3. The Effects Still Stand Up
Somewhat catastrophically for my own fear of mortality, Independence Day came out 16 years ago this summer, and yet watching back through the effects, it is both surprising and uplifting to see that they stand up remarkably well, but just for a film of that age, but in comparison to even some more recent action films. Chief among the effects is probably the most impressive sequence of the entire film, as the aliens confirm their evil intentions by blowing the holy beejesus out of Empire State Building, and several other American landmarks (as well as the rest of the major world capitals). Back then it was brilliant, a genuinely thrilling watershed moment for effects-heavy movies, and without a shadow of a doubt, along with the ground-breaking Jurassic Park, the film outlived all of its fellow 1990s action movies in those stakes. It of course helps that the director's vision for destruction was so bold, and so new, targeting iconic American landmarks in a way that had rarely been seen, and is still seldom done well (aside perhaps from Cloverfield's beheaded Statue of Liberty), but the effects, which were highly innovative at the time, stand-up even without that element of originality. Which leads us to the next point...