Roland Emmerich’s 1996 alien invasion hit is the definition of a summer blockbuster
Trying to pin down exactly what makes a film a summer blockbuster is tough. As the saying goes: “I know it when I see it.” Nevertheless, I’d like to make at stab at defining the phenomenon. In truth, I’m reverse engineering all my points from the fact that when I hear the phrase ‘Summer Blockbuster’ I think ‘Independence Day.’
Why is that? What makes Independence Day stand out in my mind as the quintessential summer blockbuster? It’s not like I have any memories from the time—in July 1996 I was four months from being born—and yet the movie persists in my mind as a summer movie.
Obviously, there’s the title—but I’m not American, so it’s not like I have a strong connection to that particular overseas holiday. Honestly, there’s a fair chance that watching this movie as a child was one of the first times I was ever exposed to the concept of an Independence Day.
No, it has to be something else—something so baked into the movie itself that it’s subconsciously ticking all the boxes my brain made to categorise a summer blockbuster.
Countdown
Facing the threat of annihilation from a fleet of alien spacecraft, disparate groups of Americans—from the President and his advisors to crop-dusters and exotic dances—must unite to defeat this seemingly invincible enemy. That right there—the disparate groups of Americans—is the core of why I think Independence Day comes out on top as the best summer blockbuster.
Most notably, this movie has an incredibly diverse and talented cast which I think is a huge factor in the broad, four-quadrant appeal of the movie. The multitude of roles this cast fills out also means there’s something for everybody here (although it could be argued that all the female leads—Mary McDonnell, Vivica A. Fox, and Margaret Colin—are primarily defined by their relationships with their more active and interesting male love interests). Kids will love watching aliens get blown up and adults can cry when the First Lady dies (and also love watching aliens get blown up, presumably).
Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith are, of course, the most enduringly popular leads of the movie, and their presence alone was always bound to get people seated (although Smith’s status as a leading man hadn’t been as cemented in the culture then as it is now) but it’s the broad spectrum of perspectives that really make this movie shine.
It’s the End of the World as We Know It
The multiple points of view and converging plotlines of this two-and-half-hour film really lend it an epic sense of scope. By hopping about the country, the audience gets a feel for the magnitude of the situation. All of this helps Independence Day totally transport the audience—another important factor for a summer blockbuster, I’m sure you’ll agree. That feeling of being totally immersed in a fantastical larger-than-life adventure is what tentpole movies like this are all about.
The length of the movie, too, helps in this regard. There’s a running sentiment that I disagree with online that movies should be as short as possible to keep people engaged when in fact the real issue with audience engagement is pacing, not runtime.
Independence Day is perfectly paced. It needed that longer runtime to give each plotline and character a chance to breathe, but it doesn’t waste your time, either. There’s a rollercoaster element to this movie. The set-ups are tense and exciting—like the ‘discovery’ of Area 51 and the prolonged build-up to the moment where the aliens attack—and the action sequences are kinetic and character-focused. Despite its lengthy runtime, Independence Day is not an endurance test.
“Hello, boys! I’m back!”
The movie is also incredibly funny at times—another contributing factor to its ‘Best Summer Blockbuster’ status. I don’t think anybody would argue against the fact that a blockbuster should be a good time. You should have fun and leave on a high, and boy, is that Independence Day in a nutshell.
This isn’t a movie without stakes—in fact the stakes are huge—but that doesn’t mean that things get overly serious. Judd Hirsch as Jeff Goldblum’s father gets the best laughs of the movie for me, such as this classic:
“All you need is love. John Lennon. Smart guy. Shot in the back. Very sad.”
These characters don’t make snarky, ill-timed jokes like you’d see in some modern-day blockbusters. Hirsch’s old man ramblings, Goldblum’s fear of flying, Randy Quaid’s backstory as an alien abductee; every moment of humour in the film is grounded in who the characters are. No line or moment feels out of place, and the end result a movie that you can’t help but have a good time with.
White House Down
Of course, no true blockbuster can claim the title of Best Summer Blockbuster without being groundbreaking in some way. Usually this comes in the form of unique special effects, as is the case for Independence Day which has a record-breaking (at the time) three-thousand special effects shots. More miniatures and models were built for this film than for any single film before it. From alien spacecraft to the Empire State Building and the White House, these models were rigged to explode on-camera from angles of forced perspective—weeks of work for mere seconds of realistic explosion footage.
But it worked. The shots of the spaceships obliterating iconic U.S. landmarks are some of the most impressive in the film, and although general audiences wouldn’t have a knowledge of how these shots were achieved, they conveyed an incredibly immersive sense of realism that clearly captured their attention. After all, Independence Day was the highest grossing film of 1996—worldwide and domestic—which is the final point I’ll make.
A movie isn’t a blockbuster unless it… busts blocks. What I’m trying to say is that any self-respecting blockbuster has to make oodles of money. Independence Day grossed $817.4 million (In 1996 money. That’s around $1.6 billion in 2024). People showed up in droves for this movie.
Conclusion
To recap, Independence Day has broad, four-quadrant appeal that was fun for the whole family without being a kids movie; it’s a fun movie that can get an audience cheering without deflating tension or stakes; it has charming, talented leads; it boasted groundbreaking special effects for the time; its epic scale and adventurous spirit has the power to transport audiences for a breezy two and a half hours; and it made an unholy sum of money.
Also there’s a moment where a golden retriever leaps out of the way of an explosion just in the nick of time that will have you gasping for air.
Beat that.
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