A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

(C) 2016 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Director Roland Emmerich’s 1996 alien invasion film “Independence Day” is a high tech retread of 1950s-era movies such as “The War of the Worlds” and “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers.” Co-written by Emmerich with his long-time collaborator Dean Devlin, “Independence Day” pits a motley crew of characters led by Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Will Smith, and Randy Quaid against a horde of spacefaring aliens and their armada of enormous flying saucers. Set in the late 1990s, “Independence Day” (or “ID4”) takes place between July 2 and July 4. The Cold War is over, and Saddam Hussein’s Iraq has been defeated in Operation Desert Storm. With America’s national holiday coming up, much of the U.S. military is on leave, and everyone is getting ready for barbecues, fireworks, and rowdy Fourth of July parties. But out in space, trouble looms as a gigantic flying saucer – described by an alarmed scientist as being “one fourth the size of t...