Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

[Goaty]

New trailer

https://youtu.be/LbduDRH2m2M

[Professor Bear]

It reminds me of a big-budget version of Stargate SG1, and I'll risk being the minority opinion here and say that looks entertaining.  I've been let down in the last few years by a great many "blockbusters", but you know you're getting a reliable three-act product with Emmerich.

/crosses fingers it's no just setup for "Part 3" of the trilogy

[COMMANDO FORCES]

That looked perfect for ten year olds!

[Professor Bear]

That's not how a real soldier holds a laser gun!

[IAMTHESYSTEM]

They didn't give much away which is the best way to go. Some spectacular shots and a recap on what humanity has been doing since the last invasion. Star Wars: TFA had a similar strategy little reveals bit by bit. Let's hope they don't leak any major plot twists in the Trailers before the audience actually goes to see the Film. Too many blockbusters in the past have done this and we all know what tends to happen then. If you know the story already why bother going to see the Movie.

[TordelBack]

Despite thinking the first one utter tripe, a recent viewing with the kids opened my eyes to the fun of it all, and this trailer builds nicely on this surprise enthusiasm.  If they do deal with the implications of the first one, as they seem to be doing, it might benefit both. A pity Will Smith isn't on board, but maybe for ID3?

[Steve Green]

I read somewhere that his character had been killed off.

[Batman's Superior Cousin]

I read somewhere that his character had been killed off.

The Official Website confirms that his character has been [spoiler]killed off[/spoiler].

[Jim_Campbell]

If you visit http://www.warof1996.com there's a timeline covering what happens between the original movie and the new one.

[spoiler]The infographic for 2007 covers Hiller's death, although in such a manner that it would be easy enough to 'undo' if this movie makes a ton of money and they can afford Smith for a hypothetical follow-up.[/spoiler]

Cheers!

Jim

[Link Prime]

I read somewhere that his character had been killed off.

The Official Website confirms that his character has been [spoiler]killed off[/spoiler].

Maybe they can bring in Jaden Smith to furrow his punch-able brow instead.

[Spikes]

I read somewhere that his character had been killed off.

The Official Website confirms that his character has been killed off.

And for that we should be truly grateful.

ID4, like every other Emmerich film, is a right load of old bollocks. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. So, I am mildly curious to see this sequel (btw, do cinema's come with a fast forward button built into the seats yet?).

The trailer does seem to hint that this film will simply be a bigger, louder, and flashier re-run though. I suppose it couldn't be anything else really.
Nice to see Judd Hirsch reprising his role. I like Judd Hirsch. And Jeff 'nutty' Goldblum.

So, a big daft slice of nonsense, with plenty of pew pew, would be nice. With ex-President Whitmore rendered mute five minutes in, so we don't get any vomit inducing dialogue from him.

[radiator]

I like the original ID4.

It's very easy to criticise or dismiss, but imo it harkens back to a time of more simplistic summer blockbusters. It's 'switch your brain off' entertainment, sure, but imo but in a good way. Though often silly, the story also kind of follows its own internal logic, never leaves me questioning character motivations or insists that I read some spin-off novel or comic book in order to understand what the hell is going on. I'd certainly take it over the majority of modern blockbusters, which are often every bit as silly and yet take themselves ever so seriously (despite not being able to even tell a competent, self-contained story for the most part).

Re: the lazy go-to criticism of the movie - the computer virus thing: Yes, it's more than a little silly (see above), especially so in the modern day when people are more tech-literate, but people always seem to forget that in the established fiction of the movie, the US military has had an alien spacecraft for 40-odd years, so it's not exactly beyond the realms of possibility that they'd therefore be able to reverse-engineer the alien tech (and, say, figure out how to plug a Macbook into it). As a contemporary spin on the 'alien invaders defeated by common cold' ending of War of the Worlds, it does the job I'd say.

This sequel though? I'm not terribly optimistic given Emmerich's output in the twenty years(!) since.

[sheridan]

Re: the lazy go-to criticism of the movie - the computer virus thing: Yes, it's more than a little silly (see above), especially so in the modern day when people are more tech-literate, but people always seem to forget that in the established fiction of the movie, the US military has had an alien spacecraft for 40-odd years, so it's not exactly beyond the realms of possibility that they'd therefore be able to reverse-engineer the alien tech (and, say, figure out how to plug a Macbook into it). As a contemporary spin on the 'alien invaders defeated by common cold' ending of War of the Worlds, it does the job I'd say.

Or indeed, what we think of us modern technology has been engineered from tech introduced by the alien spacecraft...

[Professor Bear]

but people always seem to forget that in the established fiction of the movie, the US military has had an alien spacecraft for 40-odd years, so it's not exactly beyond the realms of possibility that they'd therefore be able to reverse-engineer the alien tech (and, say, figure out how to plug a Macbook into it).

Except they expressly state in the film they'd learned nothing from the tech, and that it hadn't even been powered-up since the craft crash-landed.
The virus thing is a sticking-point not because of the human technology*, but because of the aliens - they use code embedded in human satellites as a part of their standard invasion strategy, so clearly they've encountered other species with networked computers and are familiar with the concept of hacking, yet despite this don't have an alien version of AVG.

* although since we're on that, David tries unsuccessfully for days simply to comprehend that the alien code is code and not solar interference, so advanced is the alien machine language to human eyes that it seems like gibberish, yet he knows within seconds which line of code says "release docking clamps".

[TordelBack]

Not to defend all the glorious stupid, but David and Col. Hiller had to fly right up to the docking station of the mother ship to make their move - maybe the aliens depend on external firewalls, and the Mac attack was more like a USB hack which they hadn't encountered before.