Independence Day 

(also promoted as ID4) is a 1996 American science fiction film directed by Roland

Emmerich and written by Emmerich and Dean Devlin. It stars an ensemble cast that consists of Will
Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Margaret Colin, Randy
Quaid, Robert Loggia, James Rebhorn, and Harvey Fierstein. The film focuses on disparate groups of
people who converge in the Nevada desert in the aftermath of a worldwide attack by a
powerful extraterrestrial race. With the other people of the world, they launch a counterattack on
July 4—Independence Day in the United States.

While promoting Stargate in Europe, Emmerich conceived the film while answering a question about
his belief in the existence of alien life. Devlin and Emmerich decided to incorporate a large-scale
attack having noticed that aliens in most invasion films travel long distances in outer space only to
remain hidden when reaching Earth. Shooting began on July 28, 1995, in New York City, and the film
was completed on October 8, 1995.

Considered a significant turning point in the history of the Hollywood blockbuster, Independence

Day was at the forefront of the large-scale disaster film and sci-fi resurgence of the mid-late 1990s. It
was released worldwide on July 3, 1996, but began showing on July 2 (the same day the film's story
begins) in original release as a result of a high level of anticipation among moviegoers. The film
received mixed reviews, with praise for the performances, musical score and visual effects but
criticism for its characters. It grossed over $817.4 million worldwide,[2] becoming the highest-grossing
film of 1996 and the second-highest-grossing film ever at the time, behind Jurassic Park (1993). The
film won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and was nominated for the Academy Award for
Best Sound.

The sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence, was released 20 years later on June 24, 2016, as part of a
planned series of films.

Plot[edit]

On July 2, 1996, an enormous extraterrestrial mothership enters Earth's orbit and deploys multiple

saucers, each 15 miles (24 kilometers) wide, over major cities worldwide, including New York
City, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C..

U.S. Marine Captain Steven Hiller and his unit, the Black Knights fighter squadron out of MCAS El
Toro, are called back from fourth of July liberty to defend Los Angeles; his girlfriend, Jasmine
Dubrow, decides to flee the city with her son, Dylan. Retired combat pilot Russell Casse, now an
alcoholic single stepfather and crop duster, sees this as vindication of the alien abduction he has
been claiming for years. In New York City, David Levinson, an MIT-trained satellite technician,
decodes a signal embedded within global satellite transmissions, realizing it is the aliens' countdown
for a coordinated attack. With help from his ex-wife, White House Communications
Director Constance Spano, David and his father Julius reach the Oval Office and
alert President Thomas Whitmore.

Whitmore orders evacuations of the targeted cities in the US, but it is too late. Each saucer fires
a destructive beam, incinerating all of the targeted cities, killing millions. Whitmore, the Levinsons
and a few others escape aboard Air Force One while Jasmine, Dylan, and their dog Boomer take
shelter in a tunnel's inspection alcove, emerging once the destruction is over.

On July 3, counterattacks against the invaders are thwarted by the alien warships' force fields. Each
saucer launches a swarm of shielded fighters which decimate the human fighter squadrons and
military bases. Captain Hiller's entire squadron is wiped out, including his best friend and wingman
Jimmy. Hiller lures an enemy fighter into the Grand Canyon before ejecting from his plane, blinding
the fighter using his parachute and causing the alien to crash in the Mojave Desert. He subdues the
downed alien and flags down a convoy of refugees, transporting the alien to Area 51, where
Whitmore's group has landed.

Defense Secretary Albert Nimzicki reveals that a government faction has been involved in a UFO
conspiracy since 1947 when one of the invaders' fighters crashed in Roswell. Area 51 houses the
now-refurbished ship and three alien corpses recovered from the crash. As chief scientist Dr. Brackish
Okun examines the alien captured by Steven, it awakens, telepathically invades Okun's mind and
launches a psychic attack against Whitmore before it is killed by Secret Service agents and military
personnel. Whitmore reveals what he learned when they were linked: the invaders plan to annihilate
Earth's inhabitants and steal their natural resources, as they have done to other planets before them.

Whitmore reluctantly authorizes a trial nuclear attack against a saucer above Houston, but the ship
survives. Jasmine and Dylan commandeer a highway maintenance truck and rescue a handful of
survivors, including a critically injured First Lady Marilyn Whitmore. Though they are found by Hiller
and taken to Area 51, Marilyn dies shortly after being reunited with her family.

On July 4, taking inspiration from his father, David writes a computer virus from his laptop to disrupt
the aliens' shields' operating system and devises a plan to upload it into the mothership from the
refurbished alien fighter, which Hiller volunteers to pilot. The U.S. military contacts surviving airborne
squadrons around the world through Morse code to organize a united counter-offensive. Lacking
pilots, Whitmore and General William Grey enlist volunteers with flight experience, including Russell
Casse, from the refugee camp at the base to fly the remaining jets at Area 51; Whitmore leads an
attack on a saucer bearing down on the base, overseen by Grey.

Hiller marries Jasmine with David and Constance in attendance before Hiller and David leave on the
mission. Entering the mothership, they upload the virus and deploy a nuclear missile, destroying it
and the aliens' massing invasion forces. With the aliens' shields deactivated, Whitmore's squadron
engages the enemy fighters, but exhaust their ammunition before they can destroy the saucer. As
the saucer prepares to fire on the base, Russell's last missile is unable to fire; he sacrifices himself by
crashing into the saucer's weapon, destroying the warship. Military forces worldwide are notified of
the alien ships' critical weakness and destroy the others. As humanity rejoices, Hiller and Levinson
reunite with their families.