Independence Day [1996]

Classic good

After the surprise hit of 1994, STARGATE, director Roland Emmerich was given a budget that would make possible a film that would eventually be one of the highest grossing movies of all time. The ground-breaking special effects went on to win an Oscar, & many of these, the miniatures, C.G.I. & digital effects are examined & explained in the comprehensive 'special features' which comprises the second of this 2 disc presentation. INDEPENDENCE DAY in this 'definitive edition' contains scenes not in the original cut, of which some make sense & others superfluous, but all most likely edited for time. For a sci-fi adventure film, the script throughout is eceptionally good with only minor cringe-making moments. The military & technical installations are authentic & the many crowd scenes, in particular, the 'panic in the streets' sequences are entirely believable & well-handled. The excellent cast, headed by Will Smith & Jeff Goldblum have well-drawn characters & have a terrific rapport in their scenes together. The 2 female leads are strong & also perfectly cast, as are all the supporting actors, but it is the rôle of President that keeps the whole thing together & here Bill Pullman surely gives the performance of his career. The rousing speech he gives just before the final showdown, is a well written piece of patriotic jargon & gift to any actor, though his character taking part in the aerial battle is open to contention! Look out especially for the humorous reference to 2001: A SPACE ODESSEY, the benchmark on which all future Sci-Fi films would follow & improve in the way of special effects, as does this film & others afterwards No mention is made of the music in the 'special features' , which is a glaring oversight, however, Luton-born David Arnold has delivered a score that matches the scale of the production completely & is without question the best film & tv composer in this country. (For all fans of this film, & soundtrack enthusiasts, I strongly recommend the INDEPENDENCE DAY ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK CD.) This re-mastered DVD is superb quality & the value-for-money aspect cannot be underestimated. A bargain! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. (Delivery was quick)

If the theatrical version was good, the extend version is even better. And the image and sound are great.

Note: This is a review of the 4K UHD version of the film. This film is on of my top three, if not favourite films of all time! I was waiting for this to be released for ages.. and by that i mean both the theatrical and extended versions on Blu-ray or UHD, and that's exactly what you get on here, not only both the Blu-Ray and 4K-UHD versions, but both the theatrical and extended versions on both formats in the box (Bluray versions on one disk, UHD versions on another disk, and the extras being on a third disk), and yes, they work fone on a UK UHD player. On to the visual quality of the movie itself, there is a slight bit of grainy'ness to both the Bluray and UHD versions, but you get this a lot in movies that were not made in HD formats in the conversaion to HD process, and i guess its one of those things. What i will say though, is that watching it on UHD 4K is still the best way to watch this film in my opinion, as it has the edge in detail, even though the difference between Bluray and UHD versions isn't massive to the eye but nonetheless noticable, but what probablky makes the difference the most suprisingly, is the HDR in the 4K version, it makes the lighting in the movie less bright and more subdued, it doesn't make the picture 'dark' it just makes it more realistically lit, which gives it a much nicer and movie looking look to the UHD version, which you will notice if you put on the Bluray version and then watch the same scene in UHD with HDR, watch the sneve near the beginning where the President of the USA is sitting down for breakfast in the whitehouse and the scene after where father and somn are playing chess on the park for example, and you will see what HDR adds to the look of the movie. So in my opinion, having the slight grainy'ness of the conversation is well worth the extra detail you get overall, and for the HDR which adds surprisingly a lot to the look of the movie, and overall this is the best way to watch the movie, certainly in my opinion, and as i say, i say this as someone who rates it as probably my favourate movie of all time.

J'ai reçu ce DVD à la date prévue dans une pochette à bulles bien fermée, merci au vendeur. Je recommande cet excellent film d'anticipation même si les personnages sont souvent caricaturaux mais on prend plaisir à frissonner avec les acteurs qui animent un film visible par tous ! On s'agace un peu, on frissonne car les aliens semblent invincibles, on rit aussi . Les acteurs se déchaînent mais semblent nous faire des clins d’œil ( oui ça fait peur mais ce n'est que du cinéma et nous jouons comme de grands gosses !) Alors allons-y et plongeons dans l'espace avec eux !

Buenisima

Si ya has visto esta película en Blu Ray sabrás la alta calidad de imagen que la película ofrece en ese formato por lo que surgen dudas si vale la pena o no comprarla en 4K. La respuesta a la pregunta es: Sí, lo vale. Esta remasterización eleva el nivel de detalles de la película ofreciendo una imagen clara, sin presencia de defectos o compresión ni una evidente reducción de ruido, de hecho la imagen conserva el ruido digital el cuál luce bastante orgánico en la imagen. El HDR es conservador pero destaca donde tiene que hacerlo, mostrando unos colores puros, sin saturar, muy naturales y unos detalles en piel, rostro, ropa, objetos, etc., sobre todo en tomas de cerca. Es de esas veces en las que ves una película que ya has visto muchas veces pero tienes la sensación de estar viéndola por primera vez porque parece algo nuevo y distinto por su calidad.

Il 2 luglio gigantesche astronavi aliene sbracano sui cieli di mezzo Mondo creando panico e terrore. Il 3 luglio l'attacco ha inizio. Il 4 luglio, il giorno dell'indipendenza, la guerra ha inizio. Questo gigantesco fumettone della Sci-Fi catastrofica di Roland Emmerich è un film a sfondo politico, che, con grandi effetti speciali, racconta un'invasione aliena surreale e puramente di intrattenimento(e divertimento) per il pubblico. Sceneggiata dal regista e dall'amico produttore Dean Devlin, la pellicola è tutta fantascienza a buon mercato dove ottime scene d'azione e dialoghi divertenti si uniscono per creare un'atmosfera a sfondo sociale; come le altre pellicole di Emmerich. Lanciata al cinema in America e contemporaneamente in tutto il Mondo, la pellicola raggiunse i vertici del box office confermandosi uno dei maggiori incassi del 1996.

Avoid this uhd dvd from this buyer. I bought it and there was no uhd disc in the box. Just 2 blu ray discs. It is a good film but I would have liked it uhd. Stay well clear.