Independence Day, Roland Emmerich’s 1996 sci-fi blockbuster, is streaming on Disney+ now. It drops you right back into that July 3, 1996 release, a movie that still belongs in the July 4 canon.
Box Office Mojo lists Emmerich’s film as the top-grossing movie of 1996, with more than $817 million worldwide against a $75 million budget. It also pulled in a then-record $50.2 million opening weekend. And that Super Bowl trailer, especially the shot of the White House being blown apart, helped set the template for how one unforgettable effects image could sell an entire blockbuster, back before social media turned every trailer into a weeklong rollout.
Go back to Independence Day now and it’s easy to see why it still lands. The mix of practical miniatures and early CG gives the destruction real texture. Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, and Bill Pullman bring both charisma and a kind of straight-faced sincerity that keeps the whole thing moving. This was also the movie that locked in Smith’s stardom. Pullman’s speech still ranks among the most quoted in the genre. Critics weren’t all on the same page, but audiences gave it an A CinemaScore and made it into a classic popcorn movie.
It also helped open the door for the late-’90s run of giant disaster movies and sci-fi event films. Independence Day: Resurgence never came close to leaving the same mark.
If you’re in the mood for a summer blockbuster that still looks like a summer blockbuster, this one holds up. Independence Day is on Disney+, though availability depends on your region.
Author: Jesús Bosque
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