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  1. #1
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    A DVD REVIEW: INDEPENDENCE DAY - LIMITED EDITION (20th Century Fox)

    What made this LIMITED EDITION so LIMITED, being that this version is STILL on the shelves a year after its release, not to mention there are a plethora of other versions of Independence Day still floating around the market, including a rare full frame cut? Nothing, except for the fact that when this Limited Edition came out, it was coinciding with Roland Emmerich's follow up disaster The Day After Tomorrow, and in the DVD box of this Limited Edition there was a free ticket to see the film in theaters, much like MGM just did with their new Amityville Horror Collection box set which was released to coincide with the recent awful remake of The Amityville Horror and in which MGM included a free ticket to see the remake inside this box collection of the Amityville films on DVD. There are also two versions of ID4 on this Limited Edition --- the standard theatrical cut, and a Special Edition version, which adds nine minutes of additional footage to a film that didnt really need it, and the added footage does nothing for plot development except in one case, where Brent Spiner's character is explaining to Jeff Goldblum's character exactly what kind of technology is inside the alien space ships before they attempt to fly one themselves...but I'll get to all this.

    I was going to watch the god-awful-for-the-first-90-minutes Pearl Harbor in keeping with the 4th of July tradition after watching The Patriot, in also keeping with the holiday, but ironically, I pulled what I thought was a much more fitting choice off my DVD shelf that happened to be directed by the same team and man who brought us The Patriot --- Roland Emmerich --- and that was his special effects extravaganza Independence Day. You know, if there's anyone who knows exactly how to do the perfect summer blockbuster popcorn thriller, Roland Emmerich is right up there next to names like Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer; these guys usually get right to the point with nonstop action sequences and over the top special effects; "ID4" was no different.

    Hailed at the time of theatrical release as THE blockbuster of that season --- and it was --- I can remember the marketing techniques used for advertising Independence Day in the theaters, with the gigantic White House models in the lobbies of the movie theaters and the words "EARTH.....NICE WHILE IT LASTED" on the posters below it, showing the massive space craft hovering above. For those of you who really need to know what this picture is about, before I go into the more important information regarding the "Limited Edition" badge slapped on this disc and its technical delivery, Emmerich's tale of the world pretty much coming to an end at the mercy of hostile aliens (he did almost the same thing with his follow up The Day After Tomorrow, which was about a new ice age ending mankind) tells the story of just that.......massive, city-sized alien space ships arrive over our skies and take holding patterns and we just dont know what to make of them; now, this is where Emmerich goes wrong in his pattern of directing. He sets up these very scary "what if" scenarios, making us wonder exactly WHAT WOULD happen if something like this took place --- and he did the same thing in The Day After Tomorrow, making us wonder what would happen IF an ice age did happen again ---- but then, in the case of Independence Day, where it begins on a very scary note, the whole thing suddenly turns into Star Wars with American fighter pilots duking it out against alien ships shooting green lasers at them; in The Day After Tomorrow, he sets up the same plot, with a frightening question of whether something like this could happen and what if it did, but then a smothering of CGI takes over the film, and we have CGI-created wolves eating people......but thats another review for another day.

    Once the giant space ships position themselves all over the major cities of the world, Jeff Goldblum's character figures out that these aliens are coordinating a massive, synchronized attack on the cities of Earth, and he has to convince the President (Bill Pulman) of the same before its too late --- but it ends up being too late, as once an American helicopter attempts to make contact with one of the massive ships over Washington, it is shot down, convincing the President and his staff that these aliens are not friendly.....Pullman and his staff, along with Goldblum and his father (Judd Nelson), board Air Force One and take off just in time as the alien ships coordinate their attack sequences, as Goldblum predicted, and begin destroying the cities they have hovered above with massive green lasers that smash the cities into rubble.

    Of course, the United States wants to retaliate, and so Will Smith and his fighter pilots, the Black Knights, are called into action for a counter strike against the alien ships. The only problem they encounter once approaching the ships and firing their missiles at them is that these alien ships have shields protecting them so the American weapons cant break through them. Pullman and his staff is eventually led to "Area 51" in the Nevada desert, where supposedly, these same aliens have been captured in the past and have been kept a secret --- even from the President. In a quite comical role, Brent Spiner (of Star Trek: The Next Generation) plays the head of research for these captured aliens in Area 51, and gives the President's staff vital information about these aliens and how they communicate, which seems to be through some kind of telepathy (there is good added footage here in the Special Edition version of the film on this DVD where Spiner is inside the cockpit of a captured alien ship in Area 51 with Goldblum). And since they have a captured ship already, Goldblum comes up with an idea of how to stop the alien invasion before the entire planet is wiped out --- because Pullman, through a telepathic link with one of the captured aliens, learns that Earth is going to be exterminated for its natural resources by these aliens. Golblum suggests giving the "mother ship" which is hovering above Earth controlling the other ships a computer virus of some kind, which would bring down the shields of the other ships so the American fighters can attack them with shields down; this, though, would involve pilot Will Smith and Goldblum both flying one of these old captured space ships out of our atmosphere, docking with the mother ship, installing the virus and then getting out of there within 30 seconds of dropping a nuclear bomb inside the mother ship. They pull it off, but even with shields down, the American fighters just dont do enough damage to these massive space ships and another solution must be found......enter Randy Quaid, who, in a ridiculous drunk crop duster pilot role and who was once abducted by these same aliens, joins the fighter pilots in the final attack against the space ships and figures out the way to bring the ships down --- but the scene is absolutely stupid and should have been re-edited or re-shot. Quaid takes his fighter plane and flies it straight up into the main weapon of the space ship about to destroy what is left of Los Angeles, screaming "ALRIGHT YOU ALIEN *******S! IN THE WORDS OF MY GENERATION----UP YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOURS!" as he flies the plane right into the opening weapon hatch of the alien ship, while also saying, as his fighter blows up and he sacrifices himself, "HELLO BOYS......I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!" By flying his fighter into the main weapon system of the alien ship, this seemed to destroy it, and so the word is spread all around the world on how to destroy these alien ships. The ending was pretty lame, in other words. I also didnt like the fact that some just simply ridiculous scenarios were left in the film, such as the President of the United States getting into a fighter jet to join the guys attacking the space ship at the very end ---- I know Pullman's character was a fighter pilot from the Gulf War before he was President, acccording to the script, but it just seemed stupid to have the President up there in a plane. Also, what was up with Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum simply being able to steer, breathe in and control that alien craft they fly into the mother ship so easily like it was a piece of cake? When was the last time YOU saw someone flying an alien spaceship out of Earth's atmosphere and into outer space --- even a experienced PILOT of some kind? And I know Smith's character wanted to be in the NASA space program, but how did he all of a sudden know how to pilot a craft --- an ALIEN space craft no less --- in OUTER SPACE with no training when astronauts train for years just for routine missions?

    And here's another couple of problems with Emmerich's material......all of a sudden there are human-like seat belts in this space craft Smith and Goldblum fly to the mother ship, or were these retrofitted on Earth for human pilots? And everything in the alien space ship can fly like an Earth-created plane, including some kind of simple steering wheel device and upright seats? I know we are supposed to suspend disbelief here, but come on.....are aliens THIS related to US? And does Emmerich mean to suggest that just because these ships have been brought down the threat from whatever planet these aliens were from is over? Dont they fear the rest of their race is going to wonder what happened to them and return with full, more deadly force? Do you see the things that keep me up at night? LOL.

    This was another one of those "ahhhhhh......what COULD have been" motion picture experiences.....what COULD have been if Emmerich decided to keep the creepy, "what if" mysterious alien scenario going as these ships entered Earth's orbit instead of turning it into Star Wars.......what COULD have been if there wasn't such hammy dialogue delivery from the somewhat top notch cast.....and what COULD have been with his follow up The Day After Tomorrow if he didnt do the same thing by taking a very scary beginning of a film suggesting an ice age is upon us and turning it into a CGI party.....but I digress.

    This is STILL great popcorn, leave-your-brain-at-the-door entertainment, if it yet does get a bit depressing with this theme that seems to have had some directors obsessed: the end of the world. It's suggested here in ID4, Michael Bay explored it in Armageddon and then there was the other end-of-the-world-by-meteor film Deep Impact; I mean, after awhile, do we need to be reminded of all this depressing end of the world stuff?

    Like I said, this LIMITED EDITION DVD of Independence Day just seemed like a marketing ploy to get cash out of this title --- or MILK more cash out of this title --- because this so-called "Limited" Edition is STILL on the shelves of DVD stores, and this version came out JUST BEFORE The Day After Tomorrow debuted theatrically....do you know how long ago that was? The only thing that makes this version special, as I said, is that there was a ticket inside for a free entry to see The Day After Tomorrow, which no longer applies, plus there is an extended version of the film but it doesnt really add very much, trust me. The technicals, according to the press information I received from 20th Century Fox and after subsequently running this DVD through my system for a test, are supposedly the exact same video and audio transfers from previous versions of ID4.

    VIDEO SPECIFICATIONS:
    DUAL LAYER 2:35:1 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN TRANSFER

    Nothing really to say about this print of Independence Day, believe it or not.....for the most part, it looks perfect, with no grain to speak of, but perhaps a bit softness at very, very brief moments.....but all in all, an above average DVD transfer from Fox on this one; colors seemed accurate and there was no digital noise or pixelation that I was able to make out except for some VERY VERY rare scenes in dark areas; that was it. Overall, a pleasant print to watch. Letterboxing seemed normal for this 2:35:1 transfer.

    AUDIO SPECIFICATIONS:
    ENGLISH DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1 SURROUND, SPANISH DOLBY SURROUND, FRENCH DOLBY SURROUND, ENGLISH SUBTITLES, SPANISH SUBTITLES

    The biggest complaint I have of this DVD's audio mix, and I have shared this with Fox already, is the fact that there was no DTS track included on this DVD when there is a rare ultimate edition Japanese region version of this DVD with one kick ass DTS track out there.....but here in the States, Region 1 gets no DTS for ID4. While this is a very lively, aggressive-when-it-needs-to-be Dolby mix, something tells me DTS could have helped this soundtrack "breathe" a bit better.....but dont get me wrong ---- pick your system's volume up a little, and there will be tons of LFE when the alien ships begin blowing things up, and especially in the opening title sequence, where flashes of different regions of the U.S. being overtaken by the alien craft are being shown and this is accompanied by blasts of bass; also noteworthy are the fights between the alien ships and the American jet fighters; this just sounds awesome if your system is up enough, as the lasers of the alien ships whiz by the surrounds, and the ships just zoom all over the room. This is a cool, lively mix except for two things: dialogue, again, is too low compared to the action sequences and they can get dramatically different when the scenes change, so you have to watch your volume. Also, the track, as is usual for DOLBY DIGITAL mixes, needs a tad bit more power to get going on your processor/receiver, as opposed to if this had a DTS mix, which Im sure would have raised bitrate performance and made this soundtrack even louder.

    There are specific moments on this Dolby 5.1 mix that really stand out, though, such as when the capitol building in Washington blows up during the alien attack, and the debris comes SHATTERING at us in the surround speakers and from all over the room VERY aggressively; there is also a moment when cars are being thrown around a New York City street after the alien attack, and suddenly, a huge fire truck comes hurtling at the screen and drops LOUDLY into the surrounds.....VERY nice touch and VERY realistic.

    There is also something else I noticed when comparing the two versions of the film on this disc: when watching the Extended Special Edition version, with the added footage, you can CLEARLY hear where during the added scenes, the audio changes and drops completely out of surround and goes mono --- this was distracting and made the changed scenes too obvious. Also, I did notice a bit of an audio and video difference --- for some reason --- between these two versions on the same disc. To MY eyes and ears, the original THEATRICAL VERSION sounded and looked a bit better. That would be my recommendation on which version to watch.

    BONUS FEATURES on this (choke choke) "LIMITED EDITION" Included:

    -Inclusion of the SPECIAL EDITION version, with 9 minutes of restored footage PLUS the original theatrical version of the film
    -Scene specific commentary by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin
    -Commentary by Oscar Winning Special Effects Supervisors Volker Engel and Doug Smith

    One thing I wanted to add about the audio on Independence Day after watching it again for the umpteenth time, was that for some reason, more than ever, this Dolby 5.1 mix packed a greater punch to my ears than when previously demoing this disc; I dont know if it had ANYTHING to do with the fact that I just professionally cleaned the laser on the DVD player or I did some tweaking to the calibration of the system, but ID4 sounded a bit more aggressive and louder than I remember it being LAST time I auditioned the DVD.

    Hope you enjoyed the review, everyone, and I can recommend this title for any post-Fouth of July film watching events you may be having; if, like me, you never picked up a version of ID4 before this Limited Edition, this one will do just fine on your shelf even with all the other versions out there that can still be tracked down. From what I understand, they contain the same video quality and exact same Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack on them as this Limited Edition, anyway.

    Happy 4th Everyone!
    Last edited by Lexmark3200; 07-05-2005 at 02:17 AM.

  2. #2
    Sgt. At Arms Worf101's Avatar
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    On this one we ahem disagree...

    I love this film, it's corny, funny, tragic and rousing all at the same time. I couldn't, wouldn't change a thing except for possibly making Goldblum's dad a little less of a "mensch". No... I recently watched some version of this movie while on vacation at a summer camp in the adirondacks.. We viewed it on a 10 inch screen on a portable with a built DVD, so no DD soundtrack, no big screen and no immersion and I still loved it to no end. Nah, this film has no pretensions, so what ti rips off Star Wars, which ripped off Dune and other stories it is one of those popcorn munchers that "delivers".

    Da Worfster

  3. #3
    Class of the clown GMichael's Avatar
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    Hi Lex,

    What you say is true. If you analyze this one, it's full of impossible scenarios. How about the fact that a laptop from us inferior beings can bring down a superior being's main computer system in just a few minutes. Or the scene where the girl and her boy are running from the explosion into the tunnel. They run for a while, find a door that no one else could see, break it open and then call their dog and BANG! Fido gets there in almost one leap. There are even more of these types of scenarios all through the film. But, the bottom line is that I still loved it. It's got action, comedy, tears (my wife won't watch the part where the little girl's mom dies), adventure, and a cool sound track. I find it entertaining.
    The Day After Tomorrow though? Completely forgettable. It was ok while I watched it but 2 days after I saw it I can't recall a single hot spot. Kinda like Alien vs. Predator.
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    Thanks for the replies, guys, and your opinions.....I'll have an official review of The Day After Tomorrow up next time I take the DVD off my shelf.....

    Michael, you are right about the laptop thing ---- I mean, we can pick this film apart to DEATH, but at the end, I am agreeing with both of you that this is simple, mindless fun ----I mean, I DO have it in my collectin, after all!

  5. #5
    RGA
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    Nice review.

    Stupid film, great effects. My recommendation is to see a better sci-fi film or the TV mini-series V.

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    "Nice review."

    Thank you.

    "the TV mini-series V"

    Now THAT was SCIENCE FICTION!!!!!!!!! WHAT A SHOW!

  7. #7
    Class of the clown GMichael's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lexmark3200
    "Nice review."

    Thank you.

    "the TV mini-series V"

    Now THAT was SCIENCE FICTION!!!!!!!!! WHAT A SHOW!
    V? You mean the one with ol' Freddy Kruger as the good guy alien who helps humans fight back? What a blast from the past guys. Is this available anywhere?
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    Quote Originally Posted by GMichael
    V? You mean the one with ol' Freddy Kruger as the good guy alien who helps humans fight back? What a blast from the past guys. Is this available anywhere?
    Yup, thats the one! I think --- I THINK --- it may be available on DVD already.

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    my local blockbuster has v on dvd. i vaguely remember seeing this. i think a human gives vbirth to a alien human hybrid lizard thing, i was kind of scared(was like 8 or 9 i think when i saw it.)
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  10. #10
    RGA
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    Yes V had Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger as a nice alien). You can buy V: The original mini-series and the concluding part V: The Final Battle. The seires was a 5 part two hour per episode (roughly) series. The first part was four hours the final battle 6 hours.

    http://www.dvdreview.com/fullreviews...niseries.shtml
    http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=1955

    There were some very good ideas to this series and it is re-watchable. R+there was a tv series that followed but it was very bad.

  11. #11
    M.P.S.E /AES/SMPTE member Sir Terrence the Terrible's Avatar
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    I watched this movie not to long ago, and my observation where just a little different than Lex's.

    Video:

    There are area's in this film I found had considerable grain, and some blocking. Overall I would give this movie's video a B-

    Audio:

    While this movie had tremedous dynamic range, I found that front to rear pans lacked punch as objects(planes, spaceships) moved to the rear. When they hit the rear channels in some cases, it sounded diffused and indistinct. At other times the LFE completely blew out other elements of the mix, sounding disconnected from the overall mix.

    Whether a Dts mix would sound better would highly depend on the quality of the printmaster mix. Before I would release this with a Dts mix, I would completely remaster it.
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    "There are area's in this film I found had considerable grain, and some blocking. Overall I would give this movie's video a B-"

    While looking rather smooth on my 16X9 screen, perhaps under a more scrutinizing eye, you may be correct.....there is some grain running in the background of this image --- BUT perhaps you and I are not watching the same edition of the DVD, this Limited Edtion, and maybe, even though Fox's press materials they sent to me confirmed the opposite, this Limited Edition was cleaned up just a tad bit over the version you were looking at. But the print is definitely not PERFECT by definition.


    "While this movie had tremedous dynamic range, I found that front to rear pans lacked punch as objects(planes, spaceships) moved to the rear. When they hit the rear channels in some cases, it sounded diffused and indistinct. At other times the LFE completely blew out other elements of the mix, sounding disconnected from the overall mix."

    Agreed; another way of putting what I was trying to say. There was a "disconnecting" nature to the way the surround effects hit those channels with plane fly-bys and such, but the overall delivery was very pleasing for me once I turned my receiver up enough for juice.

    "Whether a Dts mix would sound better would highly depend on the quality of the printmaster mix. Before I would release this with a Dts mix, I would completely remaster it."

    Perhaps, as you would know better, but I know Japan is supposed to have an AWESOME DTS-equipped version of this disc floating around which we cant get here (unless you have a region free player and order it online). I assume DTS would have just made this soundtrack "breathe" a bit better because something is definitely off here on this Dolby mix --- but, you are right, perhaps a remastering is in order first.

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    Cool

    I also have this too, i own the 5 star collection version that was at the time about 30 bucks & as the picture looks pretty good & some parts get a little soft in the back ground but not bad & sound i thought it was also good but was wonder why fox didn't present it with a dts track. but, i guess they did not have room becasuse there are 2 versions of the movie on one disc but what about the other lesser price versions ? anyway a good summer popcorn movie (that i think is a updated version of earth vs.the flying saucers).

    another right on par review !

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by steamboy 2
    I also have this too, i own the 5 star collection version that was at the time about 30 bucks & as the picture looks pretty good & some parts get a little soft in the back ground but not bad & sound i thought it was also good but was wonder why fox didn't present it with a dts track. but, i guess they did not have room becasuse there are 2 versions of the movie on one disc but what about the other lesser price versions ? anyway a good summer popcorn movie (that i think is a updated version of earth vs.the flying saucers).

    another right on par review !
    Thanks a million, once again, for your kind words and for reading the review, man......I was going to pick up that Five Star Collection version, but found this Limited Edition on shelves before The Day After Tomorrow came out, so I bought this one instead.....this DVD transfer, although Terrence believes needs a remastering first, and he would know better, I think COULD have benefitted from Fox dropping a DTS mix on it, and like you I was suprised at all these versions of the DVD to come out without one. Like you said though --- this could have been because they dropped two different versions with seamless branching on the disc and this left no room for DTS audio.

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