They’re Moving From Planet to Planet…After They’ve Consumed Every Natural Resource They Move On…and We’re Next: Independence Day (1999)

“They’re like locusts. They’re moving from planet to planet… their whole civilization. After they’ve consumed every natural resource they move on… and we’re next.”

I had never seen this movie all the way through. The only parts I had seen was when Bill Pullman gives his speech on a top movie presidents’ list they had on TV Guide in honor of the 4th of July, and of course-that last line about fireworks by Will Smith.

Well it was time to finally take a watch.

On July 2, 1996 an enormous alien ship takes place outside major cities all around the world, this impacts our four groups of characters.

Russell Casse is a Vietnam veteran and former pilot. He has a crop-dusting company, but due to his alcoholism he doesn’t do anything well. He and his family notice the ships and move their trailer out of there.

Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith) is a marine and fighter pilot who dreams of being a NASA pilot. He lives with his stripper girlfriend and her son. He’s supposed to have the weekend off, but when he sees the ships-he heads to base.

David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) is a MIT-educated technological expert. He is still in love with his ex-wife and grumpy/mad at the world. He doesn’t believe the alien stories at first but after he sees it with his own eyes he starts focusing on their communications sent. He discovers that it is a countdown and travels with his dad to Washington D.C. to warn his wife.

President Thomas J. Whitmore, (Bill Pullman) is being crucified in the press as he was a War Hero who knows zip about running a country in a “peaceful world”. He is prepared to spend the holiday with his daughter (as his wife is out of town for work) and best friend/communications director, Constance Spano (David’s wife).

David warns the President and the group manage to just barely make it out before the click is zero and all the ships disintegrate the cities.

They send the military in to shoot, like Captain Steve Miller, but the alien’s advanced weaponry is too much for them. All are killed, except Miller. He manages to knock an alien out and carry it with him. He meets up with the Casse family and they head for Area 51.

Miller’s girlfriend, Jasmine (the stripper), manages to save herself and her son. They pull out with a few survivors they find in LA (including the president’s wife) and head off to Miller’s base. They find it destroyed,and drive off-heading to Area 51.

Air Force One-containing David, his father, Spano, and the President-head to Area 51 after a UFO conspiracy is revealed. It turns out that an alien ships such as these we see today landed in 1947, and the government has been testing and studying it under, Dr. Brackish Okun.

When the Dr. studies Miller’s alien, it wakes up. It uses Okun to speak, controlling him, then kills him. Later it merges with the President to read his mind. But when the Secret Service kill the alien, it turns out that the President was able to get into his mind as well and knows thier plans.

They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next, You’re next…!

Nothing they have seem to stop the aliens, but then David comes up with a plan. They will inject a virus into the mother ship and it will cause the forcefields to go down and allow them to stop them.

David and Miller volunteer to head up to space-with the President calling in every single person who has flown a plane before to help fight, including himself.