Comments on: The 10 Best Things About America I Learned from Independence Day

By: The Most Awesome Thing I’ve Seen All Week « The Ego Chronicles

The Most Awesome Thing I’ve Seen All Week « The Ego Chronicles — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:25:27 +0000

[...] see this. Loved the movie, love the [...]

By: rhys

rhys — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:09:15 +0000

wasnt the first lady in LA on a book tour or some shit? not in washington? regardless this is pretty over thought…2 thumbs up.

By: Trevor

Trevor — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:57:28 +0000

I get the feeling that, in Randy Quaid’s death scene, we were supposed to be moved by his final words. The only problem is, he’s got so many lines to choose from, it’s hard to pick which ones we remember and which ones we consign to the dustbin of history. I would’ve been fine with “tell my kids I love them.” Or even “in the words of my generation: Up Yours!” But did he really have to go with the “hello boys, I’m back!” That’s just final-line overkill, in my opinion. Luke Skywalker didn’t talk Rebel Command’s ear off with a bunch of potential catchphrases strung together in the hopes that something would take hold, a la Nathan Hale’s “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” He just blasted the Death Star and got the hell outta there.

By: David

David — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:21:00 +0000

Great article. “Independence Day” is one of those movies I’ve always been ashamed to like among my film-snob friends. But Whitmore’s speech always gives me the chills.

And the point about crazy people is priceless.

By: lee

lee — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:22:04 +0000

I’ve always seen the President in this movie as a reaction against Bill Clinton, who was oft criticized by the right as a pot-smoking draft-dodger. Contrast that with the President who’s military enough to strap himself into a jet and fly into battle.

I suppose the election of George W. Bush was in some ways also a reaction against Bill Clinton, so maybe it’s not so much of a coincidence that Pullman’s President presaged W.

By: dock

dock — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:02:13 +0000

To this day I still get goosebumps (and the occational lump in my throat) when I hear that speech. It was also the first time I, myself, heard a theater erupt into cheer during a movie. I wish they would re-issue this movie in theaters the way they did ET. On July 4th, of course.

By: Wade

Wade — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:11:32 +0000

Excellent. “Crazy people are our greatest natural resource” is a line for the ages.

By: Chris Richards

Chris Richards — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:54:59 +0000

Loved it! Also, the fact that you compared Cincinnatus to Bill Pullman…possibly the best thing ever. Also, Mary McDonnell is a nigh-indestructable tour-de-force herself (see her turn as cancer-ridden Secretary of Education Laura Roslin who becomes President of Humanity after surviving numerous Cylon-incited genocides in Battlestar Galactica). Also, not to be nit-picky, but the First Lady was leaving LA, not Washington.

By: fenzel

fenzel — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:25:20 +0000

The scarier part is how much Bill Pullman resembles Ronald Reagan and how similar their careers have been up to this point in their lives ;)

But yeah, I wanted to bring this back and update it, because it’s one of my favorites and because we have grown a lot in the past year, and it will probably be new to a lot of folks.

By: almost witty

almost witty — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:40:38 +0000

Best of all? It’s written by a German, who were formerly enemies of the United States.

Then again, Bill Pullman’s fighter pilot being a prototype of George Dubya Bush is a bit of a scary idea…