ID4 was an huge escapist summer hit. The audience came to see the White House blown up, and to see writhing aliens get theirs. If special effects are all you care about, by all means check out this otherwise dumb-dumb movie.
Aliens place enormous spaceships over Earth's biggest cities, and just leave them there, apparently for sustaining dramatic tension.
Bill Pullman is the U.S. President. Will Smith is
a jetfighter pilot. Randy Quaid is a confused
cropduster who claims to have once been kidnapped
by aliens. His kids are amazingly good looking.
Jeff Goldblum is a goofy nerd, Judd Hirsch his
goofy dad.
Goldblum, who just happens to be the only
techno-wizard smart enough to figure out when the
Aliens will launch their attack, just happens to
have an ex-wife who is the President's Chief of
Staff, who just happens to be a young and
gorgeous woman.
One of Goldblum's co-workers is fluttery and
cowardly and has a raspy voice. He wins the 1996
non-Academy Award for most annoying supporting
actor.
Finally, the long-promoted event arrives. Aliens
blow up the White House, the Capital, make
thousands of cars fly in the air, killing the
raspy voiced guy (no loss). However, Will Smith's
perfect "10" stripper girlfriend is about the
city's only survivor, the only one smart enough
to flee her car and hide in an office located in
a subway tunnel. Afterwards, she leads a relief
effort and just happens to find and comfort the
injured First Lady.
Will Smith and his squadron attack an enemy
spaceship. All the jets are destroyed except
Smith's. We get to see lots of planes blow up.
Since he is the star, Smith parachutes to safety.
After some trash talk, he takes an alien hostage.
Amazingly, he soon encounters Randy Quaid, who
gives Smith and alien a ride.
Pullman learns that aliens did crash in Roswell,
New Mexico, in 1949. He visits the top secret
laboratory there, meeting goofy mad scientist
Brent Spiner. Smith and alien also show up, and
meet the President. Spiner operates on the alien,
which springs back to life (the operation is a
success) and attacks Spiner. Pullman has a
conversation with the alien. When the icky alien
isn't polite, it is shot.
Smith commandeers a helicopter (apparently he can
fly anything) and thru ESP finds his girlfriend
and the first lady, who lives just long enough
for a tender bedside moment with Pullman.
Clever Goldblum somehow creates a computer virus
that can take down the alien shields, allowing
counterstrikes. Ever-handy Smith learns to fly
the alien spacecraft from the Roswell crash, and
docks with the mothership to allow passenger
Goldblum to execute the virus. Alien vessels
attack the base and the jets, destroying all but
the supporting cast. Drunken oaf Quaid volunteers
for a strike force and blows up the mothership.
The President also flies a jet to fight the
aliens (assumedly, he took secret service agents
with him). Even more amazing, Smith and Goldblum
escape the aliens alive. (41/100)
When massive spaceships begin to destroy major cities acrossthe globe, a band of survivors must try to defeat the invaders and save mankind.More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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