Welcome to Earf: An ID4 story
Welp……. it’s freedom day here so you know what that means right?!?!?!?!?!
Happy Independence Day, everybody!
If you need the perfect movie today, I got one for ya…….. GO FIRE UP Independence Day and crank the volume (now that’s what I call a close encounter). Few films capture patriotic summer blockbuster energy quite like the 1996 alien invasion classic. It is loud, cheesy, heartfelt, and exactly what today’s holiday deserves.
It hits all the right chords because it unaplogetically knows what it is and doesn’t care one dang ole bit. I said it all the time……great cinema doesn’t have to be all CITIZEN KANE, sometimes ya need a good popcorn flick and this ones fits the bill everytime.
Let’s wind the clocks back…….It’s 1996, I still remember how impossible this movie was to ignore. My friends and I talked about it for weeks after seeing it. We used to pretend we were stopping the invasion and injecting that floppy disc virus like the heroes we idolized in this flick.
The one liners, the practical effects, the ridiculous plot…… Every explosion felt bigger than the last. It quickly became one of those movies everyone had seen or wanted to see. Plus the toys…….man….. The toys were OFF THE CHAIN
You had to be there, and if not there’s no real way to describe the strangle hold this movie had on pop culture…….Independence Day became more than another summer blockbuster, it was the perfect blend of action, adventure and cheese.
I’m definitely being a little dramatic buuuuuuuuuuuuuut I’ll say it. in some ways It defined the late 1990s. This and the cheesy AF, universally hated GODZILLA movie.
Not to mention the cast was absolutely stacked, you had Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Randy Quaid, Margaret Colin, Vivica A. Fox, Judd Hirsch, and Brent Spiner (DATA from TNG for those who don’t recognize the name). I mean…. Even today, those performances remain just as entertaining as they were nearly three decades ago (JESUS it’s been THAT LONG)
Earth vs. Everybody (ICYMI)
The story begins with enormous alien ships arriving above Earth’s biggest cities. Nobody knows their intentions until the countdown ends. Then everything changes in spectacular fashion. Cities vanish beneath massive energy blasts as humanity faces extinction.
Military forces around the world struggle against technology far beyond anything humans have ever encountered. Captain Steven Hiller battles the invaders in the skies. David Levinson searches for a weakness using brains instead of bullets. President Thomas Whitmore rallies a frightened world toward one desperate final stand.
Spoiler Alert: If you somehow missed this classic, skip to the next section before reading further.
By the end Humanity discovers the alien fleet depends on a central computer network, and since the rosewell crash led to a WHOLE bunch of reverse engineered tech, we could hit em where it counted…….with FLOPPY DISCs and COMPUTER COLDS (aka a computer virus).
So we got our heroes going into the MOTHERSHIP and Jeff Goldblum’s chacracter, David, uploads a computer virus while Hiller destroys the mothership’s defenses. big badda boom…… THE FAT LADY SINGS. and ANNNNNNNNNNNNNND…. Randy Quaid delivers one of cinema’s greatest sacrificial moments, and Earth earns its Independence Day (OOF we have a TITLE!)
so that is that, NOW……Fire Up that Grill and Celebrate!
Bringing it back…….let us not forget that today is America’s 250th birthday, so let’s enjoy every minute of it! Our country still has problems to solve, and nobody should pretend otherwise but even with all that, we still enjoy freedoms that millions around the world would gladly embrace
…..And That is worth appreciating. Plus, LOVING THE AMERICAN SPIRIT while hating the government is about as holiday worthy as you can get! It’s what we were founded on, mistrust of power.
Today I hope you spend time with family and friends. I hope you eat way too much food and tell stories that somehow become funnier every year. I hope you shoot off fireworks and screaming ‘MURICA (I know I am).
Mostly importantly…… WATCH Independence Day and if you need an excuse to relive one of the greatest popcorn movies ever made i’ll give you two: 1. Jeff Goldblum and 2. Will SMith.
Besides, AI keeps getting smarter every year, so enjoy your freedom before your toaster starts reporting your snack choices. and your smart TV turns into that echo loacator from the Dark Knight (seriously…amazon is working on that technology)
Bringing it back to the reason on the season…..Whatever you do today, I hope it is filled with laughter, great memories, full stomachs, and loud-ass fireworks. Have a fantastic Independence Day, stay safe, and celebrate the American way
