Editing Independence Day (1996 film) (section)

===Critical response===
[[Review aggregator]] [[Rotten Tomatoes]] reports that 68% of 81 surveyed critics gave ''Independence Day'' a positive review; the average rating is 6.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The plot is thin and so is character development, but as a thrilling, spectacle-filled summer movie, ''Independence Day'' delivers."<ref name=rotom>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1071806-independence_day/ |title=Independence Day (1996) |work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |publisher=[[Flixster|Flixster, Inc.]] |access-date=February 14, 2023 |archive-date=December 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224222101/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1071806-independence_day |url-status=live }}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a score of 59 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.<ref name="meta">[https://www.metacritic.com/movie/independence-day "Independence Day."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621053104/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/independence-day |date=June 21, 2020 }} ''Metacritic''. Retrieved October 16, 2007.</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.<ref name="CinemaScore">{{cite web |url=https://m.cinemascore.com |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20170916153548/https://m.cinemascore.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 16, 2017 |title=CinemaScore |work=cinemascore.com |access-date=July 21, 2021 }}</ref>

Critics wrote that the film has "cardboard" and "stereotypical" characters,<ref name="lat"/><ref name="sfc"/><ref name="dcp">{{cite news | first = Kevin |last=McManus | title = A Sci-Fi Flash in the Pan | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]] | date = July 5, 1996 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/review96/independencedaymcman.htm | access-date = July 8, 2008 | archive-date = November 5, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121105131810/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/review96/independencedaymcman.htm | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="EW8">{{cite magazine | author = Schwarzbaum | title = Independence Day (1996) | magazine = Entertainment Weekly | date = July 12, 1996 | url = https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,293279,00.html | access-date = July 8, 2008 | archive-date = May 27, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080527041154/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,293279,00.html | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref name="nw">{{cite magazine|first=David |last=Ansen |title=Independence Day |magazine=[[Newsweek]] |date=July 8, 1996 |url=https://www.msnbc.com/m/nw/a/m/mv_i.asp#Independence%20Day |access-date=July 8, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080522202447/http://www.msnbc.com/m/nw/a/m/mv_i.asp#Independence |archive-date=May 22, 2008 |author-link=David Ansen |url-status=dead  }}</ref> and weak dialogue.<ref name="EW6">{{cite magazine | first = Gary |last=Susman | title = Apocalypse Wow | magazine = Entertainment Weekly | date = May 25, 2004 | url = https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,641738_7,00.html | access-date = July 8, 2008 | archive-date = May 19, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080519194825/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,641738_7,00.html | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref name="nw"/><ref name="sfe">{{cite news | first = Barbara |last=Shulgasser | title = THESE SCENES ARE SELF-EVIDENT | newspaper = [[San Francisco Examiner]] | date = July 2, 1996 | url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/1996/07/02/STYLE6573.dtl | access-date = July 8, 2008 | archive-date = May 11, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110511184541/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fe%2Fa%2F1996%2F07%2F02%2FSTYLE6573.dtl | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="ac">{{cite news | first = Marc |last= Savlov | title = Independence Day | newspaper = [[The Austin Chronicle]] | date = July 8, 1996 | url = http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Calendar/Film?Film=oid%3a138121 | access-date = July 8, 2008 | archive-date = June 14, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100614011537/http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Calendar/Film?Film=oid%3A138121 | url-status = live }}</ref> However, the shot of the White House's destruction was declared a milestone in visual effects and one of the most memorable scenes of the 1990s.<ref>[http://www.filmsite.org/visualeffects16.html Visual and Special Effects Film Milestones.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210061406/http://www.filmsite.org/visualeffects16.html |date=February 10, 2017 }} ''filmsite.org''. Retrieved July 8, 2008.</ref><ref name="fs3">[http://www.filmsite.org/90sintro3.html Film History of the 1990s] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107190841/http://www.filmsite.org/90sintro3.html |date=January 7, 2017 }} ''filmsite.org''. Retrieved July 8, 2008.</ref> In a 2010 poll, readers of ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' rated it the second-greatest summer film of the previous 20 years, ranking only behind ''[[Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park]]''.<ref>"Summer Blockbusters: The New Generation," Entertainment Weekly, Page 32, Issue #1112, July 23, 2010.</ref>

[[Mick LaSalle]] of the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' gave the film his highest rating, declaring it the "[[apotheosis]]" of comic book space adventure movies.<ref name="sfc"/> Lisa Schwarzbaum of ''Entertainment Weekly'' gave it a B+ for living up to its massive hype, adding "charm is the foremost of this epic's contemporary characteristics. The script is witty, knowing, cool."<ref name="EW8"/> Eight years later, ''Entertainment Weekly'' rated the film as one of the best disaster films of all time.<ref name="EW6"/> [[Kenneth Turan]] of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' felt that the film did an "excellent job conveying the boggling immensity of [the] extraterrestrial vehicles […] and panic in the streets" and the scenes of the alien attack were "disturbing, unsettling and completely convincing".<ref name="lat"/>

The film's nationalistic overtones were widely criticized by reviewers outside the U.S. ''Movie Review UK'' described the film as "a mish-mash of elements from a wide variety of [[alien invasion]] movies and gung-ho American [[jingoism]]."<ref>{{cite web|access-date=September 4, 2008 |url=http://www.film.u-net.com/Movies/Reviews/Independence_Day.html |title=Independence Day (1996) |publisher=Movie Reviews UK |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918062457/http://www.film.u-net.com/Movies/Reviews/Independence_Day.html |archive-date=September 18, 2008 }}</ref> The speech during which Whitmore states that victory in the coming war would see the entire world henceforth describe July 4 as its [[List of national independence days|Independence Day]], was described in a [[BBC]] review as "the most jaw-droppingly pompous [[soliloquy]] ever delivered in a mainstream Hollywood movie."<ref>{{cite web|access-date=September 6, 2008|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/12/18/independence_day_1996_review.shtml|title=Independence Day (1996)|publisher=BBC|date=December 18, 2000|last=Smith |first=Neil|archive-date=December 29, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081229191518/http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/12/18/independence_day_1996_review.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2003, readers of ''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]'' voted that scene as the "Cheesiest Movie Moment of All-Time".<ref name="fs">[http://www.filmsite.org/worstquotes.html Top 10 Worst Quotes or Lines From the Movies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704121131/http://www.filmsite.org/worstquotes.html |date=July 4, 2008 }} ''filmsite.org''. Retrieved July 8, 2008.</ref> ''Empire'' critic [[Kim Newman]] had given the film a [[Star (classification)|five-star rating]] in the magazine's original review.<ref name="meta"/>

Several critics were disappointed by the special effects. ''[[Newsweek]]''{{'}}s [[David Ansen]] claimed they were no better than those seen nineteen years earlier in ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]''.<ref name="nw"/> Todd McCarthy of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' felt the production's budget-conscious approach resulted in "cheesy" shots, lacking the quality of effects in films by [[James Cameron]] and [[Steven Spielberg]].<ref name="var"/> [[Roger Ebert]] noted a lack of imagination in the spaceship and creature designs.<ref name="ebert">{{cite news |first=Roger |last=Ebert |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=July 2, 1996 |title=Independence Day |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/independence-day-1996 |url-status=live |access-date=July 8, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215185213/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19960702%2FREVIEWS%2F607020301%2F1023 |archive-date=February 15, 2009}}</ref> [[Gene Siskel]] expressed the same sentiments in his ''[[At the Movies (1986 TV program)|At the Movies]]'' review.''<ref name="ear" />{{Dead link|date=December 2013}}''

'''[[American Film Institute]] lists'''
* [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills]] – Nominated<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/thrills400.pdf|title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills Nominees|access-date=July 2, 2011|archive-date=July 6, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706070532/http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/thrills400.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[AFI's 10 Top 10]] – Nominated Science Fiction Film<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/drop/ballot.pdf|title=AFI.com Error|access-date=July 2, 2011|archive-date=March 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326214614/http://www.afi.com/drop/ballot.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>