I was overly generous in my 1996 print review of ID4. I first saw the film with my father, who loves it when things explode; subsequent viewings have taught me that I watched it through my father. There's not much I enjoy more, as a devout moviehead, than witnessing the black magic of cinema possess another paying soul--it renews my faith, if you will. Re-experiencing ID4 alone in my living room, I noted a phenomenon specific to summer blockbusters: at home, the frame is dwarfed in size, the undiscriminating audience is missing, but for people who own surround sound systems, the audio is as present as it was in theatres--ergo, poorly written banter at last overwhelms the pretty pictures.
I sunk into my seat this time out as: Harvey Fierstein queened up his terrible dialogue; a SETA analyst became overexcited at the prospect of alien visitors ("It's the real thing: a radio signal from another world!"); a teenaged girl says "I don't want to die a virgin" to a guy she just met; Judd Hirsch delivers lines that only Jackie Mason could pull off; etc.. Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich's stone-faced, logically-challenged screenplay is even funnier than Jonathan Gems' for Mars Attacks!, Tim Burton's deliberately parodic hommage to retro-sci-fi.
Way back when, I championed Independence Day for making enemies out of aliens again; after enduring countless fuzzy-wuzzy E.T. rip-offs, it was nice to see them back in tentacle-bearing, laser-wielding form. I realize now I was applauding my own fanboy bloodlust more than anything else; the only thing less original than ID4's War of the Worlds-inspired concept is its instruction-manual execution. The pastel grey-on-blue scheme of fifteen-mile long saucers hovering against the clear July sky still looks beautiful--an image that continues to give me nightmares, in fact: what if? Of course, this panoply of ships struck terror back when I saw them in the miniseries "V", too. Nothing else Devlin and Emmerich concocted (or outright hacked) for this film is so evocative, not even the destruction of The White House: after you've seen it blow up once, you've seen it blow up a thousand times.
The film is definitely not improved by the nine minutes of extra footage re-edited into the narrative for this new-to-DVD Special Edition. (You can still watch the original--both are made available on the same side of a disc via streaming branch technology, à la The Abyss.) The longer version incorporates more of Randy Quaid's randy kids on the road and restores exposition intended to improve the plausibility of the climax. It doesn't.
The last thing ID4 needs is more talk. Everything glows on this THX-approved disc, though; I couldn't perceive a difference in video quality between the old and extra scenes. Letterboxed at 2.35:1 and enhanced for 16x9 televisions, the colours are wowza-poppin', Super35 grain is kept at bay, and shadow detail is above the norm. This is reference quality from Fox. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix gets off to a good start with Superman-style credits that make the most of the rear speakers. Overall, expect gut-shaking bass and aggressive directionality with little artistry; for example, during the battle in Star Wars, each flyer's engine emits a different noise. ID4's dogfights are not nearly so obsessively sound-designed--every plane hums the same. A Dolby Surround mix is the default.
Fox, champions of the Special Edition, have provided so much supplemental material for this long-awaited release that it spills over onto a second platter. Disc I is finished off by two commentaries, one by Devlin and Emmerich, the other by F/X men Volker Engel and Doug Smith. (The latter only applies to the Director's Cut.) Devlin reinforces the collective opinion that he is of limited imagination (he fought to secure the rights to use R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It" in the background of scene two, because he "thought it added a nice touch"--yes, Dean, how subtle), while Emmerich says "like, uh, like, uh..." so many times I have to wonder how well he communicates direction on set. Engel and Smith have a lot to say, and they are very serious about their craft, but they will probably put non-techies to sleep.
DISC II
The highlight of the entire package is the original "biplane" ending, in which Randy Quaid arrives for the F-18 attack on the mother ship in his crop duster! Dean Devlin brazenly speculates in non-turn-off-able input that "we lose a bit of the believability" in this sequence as originally planned--do you suppose he was referring to the fact that a biplane cannot travel at the same speed as a jet, or that it cannot travel at the same altitude as a jet? Steve Martin, I think you've found your Wily Filipino.
Additionally, there are three featurettes, each a half-hour in length. "Creating a Reality" is the best and least jokey, a documentary that focuses solely on the special effects. I was especially fascinated by the way they determined how to cheaply and effectively set cities ablaze without using a computer. Jeff Goldblum wings it as the host of HBO's "The Making of ID4", a cheesy back-patter that does not enlighten so much as promote. Thirdly, we have "The ID4 Invasion", a disposable mockumentary in the vein of "Curse of the Blair Witch".
Finishing off Disc II are spiffy menus (that goes for both DVDs, actually) Easter eggs, numerous production stills, cool conceptual artwork, storyboards for the "Welcome Wagon", "Destruction", and "Biplane" numbers, a gallery of TV ads and trailers (not in 5.1, unforgivably), the Super Bowl spot, and Macintosh's ironically funny ID4-themed commercial.
Those with DVD-ROM access may enjoy the bevy of web links, as well as a 30-day free trial for the ID4 on-line game (which premieres June 27) and the trivia challenge "Get Off My Planet!" The latter crashed on my computer as it tried to display my low score, claiming a "sprite"-related error. Hmmm... Even though I'm not a fan of the film anymore, this collectible package significantly softened the burden of revisiting ID4.-Bill Chambers
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