8 Reasons Independence Day Is The 90s' Star Wars

Independence Day is a turning point in blockbuster cinema. The 90s was a decade dominated by box office bombs, uninteresting ideas and delirious overspending, and when things did normalise in the 2000s, it was in the shadow of a giant alien spaceship.

The movie's pure focus on visual spectacle, with the characters mere vessels to get to the good stuff, was something that successful blockbusters had naturally tried to avoid in the past; yes, the T-Rex looks great, but Jurassic Park is Dr Alan Grant's story. Now today, in an age where the genuine stars who can actually float a movie can be counted on one hand, it's the norm. And I don't even need to talk about the mass destruction. These are essential parts of modern mainstream cinema, and they come straight from Independence Day. It may not be as seismic (and definitely not as positive) an influence as Star Wars, but it's an undeniable, irreversible change.

If you're in doubt of this, just look at the man Emmerich displaced; in 2005 Spielberg made his third film about close encounters, but gone were the happy, welcoming aliens; War Of The Worlds was grim and serious, and that was all thanks to Independence Day.