virusbomb us into oblivion is another question. > > -Joe They don’t even have to do that: wouldn’t just flying that big-ass mothership over our cities jack them up via gravity? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/independance-day-is-fan-tastic/318828.md?page=2)