OFF: ID4

[Alex S. Garcia]

At 13:57 10/07/96 -0400, you wrote:
>SKARSOL writes:
>>
>> Andy Gilham wrote:
>>
>> > The more I hear about this flick, the more it seems like "President Rambo
>> > versus the Flying Saucers".  Think I'll give it a miss!
>> >
>> > - Andy
>>
>> haven't seen it myself,but everyone i know who has said it was
>> fantastic.the only bad reviews i've seen have been from artsy-fartsy
>> types and pro-critics(who as far as i am conncerned can be at all times
>> expected to give a report exactly opposite my own.}rj

Well, I've just seen seen the movie and... uh... wow ! That's all I can say.
I'm speechless. I mean, it's one of the best SF movies I've ever seen. And
I've seen quite a few, just in case you wondered ;-)

Okay, true, the president is a bit Rambo-esque when you stop to think about
it (especially when he flies off in a plane to fight the aliens besides his
men !)... Actually, what troubled me the most (especially coming from a
German - non-American - director) was to see yet another movie claiming
American leadership over the world. I have nothing against the States, on
the contrary, I love the States and it is a fact that the US have been way
ahead of other countries on many accounts, but to have the president of the
United States suddenly become the ruler of the world (even if it doesn't
actually happen this way) was kind of weird and, I felt, somehow unnecessary
and gratuitous. Buuuuuuut... that is only a drop of water in the ocean :-)

You mustn't stop at this. I mean, there are so many other good things in
this movie that they completely outweigh the problems and scientific
inacuracies (though these didn't bother me much, personally, I mean, hey, it
IS fiction, ya know ? ;-) I loved the plot, the humor, the actors, the sheer
power and hugeness of it all, and all the tributes to classics from the past
(the Day the Earth stood still, V, Star Wars, Alien, T2...) This movie works
magic, and that's what movies are all about - at least in my eyes. Sure, it
has flaws, but quite frankly, I don't think you really bother about them
while you're watching the film. And I had such a great time watching this
one that the good things are the only ones which I am bound to remember in
20 years from now... isn't that what a great movie is supposed to do ? ID4
will go down in History, mark my words ! :-)

>If you've seen Stargate, then you've already seen the prototype for
>ID4.  It has the same really bad science, weirdly contrived plot,
>utter contempt for its audience's intelligence, and incredible,
>overreaching visual spectacle.

Stargate was okay (same director & screenwriters, BTW), but you can't
compare. I wasn't entirely satisfied by Stargate, maybe because I was
expecting a real space opera, more in the style of Star Wars, and only found
a simple adventure/sci-fi B-movie in its stead... But ID4 is a thousand
light years away, IMHO. It's as if you tried to compare Stargate to
Emmerich's previous Universal Soldiers. The guy is obviously very ambitious
and striking higher with each of his new movies. I tell you this : watch for
this director's next film, its bound to be something even bigger. When he
was just a small local B-movie director in his country, he was already
considered as the German Steven Spielberg... and indeed, just as Spielberg,
he is offering us huge blockbusters which have been both critically aclaimed
and shot down. I, for one, am eagerly awaiting his next movie... and in the
meantime, yes, I'll probably go see ID4 a second time (I haven't done that
since "Ghost" !)...

>The difference between the two is that I actually found ID4
>quite watchable, despite its more obvious intellectual and moral
>deficiencies.  It has much better pacing and more plot movement
>than its predecessor.  Also, some scenes are downright eerie,
>almost in spite of themselves.  :-)

Very eerie, yes... and impressive ! I shivered just at the mere size of
those ships ! Geez...



Alex S. Garcia.

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