Independence Day - 6 Things You Didn't Know

Luke Owen celebrates the Fourth of July by looking at six things you didn’t know about Independence Day…Perhaps it’s fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom… Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution… but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: ‘We will not go quietly into the night!’ We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to live on! We’re going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!Aw yeah – it’s Independence Day!Perhaps one of the best examples of a Hollywood summer blockbuster, 1996’s Independence Day is a superb movie with great action, likeable characters and hilarious dialogue. It’s a movie that takes it subject matter seriously while not taking itself too seriously. Plus, you’ll never forget the first time you saw the White House blow up. So let’s look at five things you may not know about Independence Day… 1. There was a British version of the movie, and the Americans still won. On August 4th 1996, BBC Radio 1 aired a one-hour radio special called Independence Day UK, which was a spin-off to the movie with a British perspective.In the same vein as Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds, Independence Day UK aimed to convince its audience that the first half of the show was real, with radio host Nicky Campbell talking with famed astrologer Patrick Moore about the alien invasion. From there, it becomes an Independence Day clone more or less.The cast also included Colin Baker and Peter Serafinowicz.What’s funny though is that when producer Dean Devin allowed Dirk Maggs the right to produce the spin-off, he gave two instructions: they couldn’t give away details of the movie’s plot, and the Americans had to save the day.Couldn’t let us have this one could you? 2. It holds the record for the most miniatures used When looking at Independence Day as the huge CGI-fest that it was, it’s important to note and remember that the movie also features a lot of miniature work and practical effects.Jurassic Park had shown in 1993 that it was possible to blur the lines between CGI and practical effects and Roland Emmerich demonstrates it perfectly in this movie too.In fact, in the DVD commentary, it was revealed that the fire engine seen being hurled through the air was nothing more that a cheap toy they picked up at a department store. And credit where credit is due, these effects still hold up.Of course, the most memorable miniature is the White House which, in true Godzilla style, was built just to be destroyed. It was filmed from nine different angles at varying speeds to get that awesome and iconic shot.Also, did you know the effect of the ship being blown up at the end is the effect used on the Empire State Building flipped upside down?With the increase in CGI and digital effects, it’s likely that Independence Day will hold the record for most miniatures indefinitely. 3. The video game tie-in is TERRIBLE Many of us owned Independence Day on the PlayStation and we all remember how awful it was. Bad controls, bad music, bad graphics and bad gameplay.Just, so bad.Also released on the SEGA Saturn and PC, IGN said of it, “each new challenge is roughly the same as the previous… you fly around, use your radar to locate your targets, lock on, and destroy them with your heat seeking missiles. Each new level brings a sense of deja vu that can make the Eiffel Tower level feel the same as the Grand Canyon”The game was parodied and reviewed beautifully by Internet video critic The Angry Video Game Nerd in this episode: 4. The advertising cost a whopping $24 million The advertising of Independence Day was incredible. Roger Ebert (who didn’t like the movie) claimed that the only reason it made so much money is because the advertising was so good.That’s kind of the way advertising works.An incredible $24 million dollars was spent on promoting the movie which was mostly just that shot of the White House being destroyed. To put that number into perspective, the entire movie was made for around $75 million. Meaning the advertising extras were around a third of the whole budget!The best example of this advertising was the Superbowl XXX advert (which alone cost them $1.5 million to buy) which just shows the devastating power of the alien’s attack. It’s genius.So good was the advertising campaign that Warner Bros. pushed back the release of Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! from the summer to the Christmas of the same year and it forced Steven Speilberg to postpone his plans to remake War of the Worlds. Watch the Superblow XXX trailer below: 5. Apple used the movie in their own advertisingOne of the running gags of Independence Day since its release is that our heroes use an Apple Macintosh Powerbook with a virus to take down the alien mothership. Its an obvious reference to the ending of War of the Worlds (where aliens die by the common cold) but everyone focuses on the fact they uses an Apple Macintosh.The Macintosh in question was a prototype that was never intended to be designed and finished.But with the movie’s ever popular success and the buzz created by its advertising, Apple used shots of the movie – and the non-existent Powerbook – to promote their line of products. Because the question is: when saving the world, what kind of laptop will you use? 6. Independence Day is the reason Roland Emmerich directed Godzilla If you hated Roland Emmerich’s 1998 Godzilla, then you have nothing to blame but the success of Independence Day.Sony acquired the rights to make a Godzilla film in the early 90s but could never quite get the project off the ground. It wasn’t due to the difficulties working with original producers Toho (although that probably didn’t help) but it was down to the fact they couldn’t get the script or budget right.The closest Sony came to releasing the movie was in 1995 when future Twister helmer Jan de Bont was going to direct a script written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio which saw Godzilla take on another giant monster called the The Gryphon. However, the film was never given the greenlight as de Bont’s vision for the movie would have made it the most expensive movie ever made at that point, budgeting at between $100 and $200 million.But Independence Day, a special effects spectacular, was made for $75 million. So de Bont was booted off the project and Emmerich took over.The irony of it all is that Roland Emmerich spent around $130 million on his version of Godzilla.—So there you have it. Happy fourth of July everyone!Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.