--- title: "Independence Day: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/independence-day/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/independence-day" critics_score: 64 critics_reviews: 7 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Independence Day (1996): what the critics said Critics' score 64 from 7 reviews: 5 positive, 1 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics find Independence Day entertaining despite its thin writing, with praise concentrated on the scale of the alien invasion and the effects-driven destruction. The spectacle supplies much of the excitement, while the upbeat mood and ordinary-people-as-heroes ensemble make the catastrophe surprisingly cheerful. Several reviews welcome its comic-book simplicity and cheerful mixture of science fiction, disaster film and action, accepting the corniness as part of the pleasure. The reservations centre on implausible plotting, shallow characters and patriotic excess, though critics differ sharply on how much these matter. The New Yorker enjoys the film’s enthusiastic view of American patriotism, while Empire finds that enthusiasm excessive. The spread runs from warm approval to outright boredom: The Independent rejects the escapism itself, finding the villains insufficiently frightening and the character introductions pointless. Even favourable reviews tend to concede that the spectacle offers more than the script. ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 2 July 1996. The critic praises the film's gleeful, audience-friendly exhilaration and inspiring notions of bravery, noting its comic-book sensibility and spectacle as a welcome change from macho cynicism. They single out the well-wrought special effects and the ensemble of Everyman characters for making the sci-fi Armageddon entertaining and benign. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/02/movies/film-review-space-aliens-action-and-a-chance-to-save-the-planet.html) ## Empire — Kim Newman Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). The critic praises the film's spectacular destruction and special effects as delivering on epic sci-fi imagery but criticizes the ridiculous script, patriotic excess, and implausible plot elements. She singles out the breadth of the visual spectacle for praise while noting the lack of depth. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/independence-day-review/) ## The New Yorker — James Wolcott Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 8 July 1996. The review celebrates the film's massive scale of destruction and iconic targets like the exploding White House, structured like a three-act play with meta pop-culture awareness. It praises the director's awestruck tourist view of American patriotism and the entertaining, upbeat Armageddon despite the lack of subtext. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/07/15/reborn-on-the-fourth-of-july) ## Variety — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 July 1996. The review calls it the biggest B-movie ever made, a spectacularly scaled mix of '50s sci-fi, disaster epics, and action that is unavoidably entertaining and cornball. It praises the sheer volume of effects-driven destruction and heroic elements while noting it lacks plausibility and is not always state-of-the-art. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1996/film/reviews/independence-day-3-1200446236/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 3 July 1996. The critic highlights the spectacular special effects that revive the 1950s alien invasion genre with impressive visuals, shadows, and fast pacing. They single out the cornball script, cardboard characters, and stereotyping for complaint while noting the adolescent charm and effects work. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-independence-day-review-19960703-snap-story.html) ## The Independent — Ruth Picardie Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 16 August 1996. The critic finds the film a colossal bore that fails as escapist action due to a plot full of holes and uninteresting villains. She singles out the lack of proper scary antagonists and pointless character setups for complaint. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/independence-day-battle-begins-here-5604182.html) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Duane Byrge 1 July 2016. The critic calls the film a blast and a generic juggernaut that splices sci-fi, disaster, and war genres effectively, predicting it will set off box-office fireworks worldwide. Visual effects, production design, and the performances of Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum are singled out for praise as masterful and appealing. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/independence-day-1996-movie-original-905775/) ## Time Out — TCh 21 July 2014. The critic describes the film as a scrappy, spectacular, juvenile remake of War of the Worlds that can be taken at face value as an index of American populist fantasy. They note its pluralist casting and upbeat mood about the apocalypse, concluding that the moral is clear: it's the end of the world as we know it, and we feel fine. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/independence-day) ## Den of Geek — Simon Brew Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 12 March 2008. The film is a jingoistic blockbuster that excels in its first half with unmatched spectacle and alien invasion setup but falters with a weak final act. It remains enjoyable today as a passable trade-off of grand effects over story. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/independence-day-blu-ray-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/independence-day.md