Independence Day - Resurgence

[JoeZhang]

Crap, just remembered I forgot to mention one I found really odd. The death of Dr. Okun's friend seems a really odd scene.

It is a badly done scene but Friend? I just took it that they were lovers but it was done in a way that audiences like the Chinese could ignore.

 

[The Wormhole]

I remembered one moment that to mention in my first post. I loved the bit where the ship is coming towards The White House, but then stops just before destroying it. I thought it was a fun little play on the fact that The White House being destroyed is one of the first movie's signature images.

Yeah, that made me smile for that exact reason.

It is a badly done scene but Friend? I just took it that they were lovers but it was done in a way that audiences like the Chinese could ignore.

To be honest, I was confused as to the exact nature of their relationship, as the death scene is the first one to overtly indicate they were more than friends. Yes, with the implication they are lovers it is possible to look back at their other scenes throughout the movie and see little hints here and there, but it still feels like it comes out of the blue in the death scene that if anything it's just as distracting as the whole thing of "are they being serious or is this for laughs?" In fact, having them be lovers makes it even more strange that there's a comedic undertone to the scene.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

I thought WS was pretty good in the original ID4 but I never once thought he'd be back for this. He's much too big a star now. I wonder if he was even asked.

But what I'm wondering is, what about Robert Loggia? General Grey was my favorite character in ID4. If Loggia is still with us, he's probably retired now, but it'd be cool if he could come back...

They had a " In Memoriam" for Robert Loggia in the end Credits, he was briefly in the movie.
My only beef was a possible goof, a bunch of High ranking officials including the president were sent to Cheyenne Mountain, but didn't the first attack take out that complex in the first movie?
Other than that I enjoyed the movie.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

They had a " In Memoriam" for Robert Loggia in the end Credits, he was briefly in the movie.

My only beef was a possible goof, a bunch of High ranking officials including the president were sent to Cheyenne Mountain, but didn't the first attack take out that complex in the first movie?
Other than that I enjoyed the movie.

Maybe they had rebuilt the complex and hardened it even more to withstand attacks..

 

[The Wormhole]

My only beef was a possible goof, a bunch of High ranking officials including the president were sent to Cheyenne Mountain, but didn't the first attack take out that complex in the first movie?

Yes, that bothered me too. In the first movie, the Vice President and Joint Chiefs go to Cheyenne Mountain, which is then subsequently destroyed by the aliens. Here, the President and everyone in the Line of Succession go to Cheyenne Mountain, which is subsequently destroyed by the aliens.

I have no problem with the Cheyenne Mountain base being rebuilt, that would presumably be easier than rebuilding cities within twenty years. But it clearly isn't a safe place for people to hide from alien attacks.

Or maybe it was destroyed in this movie as Devlin and Emmerich's attempt to make a dig at the Stargate franchise?

 

[Guy Gardener]

I just finished watching Maron. Judd Hirsch was there this week as the worst father tin the world. (Nothing on Youtube.)

"So AA? You're back at that cult, what's the rate of success, how many of you end up living in storage locker?"

 

[bigdaddy]

Or maybe it was destroyed in this movie as Devlin and Emmerich's attempt to make a dig at the Stargate franchise?

Being they created Stargate I wouldn't call it a dig. Just a shoot out.

 

[The Wormhole]

Being they created Stargate I wouldn't call it a dig. Just a shoot out.

Allow me to clarify, a dig at the Stargate TV franchise, which they speak of with disdain in the DVD commentaries for the first movie. Also, the Stargate being housed in the Cheyenne Mountain base was actually introduced in SG-1, in the movie it was within the fictional Creek Mountain base.

 

[bigdaddy]

Allow me to clarify, a dig at the Stargate TV franchise, which they speak of with disdain in the DVD commentaries for the first movie. Also, the Stargate being housed in the Cheyenne Mountain base was actually introduced in SG-1, in the movie it was within the fictional Creek Mountain base.

Oh I know they hate the shows, but never knew it took place in 'Creek Mountain". So yep it's a dig.

Jokes on them. Their movie bombed and SG-1 went on for 10 years.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Being they created Stargate I wouldn't call it a dig. Just a shoot out.

Devlin and Emmerich are probably jealous that SG-1 is a bigger Stargate franchise than the film ever could be.

I mean, when people think of Stargate, they hardly remember the film, do they? Everybody connects "Stargate" with "SG-1". I dout Emmerich and his ilk are very happy about that.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I remembered one moment that to mention in my first post. I loved the bit where the ship is coming towards The White House, but then stops just before destroying it. I thought it was a fun little play on the fact that The White House being destroyed is one of the first movie's signature images.

The part that cracked me up about that whole sequence was how the White House was spared, but the flag pole on top fell over

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

The flag pole got in the way.

 

[publiusr]

I'm thinking that if there is a final film to this trilogy, it wil be on the 25th anniversary of ID4

 

[Enterprise1701]

Saw it. Not as good as the first but I find it nice to have a continuation of a narrative from 20 years ago.

I like the advanced human technology. The space fighters and directed energy rifles were awesome. And I liked the aesthetics of the buildings utilizing reverse-engineered Harvester technology.

So much pandering to Chinese audiences. Oh well, I will take the measures the movie made to avoid being completely U.S.-centric.

That guy who kept trying to draw Levinson's attention to an interview or whatever was annoying. He should have just died instead of earning Umbutu's respect.

Jake's friend Charlie was annoying too. Whyever the hell would he assume that Rain would go right along with his imaginary plans?

Julius and the kids get from Florida to Nevada within one day's daylight. Via highways while the worst panic in 20 years is happening. No way.

I suppose I had to enjoy the fight against the queen in her building-sized biomechanical suit. Was not expecting the movie to have a giant monster element.

I'm confused about the social structure of the Harvesters. First Levinson theorizes that the mothership in the first movie must have had a queen aboard. Then when they meet the sphere it states that no one has ever killed a Harvester queen before. And when they finally kill the queen, the drilling ship stops and retreats. Which would imply that Harvester soldiers need a queen for direction and thus there must have been a queen offscreen in the first movie. Right?

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Saw it. Not as good as the first but I find it nice to have a continuation of a narrative from 20 years ago.

I like the advanced human technology. The space fighters and directed energy rifles were awesome. And I liked the aesthetics of the buildings utilizing reverse-engineered Harvester technology.

So much pandering to Chinese audiences. Oh well, I will take the measures the movie made to avoid being completely U.S.-centric.

That guy who kept trying to draw Levinson's attention to an interview or whatever was annoying. He should have just died instead of earning Umbutu's respect.

Jake's friend Charlie was annoying too. Whyever the hell would he assume that Rain would go right along with his imaginary plans?

Julius and the kids get from Florida to Nevada within one day's daylight. Via highways while the worst panic in 20 years is happening. No way.

I suppose I had to enjoy the fight against the queen in her building-sized biomechanical suit. Was not expecting the movie to have a giant monster element.

I'm confused about the social structure of the Harvesters. First Levinson theorizes that the mothership in the first movie must have had a queen aboard. Then when they meet the sphere it states that no one has ever killed a Harvester queen before. And when they finally kill the queen, the drilling ship stops and retreats. Which would imply that Harvester soldiers need a queen for direction and thus there must have been a queen offscreen in the first movie. Right?

Possibly, though without any other evidence by the writers we would never know..

Still bugs me that they would just pack up and run if the Queen is killed. Why would you do that when you have the advantage?

I theorized that the first attack in 1996 was just that their first attack and their hopes were pinned on that, but when that failed this second wave came in answer to their distress call.

Also with that why do both the bad aliens and good ones see the distress call in the form of the President's speech? Did the aliens pick that up and broadcast it?

 

[Enterprise1701]

Also, the sphere's words indicate that there is more than one queen. To me, that is flawed terminology. A species united as one structure should not have multiple "queens". Their supreme leader should be the "queen" and her commanders should be called something like "sub-queens". That would make more sense.

I imagine that the Harvesters' supreme queen is the leader of their species and her daughters are the fleet commanders.

Also with that why do both the bad aliens and good ones see the distress call in the form of the President's speech? Did the aliens pick that up and broadcast it?

Broadcast signals bleed into space. Presumably for sake of convenience, it was intercepted by both good and bad aliens.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Yeah, that was another thing that bugged me. They were literally seconds from Earth's core, then all of a sudden, "Oh shit! See ya!"

 

[Grendelsbayne]

Also, the sphere's words indicate that there is more than one queen. To me, that is flawed terminology. A species united as one structure should not have multiple "queens". Their supreme leader should be the "queen" and her commanders should be called something like "sub-queens". That would make more sense.

I imagine that the Harvesters' supreme queen is the leader of their species and her daughters are the fleet commanders.

There's no particular reason the harvesters have to be united as one structure (although the way the alien prisoners talked about 'her'/'she' would make sense in that light) - they could just be separate hives that don't really interact, except perhaps to share information (or just to spy on each other in case there's an opportunity for a juicy morsel that another hive fails to capture). That might also be just enough justification to explain why the original harvesters went catatonic or kept fighting for years when their (presumed) queen died, but the new ones just turned and left.

Broadcast signals bleed into space. Presumably for sake of convenience, it was intercepted by both good and bad aliens.

The movie seemed to clearly indicate it was being rebroadcast by the alien ship in africa. I think you pretty much just have to chalk it up to a standard hollywood moment of drama>logic.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Julius and the kids get from Florida to Nevada within one day's daylight. Via highways while the worst panic in 20 years is happening. No way.

Especially considering the limited gas, Julius' slow driving (both pointed out in the movie), and part of the drive was in a school bus.

I'm confused about the social structure of the Harvesters. First Levinson theorizes that the mothership in the first movie must have had a queen aboard. Then when they meet the sphere it states that no one has ever killed a Harvester queen before. And when they finally kill the queen, the drilling ship stops and retreats. Which would imply that Harvester soldiers need a queen for direction and thus there must have been a queen offscreen in the first movie. Right?

Also, the sphere's words indicate that there is more than one queen. To me, that is flawed terminology. A species united as one structure should not have multiple "queens". Their supreme leader should be the "queen" and her commanders should be called something like "sub-queens". That would make more sense.

The whole confusion with the queen and social structure of the hive is reminiscent with how poorly Voyager mangled the Borg.

Also with that why do both the bad aliens and good ones see the distress call in the form of the President's speech? Did the aliens pick that up and broadcast it?

That bugged me as well. Who recorded the speech and how did it get into deep space? It made no sense beyond wanting to reuse the iconic speech.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

The movie seemed to clearly indicate it was being rebroadcast by the alien ship in africa. I think you pretty much just have to chalk it up to a standard hollywood moment of drama>logic.

Well it's a pretty silly distress call if that was it's purpose.

"Hey guys this guy whippped our asses. Here's his iconic speech he used to rally the natives. Come help us"