Is Independence Day a comedy spoof?

Question

I haven't seen it since I walked out of the theater disgusted in 1996, but I've recently been wondering if the movie Independence Day was intended to be a comedy.

I was 19 then, and I went to see Independence Day expecting a serious sci-fi-action movie. Perhaps I had been led on by the super-cool previews that showed the aliens blowing up key Earth landmarks. In any case, my fan-boy soul was pretty much crushed by the movie's sheer ridiculousness, including:

• when Will Smith punched an alien and then got excited about it
• how the plot hinged on a human computer being able to plug right in to the alien mainframe and upload "jollyroger.exe"
• the shameless product placement surrounding that human computer
• everything involving characters played by Brent Spiner and Randy Quaid

I don't remember too many details, but I do remember thoroughly despising the movie, cursing its makers, and casting a dismissive eye on the many people who gushed about how cool it was.

But did I miss something? Was Independence Day intended to be a comedy -- a spoof of the sci-fi-action genre? Maybe the moments that made me cringe were meant to make me laugh? Anything out there on this?

Answer 1

I think that the movie was expressively designed to be entertaining and break records set by Jurassic Park a couple of years earlier. You might also remember the impressive marketing campaign and hype that preceeded the release of the film. Considering that the target audience was everybody, things had to be dumbed down to be accessible to everybody.

In 1996, Will Smith hadn't hit the big leagues yet and was coming off the success of Bad Boys, a comedy where he plays the "cool and funny". His role in ID4 isn't much different.

So, no. I don't think ID4 is a spoof. It's simply a commercial sci/fi film loaded with special effects and cheesy dialogue, designed to appeal to a larger audience. Much the same as MiB would be a year or so later.

Answer 2

The film isn't a spoof (at least like the Naked Gun), but the pitch would have been something along the lines of

Do a fifties B Flying Saucer movie in the present day

For example, one of the most famous one's is this (with special effects by Ray Harryhausen no less):

This famously had similar imagery of iconic buildings being destroyed:

What else did films of the era have? Well:

• A heroic lead character
• An aloof but brilliant scientist who comes up with some fantastic solution based on his "observations"
• A romantic partner for the lead, who ends up in distress
• An authority figure, usually portrayed in a heroic light
• A guest star, usually a popular music face of the day, maybe just in a cameo role

Looking at ID4, we have all these elements, but of course given the more modern timeframe there are wrinkles to the cliches:

• The Hero is black
• The hero's love is a single parent and "exotic" dancer
• The scientist is a Nerd and with parent issues
• There is another scientist who turns out to both know about the aliens and has been examining them for many years, but is completely useless at helping them in their fight.
• The authority figure is human, his failures (as a president) surpass his successes.
• The character who makes the heroic sacrifice is an alcoholic and poor parent.
• The cameo music star is Harry Connick Jnr, not really a teen idol.

Also given the more modern setting, we add some things from subsequent defining dramas, for example the whole Area 51/government cover up stuff a la the X Files.

So while not a spoof the film is essentially a mega budget B Movie, and belief should be suspended when watching, just enjoy the roller coaster ride.

Answer 3

Not really sure what you'd classify as a "serious action movie" other than a movie based on a real-life war. Look at your typical Arnold Schwarzenegger movie of the time, e.g. Commando or The Running Man - Independence Day wasn't much more ridiculous. I'd suggest your disgust on walking out of the cinema was as much down to your teenage cynicism as any shortcomings in the film!

As to the sub-genre of action movie, I would compare it more to your average Marvel movie of recent years than, say, Platoon. It is, and was, quite common to put a lot of light-hearted moments and comic relief into action movies. e.g. It seems obvious that both the Randy Quaid and Brent Spiner characters were intended to be comedic, as well as Will Smith's "Welcome to Earth!" punch.

(As for the Mac-AnythingNonApple cross-compatibility, I'm not defending it, but misuse of computers was very common in movies at the time, right up to the mid-late 90s. Movie makers' opinions seemed to be that not that many people knew too much about computers (including them!) so they just didn't care.)

And sadly, product placement is a stain on every genre of movie.

Remember, movies don't have to be segregated into specific genres, and restricted to the tropes of those genres. It's quite fine to have an action movie with comedy, or horror, or romance.

So it's not a spoof, just a light-hearted action movie, which asks that you leave your brain very much at the door on the way in.