Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Independents' Day'

Written by Scott Edwards

The fear of the unknown is something that keeps many of us from trying to move forward. Wanting to know what is going on at all times may not be possible for us normal folk and people might think that staying in the dark is for our own good. While we know very little about the stars and what they might have in store for us in the future, we do know that there are plenty of planets out there that can be inhabited by some sort of life, but what kind is being kept a secret. I would like to think that finding an extraterrestrial life form somewhere would be news for the world to hear and embrace, but we all know that it could possibly cause a panic, and maybe keeping it quiet…would be justified.
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As a massive amount of ships are starting to be seen around the globe, the President of the United States is not willing to take any chances with these new lifeforms and scrambles a couple of jets to check out their local ship. But these visitors are not looking to be investigated and take out the jets with little effort, before shutting down all of the Earth’s nuclear weapons. Unleashing a blast and destroying the White House, the Vice President is sworn into her new position and is supposed to take control of the situation and learn what this new race is looking for but she gets a very upsetting message that will change the way the world is able to react to its new threat.

Receiving a call from the aliens, who call themselves the Orions and hail from the Orion constellation, they inform President Raney that they control all nuclear facilities and will take out all government locations, along with military facilities around the world. With the Earth being known as a violent planet, this will ensure that their transport shuttles will not be harmed while they relocate the planet’s citizens over the next five days to a new planet. Not knowing what this means, Raney and her team try to figure out where the Earth dwellers will be headed, but that information is not available. Trying to gain some sort of a rapport with the President, the Orions offer something that she cannot refuse, to heal her son and allow him to walk again.

Arriving at a transport, Captain Goddard brings young Bobby aboard and watches as the boy is healed in minutes. Still not trusting what will happen to the human race, Raney is not willing to allow her citizens to board the ships until she knows more. With her husband in the position to make some requests as well, Randall is able to get ahold of the local militia to keep people off of the ships as long as possible. With the First Earth Militia taking matters into their own hands, an interstellar act of war is about to take place, but the President is not willing to allow her nation to be the reason for Earth’s annihilation. Agreeing to meet with the head of the Hive to come to some sort of terms to save her nation, President Raney finds out that these aliens will not deliver what they have promised and that the world is in much more trouble than previously believed.

Overall, I was not too disappointed with this movie, as it showed how little power the Earth could have once we lose our government’s ability to use their massive weapons. While these might not be the best way to face off against an alien race, they might at least give us a fighting chance for a little while before we destroy the planet. Really focusing on using diplomacy in the face of annihilation instead of force is something that I hope we could use in the future, since nobody really wants the human race to perish in such a way. I really liked watching as nobody seemed to be on the same page, showing that panic can bring out the worst in people, especially when the unknown becomes known and either way the planet will belong to the Orions. With an alien invasion, a militia putting Earth first, very little government control, useless weapons, a programmer and doctor with a plan and a President being forced to look death straight in the eye, this movie just goes to show that maybe taking a minute to figure out an attack plan might be the better way to go, rather than just launching nukes at an advanced race.

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