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CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Independence Day (1996) is a movie which I think is unfortunately perceived the wrong way by many. People keep putting Will Smith's character (Captain Steven Hiller) and Bill Pullman's character (President Thomas Whitmore) in the center of the story where they're the main heroes fighting against an alien invasion, but that's not really the case. Despite that, it still gets the recognition it deserves which is great. It is definitely one of my favorite movies of all time.
Independence Day is actually a love story with a psychological twist wrapped inside a Sci-Fi adventure. The main protagonist/hero of the story is undoubtedly David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), an overqualified cable repairman who is an awkward, nerdy genius engineer specialized in the computer field.
Although it happens off screen before the first scene of the movie (I'm sure it was meant to be left out on purpose to keep the audience guessing which was a great decision), due to his genius intellect and capabilities, David Levinson is actually the person who, unbeknownst to the rest of the world, contacts the aliens in the first place by secretly hacking into and using the Earth's satellite system to send out a signal to draw them in and make them come to Earth.
Later on throughout the movie, David acts like the alien invasion is a surprise to him to successfully cover his tracks. However, the foreshadowing and clues that he's the mastermind behind the arrival of aliens are there in each of the acts of the movie, most noticeably in the first act where David (and David alone) ''discovers'' the signal cleverly hidden inside the Earth's satellite system (of course he's the only one who discovers it because he's the one behind it).
By the second act of the movie, the very uniquely crafted love story unveils completely. We learn that David is unable to let go of the past, more accurately, his divorce from Constance Spano (Margaret Colin), an attractive and smart woman at a high position in the White House. So, for 3 years after the divorce, David has been working on an extremely complex, romantically obsessive plan to re-ignite the love spark between them again and to get her back. The reason behind their divorce, according to Constance, was the fact that David wasn't ambitious enough. So, to prove his love, but also his ambition growth to her, David goes all out and uses the aliens and alien invasion as the foundation/stepping stone to becoming the ultimate hero in Constance's eyes and ultimately getting her back.
By the end of the movie, David reaches his goal in the most spectacular fashion as he executes his master plan perfectly - from luring the aliens to Earth to secretly, but masterfully influencing the government and the military to do his bidding by starting an intergalactic war which he would then conveniently end and subsequently become the hero of not just Constance, but also the whole world, as he planned to do from the beginning. All that careful and complex planning finally comes to fruition once the aliens are defeated which pushes Constance into falling completely head over heels for David. Them getting back together in a love outburst neatly concludes the movie.
Most guys would definitely fail in trying to get an ex back the way David did, but David is not most guys. He didn't succumb to grief and depression and instead he went all out and showed us that anyone can rise above those things and get back with an ex as long as there's the right amount (or excess amount) of motivation present. Not to mention the subtext or the secondary moral of the story that the movie brilliantly gets across, which is that the properly channelled love for your ex can make you a better version of yourself. And that's what makes this movie such a great love story and one of the greatest romance movies of all time.
On top of the unique love story which drives the whole movie, the audience gets many cherries on top as bonuses - the setting, the stellar acting by the whole cast and the amazing visuals create the almost unparalleled concoction of cinematography experience rarely seen on the big screen.
CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Independence Day (1996) is a movie which I think is unfortunately perceived the wrong way by many. People keep putting Will Smith's character (Captain Steven Hiller) and Bill Pullman's character (President Thomas Whitmore) in the center of the story where they're the main heroes fighting against an alien invasion, but that's not really the case. Despite that, it still gets the recognition it deserves which is great. It is definitely one of my favorite movies of all time.
SUMMARY:
Independence Day is actually a love story with a psychological twist wrapped inside a Sci-Fi adventure. The main protagonist/hero of the story is undoubtedly David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), an overqualified cable repairman who is an awkward, nerdy genius engineer specialized in the computer field.
Although it happens off screen before the first scene of the movie (I'm sure it was meant to be left out on purpose to keep the audience guessing which was a great decision), due to his genius intellect and capabilities, David Levinson is actually the person who, unbeknownst to the rest of the world, contacts the aliens in the first place by secretly hacking into and using the Earth's satellite system to send out a signal to draw them in and make them come to Earth.
Later on throughout the movie, David acts like the alien invasion is a surprise to him to successfully cover his tracks. However, the foreshadowing and clues that he's the mastermind behind the arrival of aliens are there in each of the acts of the movie, most noticeably in the first act where David (and David alone) ''discovers'' the signal cleverly hidden inside the Earth's satellite system (of course he's the only one who discovers it because he's the one behind it).
By the second act of the movie, the very uniquely crafted love story unveils completely. We learn that David is unable to let go of the past, more accurately, his divorce from Constance Spano (Margaret Colin), an attractive and smart woman at a high position in the White House. So, for 3 years after the divorce, David has been working on an extremely complex, romantically obsessive plan to re-ignite the love spark between them again and to get her back. The reason behind their divorce, according to Constance, was the fact that David wasn't ambitious enough. So, to prove his love, but also his ambition growth to her, David goes all out and uses the aliens and alien invasion as the foundation/stepping stone to becoming the ultimate hero in Constance's eyes and ultimately getting her back.
By the end of the movie, David reaches his goal in the most spectacular fashion as he executes his master plan perfectly - from luring the aliens to Earth to secretly, but masterfully influencing the government and the military to do his bidding by starting an intergalactic war which he would then conveniently end and subsequently become the hero of not just Constance, but also the whole world, as he planned to do from the beginning. All that careful and complex planning finally comes to fruition once the aliens are defeated which pushes Constance into falling completely head over heels for David. Them getting back together in a love outburst neatly concludes the movie.
THOUGHTS:
Most guys would definitely fail in trying to get an ex back the way David did, but David is not most guys. He didn't succumb to grief and depression and instead he went all out and showed us that anyone can rise above those things and get back with an ex as long as there's the right amount (or excess amount) of motivation present. Not to mention the subtext or the secondary moral of the story that the movie brilliantly gets across, which is that the properly channelled love for your ex can make you a better version of yourself. And that's what makes this movie such a great love story and one of the greatest romance movies of all time.
On top of the unique love story which drives the whole movie, the audience gets many cherries on top as bonuses - the setting, the stellar acting by the whole cast and the amazing visuals create the almost unparalleled concoction of cinematography experience rarely seen on the big screen.