I remember seeing trailers for it and was intrigued by it. But I know I was never going to see it due to me being under age to see it, and it was something that my parents would never take me to see anyway.
The first time I saw it was when it came out on video, and it had the most awesome video front cover that we all know we stared it for hours with amazement.
It goes straight into the action, and the build-up to the ultimate destruction segment is great. You can really feel the tension and it makes you want to see how big these ships are and how destructive they can be. The slow introduction to seeing the ships is really quite haunting at times. It was almost how Steven Spielberg did the shark in Jaws.
With all this build-up, there needs to be a big pay off, and there certainly is one. So much so, that it has become etched in many peoples minds as one of the most memorable scenes in film history. There were even some imagery that felt quite haunting and reminded me of the original The Day The Earth Stood Still and the end of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.
Seeing the world's most historic landmarks and cities get totally destroyed in a matter of minutes is really quite something to look at. Also, with it being made in the 90's, CGI was still in its infancy. So model shots were primarily used, and seeing that being put to good use made it look ever more realistic then any computer could do.
The second half gives us time for some nice character development that we do not see that often nowadays in over-the-top summer popcorn action flicks. It also has the infamous big speech before the big showdown. It is a great moment and also has the best moment by an extra in film ever. I hope you know which moment I mean.
With all put in place, they have now deserved to have an all-out action final act. It is totally worth it and becomes an overall fun and highly enjoyable experience.
I must mention the use of comedy, as it is done really well. That perfect mix of emotion for the loss of life and lightheartedness of the human spirit gives the film a wonderful feel-good factor and therefore the re-watchability.
The performances are unexpectedly good for a film like this. Jeff Goldlbum is a great lead, as is Bill Pullman as the President.
Some saw Bad Boys as the one Will Smith branched out from being a TV star to a movie star. But for a lot, it was this one. His supporting role as a trash-talking fighter pilot stole the show for many. There are countless supporting and minor roles that are worth a mention, such as Judd Hirsch, Robert Loggia, Randy Quaid and Margaret Colin.
It was great seeing 90's actors such as Harvey Feierstein, James Redbhorn, James Duval, Lisa Jakub, Brett Spiner and Harry Connick Jnr. again in a film. We definitely need more of them. Or maybe the 90's was their time, nothing more.
The reason that there are so many performance to mention, is mainly thanks to the writing. You can tell that they gave time to develop them and give them a fair amount of screen-time to be seen as well-rounded characters. That has become a constant missing ingredient with many recent big budget summer films.
From a technical standpoint, director Roland Emmerich's team did a grand job. The general look and tone of it was perfect for this genre. The design of the spaceships and creatures were great. The model designs for me still work today compared to the visual effects that I'm afraid to do quite dated for the most part. Thankfully it's party piece scene still works and for me is timeless.
While it's not a challenging watch, quite flawed when you break it down and not being exactly award-winning (except for it winning the Oscar for best visual effects), it is a fun watch that never fails on repeat viewings.
The action is great, it is a lot of more tense and scary then I remember, the characters are memorable with multiple quotes that are still fondly remembered and used today.
I was also astonished to see that the duration was 2hrs 25mins. It really flies by every time.
Seeing this makes me nervous for the long awaited sequel even more as I can see it putting a dampener on one of the most popular films of the 1990's.
Rating: 7/10
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