Alien Nation: The 25th Anniversary of "Independence Day"

 

By Michael Lyons

 

Splashed across the top of a newspaper ad for Independence Day (or ID4 as it was dubbed) during the summer of 1996 was a quote from Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers that read:

"ID4 delivers a full-throttle blast.  It gives you aliens to hiss at, humans to root for, and the kind of fireworks that get audiences cheering."

A summation of why Independence Day was such a mammoth hit doesn't get any more perfect.

This July 4th weekend marks the 25th anniversary of this summer blockbuster that was like an invasion (into movie theaters) unto itself.  Independence Day is from a time in the movie industry when studios knew how to create and market movies as events.  ID4 emerged as the poster child for the colossal blockbuster that so many wanted to see.  

And they did go to see it when it was released on July 3, 1996.  The film grossed over $817 million worldwide, was the biggest film of the year and, at the time, the second highest-grossing movie ever.

 

Through it all, at the time, there were stories of audiences at showings of Independence Day standing, cheering, and pumping their fists in the theaters.  If movies like 1993's Jurassic Park and 1994's The Lion King were events like concerts, ID4 became like a sci-fi-infused sporting event.

"It's an Independence Day for everyone," summed up Doug Smith, one of the film's two visual effects supervisors, in an interview just before the film's release in 1996.

Director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin (who co-wrote the script) collaborated on the sci-fi favorite, 1994's Stargate. They seemingly used the all-star 70s disaster movies model as inspiration for an alien invasion story over the July 4th holiday. 

As the aliens in Independence Day close in on Earth, we meet Will Smith as pilot Captain Steven Miller, Bill Pullman as the President, Jeff Goldblum as engineer David Levinson, Robert Loggia as General William Grey, Mary McDonnell as the First Lady, Randy Quaid as an eccentric pilot named Russell and Star Trek's Brent Spiner as the geekish scientist Dr. Okun.

As if that wasn't enough in the jam-packed cast, the number of supporting roles includes Viveca A. Fox as Miller's girlfriend, Margaret Colin as the White House communications director, Judd Hirsch as David's father, and Harvey Fierstein as one of David's co-workers.

As the aliens begin to obliterate everything in their path, there's also an all-star array of visual effects as Independence Day employed every trick in the book to pull off its impressive scenes.  Everything from miniature models and sets to computer-generated imagery was used.

"One of the things that Roland was trying to do was not overcomplicate these shots," said Smith.  "He was trying to strip the ideas down to their bare essentials, so that things didn't get overthought or over ‘synchronized.’”  Smith also added, “This film really encompasses the breadth of visual effects.”

This led to such iconic images as a giant, storm cloud-like alien spaceship hovering over a city, an immense wall of flame engulfing New York, and, probably ID4's most memorable shot: the destruction of the White House.

“The White House explosion was a very scary thing,” said Volker Engel, another of the film’s visual effects supervisors, in a 1996 interview.  “It was a huge model that had to look excellent because everyone on Earth knows what the White House looks like.”

 

For this sequence, Engel and the team took extra pains when it came to the details.  “I was very closely involved in the dressing and getting the right trees in the foreground so that you have the right scale of the leaves,” said Engel. “We even put furniture in the White House so that when the explosion happens, a lot of stuff is flying. You probably won't see furniture pieces flying towards the camera, but it's one of those things that you would recognize being missing.”

 

This attention to detail is just one of the many aspects of the film that audiences responded to and made us hate the aliens even more.  The explosion of applause from audiences when Will Smith punches an alien in the face and shouts "Welcome to Earth!" (in the now-famous scene) felt so warranted.  And the equally famous speech by Pullman as the President, where he declares, "Today, we celebrate our Independence Day!" elicited (and still elicits) applause from even the most blasé moviegoer.

 

All part of the reason why, twenty-five years later, Independence Day is still a fan favorite and now a July 4th movie-watching tradition.

 

Five years ago, in 2016, nostalgia for the film had culminated in the belated sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence that, unfortunately, disappointed on so many levels and failed to re-capture the spirit (and the box office) of the first film.

 

So why, twenty-five years later, does Independence Day still emerge each year around this time and elicit those same "event movie" vibes?

 

In 1996, when answering a question about what makes Independence Day unique and connects the film with audiences, Volker Engel provided a somewhat prophetic answer that still holds true, and seems even more relevant today. 

 

"I think it's mainly everyone all over the world getting together," he said, adding, "Everyone else has to join forces against something that comes from the outside.  If you want to use a metaphor, it could be something else; it doesn't have to be an alien race; it can be some other catastrophe.  It's just such a beautiful thought that all these people are joining each other."

 

Happy Independence Day!

Sources: 

Volker Engel interview with Michael Lyons, February 2, 1996.

Doug Smith interview with Michael Lyons, February 12, 1996.

Lyons, Mike, "ID4 Visual Effects:  Supervisors Doug Smith and Volker Engel on Fashioning Alien Armageddon," Cinefantastique, July 1996.

 

Say What, Dad? Memorable Quotes from TV's Sitcom Fathers

 By Michael Lyons    

The wisdom that fathers bring to our lives has never been more acutely, or humorously, captured better than in television's most popular sitcoms.

With Father's Day upon us this weekend, here's a look back at the insight...and the laughs... these TV Dads provided through the years:

 

“Fathers make mistakes too, you know, lots of them. In fact, it's easy for us to make mistakes because we're trying so hard to live up to the perfect picture you painted of us. You're going to have to learn that I'm just an ordinary human being, with a reasonable amount of intelligence, capable of handling most situations. But I'm not a Superman.  I can't bring about miracles. This doesn't mean I'm not going to try to be as you think I am or want me to be.” - Jim Anderson (Robert Young), Father Knows Best

 

"Marion and I have not climbed Mount Everest or written the great American novel, but we've had the joy of raising two wonderful kids and watching them and their friends grow into loving adults. And now, we're going to have the pleasure of watching them pass that love on to their children.  And, I guess, no man or woman could ask for anything more." - Howard Cunningham, "Mr. C," (Tom Bosley), Happy Days

"Even though he's only been my dad for a short time, no father could be a realer father than Michael Brady." - Marcia Brady's letter nominating her father, Mike Brady (Robert Reed), as Father of the Year, The Brady Bunch

 

"Kids, you tried, and you failed miserably.  The lesson is, never try." - Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta), The Simpsons.

"I'm ‘cool dad,’ that's my 'thang.'  I'm hip.  I surf the web.  I text.  LOL: laugh out loud.  OMG: Oh my god.  WTF: Why the face?" - Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell), Modern Family.

“The lesson I want you to learn is: it doesn't matter what you look like, tall or short or fat or thin ugly or handsome, like your father.  You could be black or yellow or white. It doesn't matter.  What does matter is the size of your heart and the strength of your character.” - Herman Munster (Fred Gwynn), The Munsters

 

So, to the Dads in our lives, thank you for the guidance, the laughs, and the love you've given to us.  Like a good TV rerun, it stays with us forever.

 

Happy Father's Day!

Source: You Tube

 

Laughs from the Past: A Trio of Movie Comedy Anniversaries

  

Left to right: Mel Brooks in Silent Movie

Matthew Broderick in Ferris Bueller's Day Off and

Bill Murray in Stripes.

By Michael Lyons

There was a time when comedies were big summer blockbusters, standing alongside superheroes and sequels as a fellow box-office success.

Somehow, through industry shifts and changing audience tastes, that's no longer the case, and comedy movies now seem to be relegated  more and more directedly to streaming services and living in a world of diminishing box-office returns.

However, there were summers past when this wasn't the case, and there were three comedies that ruled at the box office.  They've all gone on to become embraced by successive generations, with iconic lines of dialogue and scenes that live hilariously in our memory.

They also all celebrate anniversaries this month, so there's no better time to look back and celebrate...

 

 

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Released June 11, 1986) - 35th Anniversary

When it comes to John Hughes' 80s movies, many believe that they don’t get more “John Hughes” or more “80s” than this.

Matthew Broderick is perfect as the title character, a likable, smooth-talking high schooler who has a lock on “most popular” at his school.

Deciding that he needs a day off, he pretends he is sick and conns his best friend, Cameron (Alan Ruck, hysterical and pitiful), and girlfriend Sloane (luminous Mia Sara) to play hookey and venture off to Chicago for the day.

Out to expose his ruse is his distrusting sister Jeannie (Jennifer Grey, doing the funniest slow burn) and Principal Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), Ferris’ arch enemy.

What follows in the film is scene after scene that are immensely quotable and always funny, no matter how many times you’ve seen them:

“NINE times!”

“Hey, Battah!  Battah!  Battah!”

“Abe Froman, the Sausage King of Chicago”

...the list goes on and on.

Thanks to Hughes's style, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off worked so well and endured for over three decades.  Unique, stunning camerawork and fourth wall breaking make this Day Off seem even grander.

And underneath it all is a message that rings true, whether you’re an 80s teenager or a middle-ager in 2021.  As Ferris says: “Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

 

Stripes (Released June 26, 1981)- 40th Anniversary 

If you’re looking for Bill Murray at his smirking, smart-aleck best, look no further.

Murray plays John Winger, who feels that his life is going nowhere and decides to enlist in the Army.  He even convinces his best friend, played by Harold Ramos, to join him.

Not only does Murray clash with his drill sergeant, Hulka (Warren Oats, perfectly playing the surly straight man), he and Ramis get a plum assignment, where they wind up rescuing their entire squad when they are caught behind Communist lines.

Directed by Ivan Reitman, Stripes, in many ways, seems like a “warm-up” for his team up with Murray and Ramis in Ghostbusters three years later, in how it combines comedy with another genre.

Murray truly takes the reigns here in the lead.  His singing of “Do Wah Diddy Diddy” while marching is still inspired after all these years.  Additionally, Ramis and Oats, along with John Candy and John Larroquette, all provide solid supporting roles, each having their moment in the film.

It’s been forty years since Stripes debuted.  Is it still as funny as it was four decades ago?  As Murray himself simply declares: “That’s the fact, Jack!”

 

Silent Movie (Released June 16, 1976) - 45th Anniversary

After the success of Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein (both 1974) and eleven years before his beloved Spaceballs (1987), Mel Brooks dared to make a silent film comedy, fifty years after the golden age of the silent film era.

And, it indeed was silent!  There is only a music soundtrack, and when the actors speak, their dialogue appears on title cards (just as they did in the actual age of the silent films).  Silent Movie is daring, original, and a heck of a lot of fun.

Brooks (who co-wrote and directed) stars as Mel Funn, a once-great movie director and now a recovering alcoholic, looking for his comeback.  He decides to make a silent movie and, with his partners (Marty Feldman and Dom DeLuise), pitches the idea to the chief of Big Picture Studios (Sid Caesar), who agrees, but only if Funn can get the biggest names in Hollywood.

The trio searches for celebrities and tries to convince Paul Newman, Burt Reynolds, Liza Minnelli, James Cann, and Anne Bancroft (Brooks’ real-life wife), all of whom have cameos in the film, to be part of their movie.  There’s also mime Marcel Marceau who, humorously has the one line of spoken dialogue in the movie.  When Brooks asks him to be in the silent movie, he answers, “No!”

With a beautiful, upbeat score by Brooks’ usual collaborator, composer John Morris, Silent Movie is wall-to-wall sight gags and jokes from beginning to end.  All of them with the typical Mel Brooks touch:

The studio is being taken over by the corporation “Engulf and Devour.”

An EKG turns into a video game and almost causes a patient his life.

Mel and his sidekicks turn up in Burt Reynolds’ shower...while he’s taking a shower.

Paul Newman and Mel race in wheelchairs.

And a scene where a merry-go-round horse relieves itself is so creatively funny!

Not all of the jokes have aged well and a recurring gag, once considered “funny,” now comes off as insensitive.

Still, while not often discussed in many conversations about Brooks’ films, Silent Movie definitely should be part of the conversation.

It just wants to be fun.  It just wants to be funny.  It succeeds at both!

 

All of these movies succeed at both.  It’s no wonder that each was a comedy blockbuster.