“Independence Day” was THE move that everyone was talking about in the summer of 1996.  It was the year’s highest-grossing film and it dominated the box office for three weeks straight.  It was an event.  It was a lot like “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” (1991) or “Jurassic Park” (1993) before it — it was a sci-fi spectacle with special effects that were so groundbreaking at the time that it was a topic for conversation at parties.  Did you see it?  Did you see it?  (The internet wasn’t quite a thing yet in 1996 for the average person; not a single person I knew chatted about movies online.)

I think it’s held up really well after 23 years, and this movie still has a dedicated fanbase.  Even it special effects are still decent by modern standards.  Sure, it feels a little corny.  But the climactic aerial dogfight at the end still looks great and it really works for me.