User reviews

25 June 2016 Film of Choice at The Plaza Dorchester Tonight - Independence Day: Resurgance. The aliens are at it again, and this time they are bigger than ever. However, we have Bill Pullman on our side and the next generation of heroes in the form of his daughter and Captain Hiller's stepson Dylan. Resurgance picks up 20 years after Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith helped save the world from an alien invasion. As a species we have embraced the alien technology we captured and set up a global/space wide defence system, but all is woefully inadequate. Independence Day is one of those films I can watch over and over, and twenty years on Resurgance will probably be the sequel I keep picking off my DVD shelf to enjoy a movie double bill. The advances in film making are obvious, we have come a long way in 20 years and this latest instalment is a good solid job. Lots of old faces, Jeff Goldblum as David Levenson, Judd Hirsch as his irascible father Julius, Bill Pullman as President Whitmore, and Brent Spiner as the brilliant Dr Okun, come together with the younger members of the cast to tell this story of earth's battle for survival. There is an amazing collection of aircraft as space craft, many resembling current military planes I. Use today, the bomber used bore a remarkable resemblance to the B1 Lancer and I think I saw a few F16 style planes in there too. A good sequel, completely watchable in 3D and a definite for my DVD collection.

Watched Independence Day Resurgence Feauturing Liam Hemsworth(The Hunger Games) as Jake Morrison ,Jessie Usher(When The Game Stands Tall) as Dylan Dubrow-Hiller ,Maika Monroe(Labor Day) as Patricia Whitmore , Travis Tope(Boardwalk Empire) as Charlie, Angelababy(Hit-man:Agent 47) as Rain Lao ,Vivica Fox(Kill Bill) as Jasmine Dubrow , William Fitchner(Elysium) as Joshua Jackson , Jeff Goldblum(The Grand Budapest Hotel ) as David Levinson , Brett Spiner(Star Trek:First Contact ) As Dr.Brakish Oakin ,,Judd Hirsch(Ordinary People) as Julius Levinson,Charlotte Gainsburg(Meloncholia) as Dr. Catherine Marceaux and Bill Pulllman(The Equalizer) as Former President Tom Whitmore As A fan of the first Indepdence Day I really enjoyed this also really loved the characters as well also loved them diving deep into the Aliens from the Previous Independence Day also diving into mythos of it as well this sequel felt Like the First Mass Effect Game which was also every character seemed to be relatable also enjoyed the blending of the New and Old cast still enjoyed President Whitmore this time around despite Bill Pullmans age is catching up to him anyway the film was one of the best of 2016 and it had a message of up and Optisim unlike some of the films i have seen this year it was nice to see the characters band together instead of fight one another also this my Star Wars Episode VIII Primer as well also This has to my favorite Role that Liam Hemsworth did as Jake Morrison .Fantastic Cinematography by Markus Forderer(I,Origins), Production Design By Barry Chusid(San Andreas) Costume Design By Lisy Christl(Anonoymous) ,Amazing Writing By Dean Devlin(The Librarians) and James Vanderbilt(The Amazing Spider-Man) , Amazing Score from Harold Kloser(The Young Americans) and Direction By Roland Emmerich(Stargate) A Decent Sci-Fi Sequel 8/10

I could watch Independence Day more times than I could any other alien invasion film, it was over the top, but I liked it because of it, in 1996 it revived the whole alien invasion in movies, there have been so many after that like the ever so awful ones like Skyline(2010) and Battleship(2012). I'm surprised that there was gonna be a sequel, Independence Day for me I always thought never needed a sequel, but I saw it just to see if it would be has entertaining.

It was not has over the top has the first one, but the effects are good, never seem dated. The actors all play there parts very well, Liam Hemsworth as a cocky pilot, basically a cross between Han Solo and Maverick(Top Gun), Brent Spiner returns surprisingly has eccentric scientist, they really up his part. Jeff Goldblum gets back in his role, like he never left. Bill Pullman is also good here, so was Judd Hirsch. Not a great film, but if you saw the first film, you'll know what to expect here, simply entertaining.

OK, so this film is not as good as the first, but then not many sequels actually are, but I did really enjoy this.

It's cheesy as hell, predictable, full of cliché's, one liners (from the original film) and leans very heavy on the legacy of the original... But why not, it's the sequel!

I wish people will stop taking films so seriously. If you want something serious and real, go watch David Attenborough Blue Planet or something. You want to lose yourself in some fantasy Sci-Fi that pushes the elements of reality to the boundaries and often beyond... Then watch Hollywood!

The baseline of the film is good, the story line works, the acting isn't the best, but still works. In my opinion, grab a soft drink and bag of Popcorn, sit back and enjoy. It's meant to be entertainment and I thought this film was exactly that. If you enjoy an entertaining Sci-Fi action film, then is will be enjoyable for you. Fast paced, lots going... and there is an opening for a Third!!! Fingers crossed!

I have to say i like it just because it recalls my old days. However, those new brands remind me we are in 2016! I have tried QQ, the free software in movie, is it really possible to get in touch with someone on the moon? I'd like to find one outer-space friend. Mind numbly stupid, Resurgence offers absolutely nothing new to the alien genre. Loud, messy, and frankly boring, there is no emotional attachment and very little urgency to a movie about the end of the world. The original was enjoyably cheesy. This one is just cheesy. A very delayed sequel that delivers, for better or worse, what it promised: little subtlety and great spectacle.

I love the original movie. It is by far one of my favorite 90s movies, and I was very excited to hear that a second installment would premiere this summer. That being said I wouldn't call Independence Day 2 to be a bad movie or the best movie of the summer. What I will say this is was very entertaining and I enjoyed it very much, but there are things that needed to be worked on, such as a few plots holes and logic of the story line. Granted I see potential for a third film and the new direction this story is going.

For me this movie made me laugh, got me excited for what happened next, and the special effects were awesome. I know some viewers criticized the scientific logic behind this movie, such as the space ship's mass and how it created it's own gravity to destroy London, but this is a sci fi movie not everything is going to be logical.

Bottom line I found it entertaining and fun and to me that's all that matters.

Was always going to be hard to beat the first film but as sequels go this was pretty good, they made it bigger and improving with technology this was a good film. Some great moments with actors from the first film but did well to incorporate new additions.

After 20 years, "Mr Data" (Brent Spiner) has returned as Dr Brackish Ogun, the butt-scratching former director of Area 51.

Okay, okay! I rated this 10 initially, but I have to revise my rating. I'll give it an "8" - ONLY because I enjoyed it, despite it's flaws. And, mostly because of Brent Spiner, who for me was the highlight of this film, it was a remarkable resurrection of the character. I wish the rest of the film had been better, but a film really has to be bad for me to give lower than a "5". and this film is no way as bad as Justin Beeber's "I Believe"

As far as the film, NO, it was nowhere near as well done as ID4, which even with it's primitive CGI, the practical elements and composition of that film gave us a more realistic image of the immensity of the Alien Mother-ship and the 13-mile wide invasion ships. What's missing in this film was the ominous covering of NYC by one of the ships: When Jeff Goldblum sees the ship edge on as it approaches, the sheer size. Even with the magnitude of the new Alien ships, that image of hopelessness was missing in this film.

But it was still enjoyable, including the appearances of former ID4 actors, RIP Robert Loggia.

What I liked was the further exploration of the nature of our Alien Visitors, a kind of history is given. It seems that the Mother-ship that visited us 20 years ago was minor, compared to what we see in this film. But I did not believe it as much this time.

That is the main point of any of these alien invasion blockbusters, how much we believe what we see. The 90's was perhaps the last decade where impossible special effects were produced practically, with a little help from Apple Computers and CGI. But since 1996, the state of computer hardware has developed so that CGI can be done faster, better, and most importantly, cheaper than it was done in the 90's. But too much CGI I think takes away from the overall effect. Practical effects, well, they look real, because they are real. And as well as the CGI was done here, it lacked the texture of practical effects. Ingenious composition was what made it work so well in the first film, here, they used CGI to do it all.

This film lost most of that magic, that cleverness. But it still had some good points, some good characters, some good dialogue. Again, not as good as ID4. The Last time Dean Devlin worked with Roland Emmerich was probably in "The Patriot" as a producer. Between them, they owned the 90's with several blockbusters. In the meantime, other directors appeared and took over, now there are too many to count.

It was my initial love of ID4 that allowed me to accept this as a sequel, the original actors, Jeff Goldblum, Vivica A Fox, Judd Hirsch, and especially Bill Pullman, all have aged well. And worked well with new actors, Liam Hemsworth and Jessie T. Usher (as Dylan Hiller).

One thing that was kind of absurd was the appearance of an "Alien Queen" - which looked ironically like James Cameron's Alien Queen from "Aliens". Also, she had a mouth, the aliens in ID4 had no mouths. I guess she "speaks" for all of them.

But I liked how 20 years of progress with alien technology was shown. Moon bases, fighter ships using alien propulsion, area 51 being expanded. The inference that there must have been Aliens left on the ground in every country, there must have been a time where these were all being fought and gathered up. And a Warlord from Africa, played by Deobia Oparei, who could read the alien's language due to two decades of fighting them on the ground, hunting them and learning how to properly kill them. But most importantly, understanding a recurring symbol in the alien language, and what it really meant. Which lead directly to Brackish Ogun creating a personal relationship with an unexpected ally. Who was a virtual intelligence of sorts, just like Mr Data, played by Brent Spiner for over 20 years.

This film did not and could not exploit Apple Computers (Or any other modern day tech products), which had been part of the solution of the first ID4. Because in this "alternate history", Hollywood was Destroyed and took The X-Files with it, probably as well as Cupertino and the Apple Offices. So we didn't see any modern day computer gadgets, no iPhones, no iPads, not even an Android tablet or device. But plenty of Chinese tech. "QQ", a Chinese company, has taken over the void left by the destruction of ATT and Sprint. So we really didn't see any identifiable 2016 tech, not even an iPhone SE. Maybe in this time-line, alien computer tech has been incorporated into the tech we are shown. But the aliens are still able to knock out our satellite network, because we weren't the only ones who had "upgrades".

If I consider what would have happened if ID4 was real, I think the world would have reacted the same way, especially if dozens of 13-mile wide alien ships had crashed all over, we would have exploited the tech. And the world might looked like what we see here. And like in this film, we would have underestimated the ability of the aliens to update their own tech. Which goes to show, if an alien ship appears in a warp-funnel and it looks nothing like the ones that came before, we should not shoot it down.

Was very reluctant before going into the movie theater as I read all the reviews here, god they are so wrong. The movie was very much entertaining and the CGI was amazing to the core. The plot had it's dull moments but overall it was crisp and simple to follow. The references to the first part was great and not over used. Overall watchable more than once and you would enjoy it. The BG music is great and not hurting the ears.

What I loved the most was the movie never tried to setup something for the sequel, which has become a trend now a days. Director Roland Emmerich did an excellent job and the screenplay was gripping. The action starts of ten minutes into the movie.

It was "not bad". I kind of liked it. Nice way to keep some of the characters from the first movie, but I'm not sure of the point of killing off Vivica Fox so quickly. Yes, it gives Dillon motivation, but she could have used another scene.

Margaret Colin was missed and her character's departure was unmentioned.

The thing I don't like about the modern sci-fi is that it's so dark - visually dark and compared to the first to the first one that makes it very different stylistically. With all the new technology humans had acquired from the aliens, couldn't they figure out a way to have better lighting in the bowels of Area 51? Or have the recent government limitations on light bulbs been perpetuated into our advanced future?

Okay I saw this movie a few days after opening day. As I eagerly awaited scene after scene for more I found myself wrapped in a blanket of memories and nostalgia! I read the other reviews before writing this out of curiosity and find myself shaking my head at the overly critical opinions of those who are what I like to call "the cookie cutter generation".

An epic cast, awesome visuals and a basically simple plot (aliens attack humans fight humans win), I consider GOOD! I mean SURE, some can say "oh just the same movie again"...well YEAH WW2 was just the same war again too! (CLEARLY it wasn't hence my point), if u want to go and sum things up so simply then well stay home and watch a twilight movie cause u clear must love the originality of those.......

I loved this movie. My girlfriend who has never seen the first one, loved it too! Is it a blockbuster like the first one.....

No....and only because well the first one emphasized , being overwhelmed by something unknown and far Superior to us, but yet still prevailing. THIS movie however answers some questions some wondered at the end of the first one....what happened next? Acting was pretty good if u ask me. The knowns did great like their careers shown, and the newbs well most part were believable. I think Will Smiths exclusion from the move was a shame considering offered comic relief but hey wasn't that big of a deal.

U want a good interesting movie to go check out, check it out! ACTION slammed ear to ear, BARELY a moment of "calm" so if at a theater not many moments to take a bathroom break. Go into it ready to enjoy the next ID4 and I quite like the "suggestion" of a sequel at the end, would love to see an ID4-3 or like someone suggested a TV series spin off even.....ALTHOUGH not totally convinced a TV series would survive very well since it would seem like a Stargate clone........

I just watched the movie (3D) in Thailand. Honestly, this is the film that I was so looking forward to. And it turns out to be a big disappointment. I feel that the director was trying too hard to connect the first one to the sequel, such that it ended up being super cheesy and pointless. There were so many scenes that made me wonder: what the heck was the director thinking? Why was the mother ship so ridiculously huge while the alien queen was so easy to defeat? What was the fight between the two dudes about? It was just pointless and didn't add well to the overall scheme. I didn't feel connected with any of the characters. I felt the movie was rushing too much. Also, I guess the left-wing director was trying hard to promote a female president in the hope that Hillary will win the election in November 2016...another cheesy attempt. That said, I thought the CGI was good but not good enough to redeem itself from such a poorly written plot.

Jeff goldblum is always amazing even with a crap script like this Liam's Hemsworth is just ok hes no chris and the rest of the cast is just ok. Will Smith was missed should have paid him his 25 million that he asked for and your studio said 2much!! He really made the 1st one this one gets high Mark's from me for the great cgi ,special effects and a great 3d bluray I actually like ete candy, wish it would have had a decent script could have killed it. Oh well I'll watch the special effects and 3d and ignore the story.

Let's start with the bad. Firstly, this movie only has a bad rating because people in the 20's who have never seen this movie expected a Michael Bay type, blow em' up action film, that was a piece of crap. A lot of hard work was put into the movie and it shows. However, I did not enjoy the first hour or so. The script was dry and made little sense, AND was a little rushed. Secondly, Captain Hillard's son was a JERK!! For no reason, I might add. Now the good. The special effects were amazing, the acting from the veterans was amazing, and for the most part, the script was very enjoyable. I really enjoyed the conclusion. Sorry little kids, but you did not get a Michael Bay movie. Go watch Transformers and do not forget the Vaseline. This is a movie made like old style American movies. Fun for the whole family, and I highly recommend it.

I really can't believe all the negative comments on this movie. I enjoyed it because, as usual, I suspend my real life beliefs and just want some entertainment. I got that and I wish everyone else would too! It does bog down in a few places but overall, I enjoyed most of the movie. How can you not help but root for Earthlings fighting to save the planet from the aliens? Most of the reviews criticize character development, but what I took from the movie is that there will be much more development as there will probably have to be at least 2 more movies so Earth can help the planet of refugees survive. My advice to everyone is take a chill pill and make your own movie if you are not happy with the Hollywood machine.

Really was expecting this sequel to be less than great but pleasantly surprised! Kept me entertained the entire movie! Tons of great action scenes and believe it or not I was really into all of the characters, and the acting wasn't too bad. Glad to see Goldbloom and Spiner in it as they were very funny and entertaining. Lots of great one liners etc. Anybody who liked the first should find this movie worth the time and ticket cost. Don't write it off to DVD or redbox, go see it in the theater with its huge effects and cool tech gadgets, you will be glad you did. Had plenty of people in the audience cheering and clapping at the end. Personally more fun for me than Force Awakens and definitely more on the seat of your pants fun!

I went into this movie as someone that loved the original for what it was worth, and as a skeptic that they could stumble onto another Summer blockbuster. Well, they did it. It's a bit slow to start, stutters initially at capturing your emotions, and at times confusing or senseless, but the movie eventually finds its way. Just trust it! Top notch alien action, disaster scenes, and the smirky little moments made it feel like a genuine continuation of the first film. Leaving the theater, 'epic' and 'satisfying' are what first came to mind. This is absolutely a perfect Summer movie, and absolutely the one to see in IMAX 3D. Enjoy it for what it's worth!

I just saw this movie in the theater.

I went i went with low expectations because of the critics. Boy, why is IMDb so wrong ?

I have seen tonnes of movies in all sort of genres. With a lot a lot crap too. I loved ID4 and i liked this one too.

Rule number one this kind of movies: forget about logic in the script, it is about sensation, action and special effects. You want a good story, watch drama, not this.

Me and my wife are movie lovers and there seems to be one rule for us, if its good on IMDb it is crap for us, and the other way around.

Believe me, i also love a good movie, drama with a more intelligent script, but that is not what i am searching for when i go to independence day.

I would love to see a independence day 3. About Will Smith ? Funny that i did not miss him, and he hasn't ;produced a decent movie in a decade.

Yes it's not as good as the first movie, probably should of just left it alone. But I actually enjoyed this movie a lot, probably because ID4 is one of my favorite movies so anything I would of enjoyed. The action scenes are sweet, Jeff goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd, only people missing is will smith and randy Q. Give it a watch it's definitely worth watching least one just for the action scenes.

It was so much fun. My son, 10 at the time of viewing this spectacle, ate up this movie and it's first film. His eyes watching it reminded me of being his age enjoying Star Wars. He gets this movie, Star Wars I can not convert him. I know perhaps I'm a failure there.

However, this is a sci-fi fun. There's no real darkness. It's light and fun. I'm a fan man, way to old to be a fan boy. It's space ships, aliens and ridiculous action fun. Will you walk out of this film and cure cancer? No. Will you have fun? Yes.

First of all let me say that the army of special effects crews and CGI staff did an admirable job giving us the sense of a real alien threat. Now to the real gripe of the movie fans that wanted to be riveted in every scene, surprised at every corner, forget about it, it is following the playbook from the first film for continuity. Considering the events that must unfold in this invasion, there just wasn't enough time to properly do it justice. From the human struggles, the re-establishment of existing characters, our technology advancements, etc. They also could have found more subtle ways for characters to reunite. Too bad they didn't stretch out the plot as a part one. This is what the star wars group does now, and we keep coming back for more!