Topic: Serious question.
Why does Independence Day work?
Teague Chrystie
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Re: Serious question.
I know it's kind of camp, with all the bunting and the fireworks, but to be honest, whenever the band strikes up "Stars and Stripes Forever" I find myself getting all—
Oh.
You meant the movie.
Meh. To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that the Star Wars rerelease trailer ran in front of it, I probably never would have seen it. But I did, and it was what it was. I think it struck a fair balance between taking itself just seriously enough and jamming its tongue way back into its cheek. On the one hand, you've got the big action set pieces and Will Smith playing it absolutely straight and Bill Pullman giving his St. Crispin's Day speech. On the other, it's got Harvey Fierstein, for chrissakes. It's fun for the whole family.
I think the more interesting question is why Independence Day works and a movie like, say, Godzilla so doesn't.
Last edited by Jeffery Harrell (2010-06-01 00:05:33)
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Re: Serious question.
Jeffery Harrell wrote:
I think the more interesting question is why Independence Day works and a movie like, say, Godzilla so doesn't.
Expectations.
I liked Independence day, because I went in looking for big fun battles and found them. I also liked Godzilla because I've seen the 1990's Godzilla films and this was so much better then them (the Japanese audiences, although not hard core fans, also preferred the US film going by the box office). If however you were expecting something along the lines of the best 1960's films or just hadn't seen a Godzilla film in years you weren't going to like it.
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Re: Serious question.
I don't like it as much as you do, Teague (maybe because I didn't see it until years after it came out), but what I personally enjoyed about it is that it's a cast of VERY charismatic actors capable of doing very honest feeling performances. The story is over the top and has holes in it, but as DIF has determined before, you can do over the top as long as everyone plays it straight and doesn't overdo it in their performance.
When.