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.

Will they succeed?

Watch to Find Out!

Such an amazing film. I was totally sucked into it. I couldn’t stop watching and will be seeing this either every 4th of July or October.

To start Horrorfest VII from the beginning, go to It’s the End of the World: The Birds (1963)

For the previous post, go to It Should Have Been a Movie or a Miniseries: American Gothic (2016)

For more aliens, go to A Survivor… Unclouded By Conscience, Remorse, or Delusions of Morality: Alien (1979)

For more Bill Pullman, go to A Tender Toll-Booth Token: While You Were Sleeping (1995)

For more Jeff Goldblum, go to Just Follow the Screams: The Lost World (1997)

Every Heart Beats True for the Red, White & Blue

“You’re a grand old flag, you’re a high flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave.
You’re the emblem of the land I love.
The home of the free and the brave.
Ev’ry heart beats true ‘neath the Red, White and Blue,
Where there’s never a boast or brag.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
Keep your eye on the grand old flag.”

                                                                             -You’re a Grand Old Flag

Happy 4th of July everybody!

Today we celebrate the birth of our country.

A country that was going to be different than any other. One that wouldn’t have a king with all power, but a President with limited power, and the people would be the ones to hold sway. A county based on giving people rights and allowing them to make their own decisions. Happy Birthday United States of America!

So while you’re eating your BBQ and shooting off fireworks, never forget what this holiday stands for.

For more on the 4th of July, go to You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat: Jaws (1975)

For more on Captain America, go to Do the Right Thing

For more holidays, go to Dear Dad

You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Potato: Aliens in the Attic (2009)

You’re gonna need a bigger potato.

First I want to say happy 50th! This is my 50th post! I never thought I would make so many in such a few months 😀

So I know this isn’t really a Halloweeny film; but it has aliens in it so it counts. I was up early this morning and was flipping channels and this came on. I remember when this first came out in theaters, I never saw it as I thought it was going to be extremely dumb and full of childish slapstick comedy. It was full of that, and it was pretty dumb at times; but it ended up being better than I thought it would be. I actually only came in at the end of the film, so it took a while for me to get a sense of what was going on.

So these aliens invade, and only the kids are aware of this; as always the adults are stupidly blind to anything going on.

When I came into the story, the aliens had attached these mind control devices to one of the kids, Bethany’s, boyfriend Ricky. There was also one attached to the Grandma, but the kids were controlling it. The twin boys were incredibly adorable and remind me of my nephew who is obsessed with video games.

The fight between the two, was purely structured to garnish cheap laughs from children as they watch an elderly lady kick butt.

The only thing that makes this scene even funny is the lovely Doris Roberts. I love her so much!

Bethany comes in at the end and sees her boyfriend kicked through the basement. The other kids tell her that aliens have invaded which she finds hard to believe. She goes to talk to her loser boyfriend, which we find out is a liar and cheating on her. He breaks up with her and takes off.

The adults discover the worn-torn, destroyed room and immediately yell at the oldest kid in the room, Tom (Bethany is in the basement). All the kids get sent up to their rooms as they are being punished for destroying everything.

Bethany reconvenes with them upstairs trying to do something. Tom has given up, as he feels they can do nothing to save Earth. Bethany tries to get everyone to go fight, but they won’t follow anyone but Tom.

Tom I thought was very attractive. Super sexy as he was played by Carter Jenkins. Anyways, Tom is now encouraged and they go down to the basement to defeat the aliens.

When they get there they discover their cousin Jake, played by Austin Butler. (Where has he gone? I haven’t seen him in anything recently.) He was kidnapped by the Zarkonian aliens and knows they are trying to create some kind of machine. The kids had become friends with one of the aliens, Spark, and he is the techno one that they are forcing to build the machine.

They are about to give up again, when Jake comes up with a mentos/cola bomb. They shoot them at the aliens which knock them all out except for the commander. Tom takes him out with his potato gun, which accidentally knocks him into the machine they were forcing Sparks to create.

Everyone cheers at this, but then Sparks tells them that it is not good, it makes the commander big!

They have to try and battle him while the other kids handle the small aliens. Jake is able to distract the commander while Tom calibrates the mathematic equation to shoot the commander with a mind controlling device. While he is doing this, one of the other aliens increases his size and the commander and him have an epic fight.

While they duke it out Sparks reverses the machine, making anything that goes through it little. Tom sends them both through the machine, with the “ugly” alien going off with his girlfriend, while the commander is seemingly zapped into nothingness.

They have stopped the aliens, but there is still an invasion coming. One the adults stupidly think are a meteor shower.

Sparks calls the aliens and tells them to retreat. After a tearful goodbye, he goes home to be with his family. All the kids enjoy the rest of their vacation, having finally bonded and become a perfect unit.

Cheesy, yes. The very, very, end was hilarious though. 😀

Hope you enjoyed that lighthearted post. More posts to come. 10 days until Halloween!

To start Horrorfest from the beginning, go to I Don’t Belong In the World

For the previous post, go to Quite a Horror Story

For more on aliens, go to When Potatoes Go Bad

For more on channel surfing, go to Secrets Are Great, Unless You Get Caught

For more on video games, go to Push All the Buttons!