Independence Day: Resurgence brought back the alien scourge of the dark skies that dominated the big screen, remarkably, all the way back in 1996. Sadly, Will Smith didn’t return for the long-awaited sequel, but there was a fair few faces from the cast of the original film to give it enough continuity to make sense with Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman lacing up their alien-battling boots once again.
Unlike a few of the other big box office hits of the 1990s – like Jurassic Park and Men In Black – Independence day hasn’t had a raft of sequels to build on the original, so it’s going to be more like Star Wars: The Force Awakens where the cast are now a lot older than they were. You can see them for yourself in the trailer below, along with a few of the new faces that joined the old guard cast and the first glimpse of the new alien attack ship. While it’s not going to get anywhere near as much media attention as the new Star Wars did, it’ll be interesting to see how well they can bring the concept back to life.
Release date
Cinema:
Independence Day: Resurgence had a UK release date of Friday the 24th June 2016, which is bang on the same date as the US release. It was available in 2D, IMAX and 3D and with so much emphasis on the overpowering presence of the attacking alien space ships in the trailer below, the 3D option was probably the best in terms of maximising the visual impact of the film.
DVD, Blu-ray and digital download:
The DVD and Blu-ray have been confirmed for a UK release date of the 14th November 2016, while the digital download will be available to buy from the 7th. You’ll be able to rent the digital copy of the film from the 14th November 2016 too in the UK from the likes of iTunes.
Story
Years after the War of 1996, Earth’s defenses are stronger than ever, with David Levinson (Goldblum) helping to use the alien technology from the previous invasion to boost their weaponry and defense capabilities. However, in the intervening time, the aliens have also had time to rally, amassing more force and firepower than ever before. And they’re coming.
Having been defeated the last time around they’re back twenty years on to finish what they started in 1996 and while the defense capabilities of the Earth are more advanced than they were the first time around, they’re no match for the upgraded invasion force. The tentacled, big-headed locusts are about to rain down the might of their flaming ship of doom as they career through the troposphere in a new bid to destroy life on the planet and colonise it for their own resource needs. The question is whether or not Levinson’s smarts and former president Thomas J. Whitmore’s (Pullman) power-play speeches are going to be enough to stop them.
Cast
In addition to Jeff Goldblum (The Grand Budapest Hotel) and Bill Pullman (American Ultra) returning to their roles as Levinson and Whitmore, we’ll also have Star Trek legend, Brent Spiner back as the excitable Dr. Brackish Okun. Judd Hirsch and Vivica A. Fox are also among the returning cast members from the first film as David Levinson’s dad, Julius, and Jasmine Dubrow-Hiller, the wife of Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith’s character in the original).
New cast members include Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2), Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jessie Usher, Maika Monroe, Sela Ward (Gone Girl) and Angelababy.
Independence Day: Resurgence DVD, Blu-ray and digital download special features
The same special features for the film will be available on all formats of the release, so you can just go with your preference of either DVD, Blu-ray, 3D Bly-ray, 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray or digital download:
- Eight Deleted Scenes with Audio Commentary by Roland Emmerich
- The War of 1996
- It’s Early, ABQ!
- Another Day: The Making of Independence Day: Resurgence (available as Digital HD Extra on DVD only)
- Gag reel
- Audio Commentary by Roland Emmerich
- Concept art from the film
- All of the theatrical trailers and TV spots
Production
Roland Emmerich (Universal Soldier) returned to the directors chair and he was also responsible for creating the story alongside Dean Devlin. The screenplay was written by Carter Blanchard and Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich and Harald Kloser are credited as producers for 20th Century Fox studios.
First impressions
On paper, with so much time since the release of the first film we were hard pressed not to let out a little groan when we first heard about Independence Day: Resurgence, but now that the trailer is out and the cast details have been released we’re starting to get a bolt of excitement at the prospect of the film. The visuals look even more impressive than the first movie and the idea of the aliens biding their time and developing their own technology for a return attack is a minor work of genius that is mirrored in the upcoming War Of The Worlds book sequel, The Massacre Of Mankind.
Bill Pullman looks like he’s going to be on Stars and Stripes form, which is definitely groan-worthy, but fits well with his character, and Jeff Goldblum should be his usual brilliant deadpan self. The new additions to the cast list look like good prospects, which could see it pull off a similar young blood reinvention as Star Wars: The Force Awakens did for the George Lucas Franchise.
