Stubs - Mission: Impossible

Mission: Impossible (1996) starring Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Henry Czerny, Emmanuelle Béart, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vanessa Redgrave Directed by Brian DePalma. Screenplay by David Koepp, Robert Towne. Based on Mission: Impossible by Bruce Geller. Produced by Tom Cruise, Paula Wagner. Run time: 110 minutes. Color. USA Action, Espionage

If you were a fan of the original TV series, Mission: Impossible (1966-1973), you were definitely interested when Paramount announced it was bringing the story to the big screen. You might have been drawn in for its star Tom Cruise, or the script by Robert Towne, or the direction by Briana DePalma, but this was a film designed to put people in seats. But if you were a fan of the original series, you might have qualms with the adaptation.

101 Dalmatians (1996)

Note: This review contains spoilers for 101 Dalmatians (1961) and 101 Dalmatians (1996).

Long before Disney’s current stream of unnecessary live-action remakes, they had dabbled in a scant few. One of these was 101 Dalmatians, the 1996 remake of the 1961 animated classic One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Although this remake evidently did well enough to spawn a sequel, 102 Dalmatians, critics weren’t too fond of it, at least according to the 41% Rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which calls it as a “bland and pointless remake” in the critic consensus. Among many other films from the 90s, the live-action 101 Dalmatians is one that I have a vague memory of watching as a young child, but no real memory of the actual content. After watching the original animated film again not too long ago, I felt more in the mood to give the remake a real watch and, to my surprise, it was a bit better than I thought it would be.

Stubs - Jingle All the Way

Jingle All the Way (1996) Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson, Robert Conrad, Jake Lloyd, Jim Belushi Directed by Brian Levant. Screenplay by Randy Kornfield Produced by Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan, Mark Radcliffe. Runtime: 89 minutes. USA Color Christmas, Family, Comedy.

Every so often, a toy will be released at Christmas time that will have a high demand and a low supply. An early example of this was The Cabbage Patch Kids in the 1980s, and the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, and in the mid-1990s, Buzz Lightyear. And if you were unfortunate not to have picked up on the trend and your child’s wish for one, you could be out of luck when the big day arrives and that present is not under the tree.

Making a comedy about this is nothing new, as the TV show Fraiser made an episode about the Outlaw Laser Robo-Geek, the Christmas present his son wanted, in 1995. Another take on this was Jingle All the Way, made in 1996. This time, the toy is Turbo-Man.

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America

From 1993 to 1997, MTV aired the animated series Beavis and Butt-Head, a series by Mike Judge that followed the title characters in their comical misadventures while subtly providing social commentary. Despite my young age when the series originally aired, I was aware of the series growing up, as well as the theatrical film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996), due to multiple off-hand references to various phrases and the duo’s signature laughter. Though I never had an interest in watching the actual show, my curiosity grew when I learned that Do America actually received positive reception from critics, including none other than Roger Ebert. Although it took me several years to actually capitalize on that interest, I finally found the time to watch the film through Paramount+, which marked my first significant exposure to Beavis and Butt-Head as a whole and put me in a unique position to judge Do America entirely on its own merits. As it turns out, the film not only held up, but doubled as a learning experience for my own sense of humor.

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie (OVA)

Though a big budget live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie is on its way into theaters, there was another animated Sonic the Hedgehog movie released in the 1990s, though its history is a bit interesting. In 1996, two Japanese OVAs were produced and released in collaboration with developer Sega and the studio Pierrot (of Naruto fame), “Journey to Eggmanland” and “Sonic VS Metal Sonic!!”, for the Japanese video rental market before seeing wide release later. In 1999, an English dub combining the two OVAs as Sonic the Hedgehog: the Movie was produced by ADV Films (now pronounced Sentai Filmworks), who had previously released a subbed version in its original two parts, and released straight to VHS and DVD, which has since gone out of print. Fortunately, I happen to own a copy of the English DVD as I had watched it when I was a kid, only watching it again recently in light of the new movie. For what it is, the movie holds up surprisingly well and stands as an enjoyable piece of Sonic media.

Stubs - Big Night

Big Night (1996) Starring: Minnie Driver, Ian Holm, Isabella Rossellini, Tony Shalhoub and Stanley Tucci. Directed by Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci. Screenplay by Joseph Tropiano and Stanley Tucci. Produced by David Kirkpatrick and Jonathan Filley Runtime 107 minutes. US. Color. Drama

Independent movies, like their studio counterparts, can be very hit and miss. Oftentimes, though, the goal is to make a good movie and not necessarily a lot of money. [My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) is an exception to the rule. Made on a budget of $5 million, that Canadian-American romantic comedy would go on to earn nearly $370 million at the box office.] While no one would turn down a wheelbarrow full of cash, it really is the quality of the work that will live on long after the money is spent. That’s why we celebrate classic Hollywood cinema, not because of the box office the film might have earned, but because when the work is good, we want to see it over and over again.

Such is the case with Big Night, a film co-written and co-directed by Stanley Tucci. Made on what had to be a, pardon the pun, spaghetti thin budget of $4.1 million, Big Night really seems to capture the mood of the time. Set on the New Jersey Shore in the 1950s, Big Night tells the story of two recent Italian immigrant brothers, Primo (Tony Shalhoub) and his younger brother, Secondo (Tucci). Together, they run a small Italian restaurant, Paradise. Primo is the chef and closely follows traditional cooking he learned back in Abruzzo. Primo openly dislikes American ideas of what makes an Italian dinner. We see him get enraged when a female customer wants a side dish of spaghetti and meatballs to go along with her order of seafood risotto. He can’t understand why she would want a starch to go with a starch. He wonders if he should make her mashed potatoes as well.

Secondo manages Paradise and he is concerned about the restaurant’s future. Unlike his brother, whose whole life seems to revolve around food, Secondo is interested in the possibilities and promise of their new home, America.

Primo is not sold on staying, contemplating an offer from their uncle to return to Rome and work in his restaurant. Secondo, no matter what, has no intentions of ever going back.

Despite the quality of the food, Paradise is failing. Their lone employee is a busboy named Cristiano (Marc Anthony). The restaurant is in direct competition with Pascal’s (Ian Holm) self-named much more successful one which is just across the street. There they serve Americanized Italian cuisine and have a full house every night because of it.

Secondo (Stanley Tucci) has trouble committing to his girlfriend, Phyllis (Minnie Driver).

Because he is struggling to keep his business going, the bank refuses to give the brothers more time to pay back their business loan, Secondo has trouble committing to his girlfriend, Phyllis (Minnie Driver). Further, she wants to remain chaste until they tie the knot. To that end, Secondo is sleeping with Pascal’s younger wife, Gabriella (Isabella Rossellini).

Rival Pascal (Ian Holm) offers to help Secondo and Primo (Tony Shalhoub), but he doesn't.

Secondo goes to Pascal looking for a loan, but while Pascal says he likes the brothers and wants them to come work with him, he can’t come up with the money they need. But instead of money, Pascal offers to persuade popular Italian-American singer Louis Prima to dine at Paradise when he is in town. The assumption is having a big name dine there will help revitalize the boy’s business. Primo hasn’t heard of Louis Prima, but Secondo knows what a potential publicity event this would be. He finally confesses to Primo the financial precipice the restaurant is teetering on and Primo steps up preparing a timpano for the occasion. (If you haven’t seen the film, a timpano is a complicated baked pasta dish, which you will definitely want after the movie.)

Secondo and Cristiano (Mark Anthony) admire Primo's Timpano.

The brothers spend nearly all of their life savings on the big night and Secondo invites anyone and everyone, including the produce deliveryman, Bob (Campbell Scott), a car dealer who tempted Secondo with a Cadillac and a newspaper reporter, not to mention Pascal, Gabriella, Phyllis and Ann (Allison Janney), a widow who runs the florist, on whom the shy Primo has an unexpressed crush.

Primo has a crush on Ann (Allison Janney), who also gets invited to the Big Night.

As they wait for Prima to arrive, the guests indulge in Primo’s exquisitely made dishes and a celebration starts. Eventually, it becomes apparent that Prima is not coming. Phyllis catches Secondo and Gabriella kissing and runs off to the beach. At Gabriella's insistence, Pascal finally admits that he never called Louis Prima, thus ending the party.

All the party is missing is the guest of honor Louis Prima.

Secondo follows Phyllis to the beach where they have a final quarrel. Primo and Secondo also argue, hashing out their differences. Pascal admits to Secondo that he had set up the brothers for failure; but not as revenge for Secondo's affair with Gabriella. He wanted to force the brothers to either return to Italy or come work for him. Secondo tells Pascal that the brothers will never work for him.

As dawn breaks, the brothers return to Paradise, where Secondo silently cooks an omelet. When done, he divides it among three plates, one for Cristiano, one for himself and one for Primo. The two brothers eat without speaking and lay their arms across one another's shoulders in a sign of family solidarity.

At the end of the Big Night, Secondo and Primo share breakfast and their future.

While their future looks bleak, it is clear that the two brothers will face it together. A lot is left unsettled, but that’s partly the point of the movie. We’re peeking into a day in the life of two brothers, both chasing unattainable dreams. Primo wants to be the best cook and change American expectations for Italian cuisine, while Secondo wants to live the good life of the American dream: beautiful women and luxury cars.

In many ways, this is a small film with small ambitions, just like Primo and Secondo. But unlike the Paradise, the film succeeds at all levels. The story stays true to itself. These are all flawed people in some ways. Secondo can’t commit to Phyllis, but has no qualms about sleeping with the wife of another man whom he turns to for help. Primo doesn’t have the right temperament to be a successful chef, he is unwilling to adapt to attract more clientele. And Pascal is perhaps the most flawed, ruining the livelihood of two men he pretends to like. He has already won the competition between the restaurants, but he is not happy until he has vanquished his rivals.

A labor of love for Scott and Tucci, who had been friends since high school, the film was a breakthrough of sorts for both actors. The film captures the right mood and look of the era in which it takes place. Big Night makes you long for homemade Italian food and for more films like this.

Tucci was still on TV in his role as Richard Cross on Murder One (1995-96) when this film opened theatrically. After this film, it is sad that Tucci has not done more directing. This was the first of only four films he helmed, including The Impostors (1998), Joe Gould’s Secret (2000) and Blind Date (2007), none of which has resonated the way Big Night has. Instead, he has concentrated on acting, appearing in mostly supporting roles in films like Deconstructing Harry (1997), Road to Perdition (2002), Maid in Manhattan (2002), The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and Julie & Julia (2009). A very versatile actor, it is sad in a way that modern audiences know him best as Caesar Flickerman, the over-the-top TV host in The Hunger Games (2012), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) and Part 2 (2015).

Tucci and Scott co-directed Big Night.

Campbell Scott, the son of George C. Scott and Colleen Dewhurst has not been quite as busy as Tucci. While they both earned their equity cards by appearing in a Broadway play Dewhurst was co-starring in, their careers have taken divergent paths. Scott’s breakthrough performance came opposite Julia Roberts in Dying Young (1991). He had also appeared in Singles (1992) and as Peter Benchley in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994). Since Big Night, he has worked in both TV and film, most recently narrating the History Channel series The Men Who Built America (2012). He has also appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and its sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). His role in Big Night is rather small, but his contribution to the overall film was in a more important role as co-director.

One other actor to comment on from this film is Tony Shalhoub. His first major role was in the TV series Wings (1991-97) in which he played mechanic Antonio Scarpacci. He would later find success as Monk in a series by the same name which ran on the USA network from 2002-2009. A very versatile actor, Shalhoub has appeared in such films as Barton Fink (1991), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), IQ (1994), Men in Black (1997), Galaxy Quest (1999), Spy Kids (2001), Men in Black II (2002) and Cars (2006). His performance as Primo is one of the highlights of Big Night.

I could go on and on, but everyone deserves some mention for their acting prowess and the gravitas they bring to their roles in this film.

Instead, I would rather recommend Big Night to anyone who wants to see a good movie and who loves Italian food. Because afterward, you’ll want to see the movie again while eating a slice of timpano.

Stubs - Independence Day

Independence Day (1996) Starring: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Robert Loggia, Randy Quaid, Margaret Colin, Vivica A. Fox. Directed by Roland Emmerich. Screenplay by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. Produced by Dean Devlin. Color. U.S.A. Run time 145. Science Fiction, Horror, Action.

There is a rich tradition of filmmakers coming from Germany to Hollywood. But Roland Emmerich is hardly ever mentioned in the same breath as F.W. Murnau, Fritz Lang or Billy Wilder. While these filmmakers’ works have stood the test of time, Emmerich’s have not yet, nor will they necessarily. A lot of that has to do with the types of films Emmerich is best known for making, disaster films. This is a genre that usually doesn’t stand the time of time. When is the last time anyone has mentioned The Towering Inferno (1974) or Earthquake (1974) or even Emmerich’s own The Day After Tomorrow (2004).

But some disaster films do last and even spark their own sequels. Such is the case with Emmerich’s Independence Day, released on July 2, 1996. The story originates when Emmerich and his filmmaking partner, Dean Devlin, were doing a press tour promoting their film adventure, science fiction film Stargate, in 1994.

By Hollywood standards, Emmerich and Devlin were able to have very quick turn around on their idea, with principal photography starting in New York in July 1995. There was a lot of location shooting with such diverse places as the Very Large Array in San Agustin, New Mexico; Wendover, Utah, West Wendover, Nevada; Cliffside Park, New Jersey; Fontana, California; the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah; and Hughes Aircraft in Los Angeles. Some sets, like those of the Oval Office, were reused from such films as The American President (1995) and Nixon (1995).

As can be imagined for a film reliant on special effects, there are 3000 plus special effects in Independence Day. However, to save on the budget, more were done on-set, in-camera rather than CGI and blue screen-laden. It was a strategy that seemed to work as the film won Best Visual Effects.

The mother ship deploys smaller ships which take positions over major cities throughout the world.

The movie opened on the day the story starts, on July 2, 1996, which is a tribute to good marketing. On that day, an enormous alien mothership, that scientists measure to be about one fourth the size of the Moon, enters orbit around Earth. The immediate effects were the disruption of communications, like capable TV, that is reliant on satellite technology. So big is this ship that it destroys anything that gets in its way or who’s way it gets into.

Early on the news isn't good, with General Grey (Robert Loggia) hearing first hand.

As the military is coming to grips and notifications go up the ladder to the President, Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman), the mothership deploys three dozen smaller ships, each about 15 miles wide, which take positions over the major cities and military bases around the world.

Even the smaller ships are large, about 15 miles wide.

Meanwhile, David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), an MIT graduate who works as the satellite technician for a New York cable company, leaves a chess game with his father, Julius (Judd Hirsch), when he’s called into work over the emergency, by his boss, Marty Gilbert (Harvey Fierstein). David quickly diagnosis the issue as a signal embedded in the satellite transmissions, which he thinks he can program to override. But at the same time, he notices that the signal is really a countdown, which he determines is for a coordinated attack from these ships.

David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) plays chess with his father Julius (Judd Hirsch).

It turns out that his ex-wife, Constance Spano (Margaret Colin), happens to be the President’s White House Communications Director. However, the President is still uncertain what to do. A former fighter pilot during the Gulf War, Mitchell was apparently enough of a war hero to have been elected President and his qualifications show. He seems uncertain what to do. He is getting advice from the head of US Space Command, General William Grey (Robert Loggia), and from his Secretary of Defense, Albert Nimzicki (James Rebhorn), but isn’t sure if the aliens are friendly or not. He even goes on TV to tell Americans not to panic, but to remain indoors.

In an effort to save his wife, David gets Julius to drive him down to Washington D.C. as everyone is beginning, on revised instructions, to evacuate the cities. They manage to make the drive in time to warn the President against the alien’s hostile intent.

The President’s own wife, Marilyn (Mary McDonnell), is in Los Angeles for a series of events and promises to turn to Washington as soon as she’s done.

Across the country, on July 3, Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith), a USMC F/A-18 pilot, is waking up in the bed of his girlfriend, Jasmine Dubrow (Vivica A. Fox), a single mother and an exotic dancer. Her son, Dylan (Ross Bagley), is excited about the alien invasion, which Steven is blind to at first. It is not until he sees one of the ships parked over the Library Tower in downtown Los Angeles.

Crowds gather hoping the aliens will provide hope.

Out in the Imperial Valley, Russell Casse (Randy Quaid), a widowed, alcoholic crop duster, is doing what he’s does best, messing up. His son, Miguel (James Duval), is sent by a farmer to tell Russell that he’s dusted the wrong field, again. Russell, who had served in Vietnam as a fighter pilot, is a local nutjob, claiming to have been once kidnapped by aliens, a story everyone believes he got from the bottom of a bottle. But when one of the ships passes overhead, his family, which includes his teenage daughter, Alicia (Lisa Jakub), and his youngest and sickly son, Troy (Giuseppe Andrews), along with the other trailer park residents, decide to get out of town.

Russell Casse (Randy Quaid) is an alcoholic former fighter pilot turned crop duster.

When Steven returns to his base, El Toro, Jasmine goes back to work, dancing one more night at the club, even though everyone is more interested in the news than her pole work. Deciding it’s time to leave, she grabs Dylan and heads to El Toro.

On what could be her last night on Earth, Jasmine (Vivica A. Fox) goes back to work as a stripper.

Realizing what the countdown means, the President and his daughter, Patricia (Mae Whitman), along with his immediate staff and the Levinsons, are ushered out of the White House just as the attack begins and the White House, along with the Empire State Building in New York and the Library Tower in LA, are simultaneously destroyed and an atomic blast effect sweeps over those cities. Other cities across the globe: London, Moscow and Paris among them, share the same fate.

The White House gets destroyed just after the President manages to escape.

Jasmine, son and their dog narrowly escape destruction, by hiding in a room in a tunnel just as the blast effect lays waste to all of Los Angeles. Also caught up in the blast is the First Lady’s helicopter that is forced down by the explosion.

Back at El Toro, Steve (Will Smith) and Jimmy (Harry
 Connick Jr.) take part in planning the counter attack.

On July 3, Steven and his wing, including his best friend, Captain Jimmy Wilder (Harry Connick Jr.), are dispatched to counterattack the enemy ship over Los Angeles. But the ship is protected by a force field that the missiles can’t pierce. Steven and Jimmy pull out of the attack formation, but two of the ship’s smaller fighter crafts take chase. They end up somewhere that looks like the Grand Canyon, where Jimmy tries a maneuver that his plane can’t perform and he’s shot down. Steven, who is a better pilot, manages to survive and lead the fighter following him into crashing. Steven, who has parachuted out, goes over to the alien spaceship, opens the door and knocks the alien out.

The counter strike does not go very well.

Meanwhile, spurred on by Julius, who rants out alien conspiracy theories dating from a crash in Roswell back in 1947, the Secretary of Defense admits to the President that Area 51 does exist and the President has Air Force One sent there.

At the same time, Steven is pulling the unconscious alien, wrapped up in his parachute, through the desert, when the fleet of motor homes descends on him. Steven tells him that he saw a military base nearby when he was flying, Area 51, and directs the convoy in that direction.

The President lands at Area 51, which is run by Major Mitchell (Adam Baldwin). Dr. Brackish Okun (Brent Spiner) is in charge of the research and leads a large contingent of scientist in an underground bunker several stories below the ground. Dr. Okun is an excitable unkempt man, perhaps driven a little mad by the isolation.

Dr. Brackish Okun (Brent Spiner) runs the scientific investigation at Area 51.

He shows the President the “freak show” as they call it, three aliens who have crash landed on earth preserved in cylinders. And he shows him the alien craft from 1947 that they have been rebuilding as best they can since it crashed landed. He tells that a few days ago, everything on the ship lit up and started to function. Impressed by David, the President suggests that he take a look at what Dr. Okun’s team has done to see if they’d missed anything.

President Whitmore (Bill Pullman) and his entourage look at the "freak show".

Steven and the convoy arrive at the gates of Area 51 and use the unconscious alien as their ticket inside. No one is more excited by the arrival than Dr. Okun. Along with a team of scientists, they prepare to do an autopsy on the alien, only he’s not really dead. After throwing the doctors around, the alien grabs Okun. The President, who has come down to witness the autopsy, communicates telepathically through Dr. Okun. While the President talks about co-existing, the alien insists that they are there to kill off the human race. The alien then psychically attacks Whitmore. His security detail, including Major Mitchell, fire through the glass, killing the alien once and for all, but not before Whitmore is able to also read the alien’s mind. He sees that they move from planet to planet, like space locusts, killing off the native population and then strip the planet of its natural resources before moving on to the next conquest.

They start to do an autopsy on the alien, only he's not quite dead yet.

Knowing the aliens’ plans, Whitmore takes his Secretary of Defense’s suggestion and orders they retaliate with the bomb. He orders a wing of B-2 Stealth bombers to attack, the first being in Houston, Texas. With a ground patrol observing, the B-2 launches the missile. While they initially think the ship has been destroyed, once the electronics reboot, it reveals that the ship is still there. The other planes are ordered back to base.

While everyone is pre-occupied, Steven steals one of the helicopters and flies to El Toro Air Station to look for Jasmine and Dylan. When he arrives, Jasmine is not alone, having collected people along the way while having commandeered a firetruck. One of the survivors she’s collected is the First Lady, who is fatally wounded. Steven flies everyone back to Area 51, where the First Lady receives medical aide, but it is already too late. Whitmore is advised by one of the doctors that she has internal bleeding and there is nothing they can do to save her. But she does get to see her family again before she passes.

The next day, July 4^th, Julius inadvertently gives David an idea on how to defeat the aliens. He turns his father’s concern that he’ll catch a cold lying drunk on the floor, into the idea of giving the mothership a virus. He demonstrates this by giving the ship in the hangar a virus so that its shields go down. He suggests that they use the refurbished attack ship to gain entry to the mothership, surmising that if they can plant a virus it will cause all the shields to go down. The military adds to the idea, of adding a nuclear bomb on board the attack ship which they can deploy to cover their escape.

Steve volunteers to fly the alien ship and David volunteers to go with him, over Julius’ objections to plant the virus. But before they leave, Steve marries Jasmine in a ceremony that David and Constance witness, signaling a renewal of their love for each other.

Steve and Jasmine marry in an impromptu ceremony before he goes into space.

While Steve has some difficulty getting the ship going, he does manage to get it into space, where, as David hoped, the mother ship’s tractor beam pulls the craft inside and into a docking station. Once there, David takes out his trusty Apple laptop which manages to communicate with the mother ship’s network (of course it does) and he manages to upload the virus.

David manages to plant a virus in the alien ship's computer.

Meanwhile, the military has organized a ragtag team of pilots, including Russell and even the President, who insists on going up; he is, after all, a fighter pilot at heart. He delivers an inspirational message to everyone before they go up, a mixture of patriotism and Shakespeare, that rallies the troops. They are in flight waiting for the virus to take effect.

President Whitmore addresses the meager forces gathered at Area 51.

With its shields down, the ship over Area 51 is susceptible to a missile attack, but the planes lack the fire power to bring it down. The ship starts to deploy the its main attack weapon, a powerful destructive beam. The President takes aim, but misses. However, Russell comes out of nowhere with the last missile of the attack wing. But when he tries to fire it, the armed missile malfunctions and won’t fire. Taking matters into his own hands, Russell flies his plane into the beam. The resulting explosion reverberates throughout the ship, ultimately bringing it down. General Grey orders that they let the other straggling forces left throughout the world in on how to bring the ships down.

The ship over Area 51 starts to destruct.

But onboard the Mother Ship, Steve and David try to escape, but are locked in place. Once they are discovered, they launch the missile and the disruption frees their ship. With 30 seconds to go before the bomb explodes and despite being chased by like-size attack ships, Steve manages to fly them out of there just as the aperture they came in through closes. They are away by the time the bomb goes off, destroying the Mother Ship, but they get caught up in the aftermath and Area 51 loses contact with them.

Even after delivering the virus, David and Steve are not out of danger.

When their ship crash lands, Constance and Jasmine, along with the President, rush out to the crash site. They find Steve and David walking away from the crash site, smoking victory cigars. Steve tells Dylan that he promised him fireworks as they watch the crashed ship explode.

During the least satisfying special effects sequence, Steve shows Dylan the fireworks.

We’re all led to believe that with the aliens defeated, life can get back to a new normal as the humans rebuild. And that’s what they wanted us to believe, for 20 years, before someone had the bright idea, or lack thereof, and decided to make a sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence, with an eye towards trying to make this into a trilogy. In retrospect, it takes a little away from your enjoyment to realize that what you thought was a complete and original story was only part one of three. Not to put this in the league with truly great films like Casablanca, but I’m so glad the thinking was different back then. Knowing that there was Casablanca 2: Freedom Fighter and Casablanca 3: Rick and Ilsa Together Again would certainly have tainted that film.

For the most part I really enjoyed the film the first time I saw it in the theater and on repeated viewings. It seems to hold up as an Epic Sci-Fi Adventure film. A few of the special effects haven’t aged well, especially the panorama of the crashed space ship with Steven holding Dylan and talking about fireworks. This shot for some reason really screams blue screen to me.

Will Smith makes a likeable hero. At this point in his career, Smith was still transitioning from being a rap star, The Fresh Prince; and TV star, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air; into a movie star. He had already appeared in several films, including a very good performance in the drama Six Degrees of Separation (1993) and the action-comedy Bad Boys (1995). This was in the era before Smith’s ego got so big that he thinks every role he played was Academy Award worthy.

Jeff Goldblum got his start in films playing the role of Freak #1 in Death Wish (1974). He would have a series of small but memorable roles, including Annie Hall (1977), in which he plays a party guest speaking into the phone, "This is Mr. Davis. I forgot my mantra." He would continue to get bigger roles in such films as Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) and The Big Chill (1983) before taking the lead in the modern remake of The Fly (1986) and its sequel The Fly II (1989). He would reach the point where he was a big enough star to be playing himself in The Player (1992). Goldblum also appeared as Dr. Ian Malcolm in the blockbuster Jurassic Park (1993) prior to his role in Independence Day. His quirky persona came to good use as the MIT trained genius who would rather spend his days working as a satellite technician for a New York cable company.

The acting in the supporting roles is for the most part good, but not all together stellar. Mary McDonnell seems under used in her relatively small role as the First Lady. Bill Pullman is good as a President struggling with the overwhelming duties of a crisis none before him has had to face. Vivica A. Fox plays a stripper with a good heart. Robert Loggia almost seems born to play roles like General Grey. He’s an actor who can play both tough and smart, capabilities that come in handy here. Judd Hirsch is typically good, showing that he had successfully moved on from the TV Series Taxi.

But if anything, the film has almost too many comedic sidekicks.To begin with, Randy Quaid comes to mind. His Russell Casse is so over-the-top that it still sort of works. In a bit of art imitating life, Quaid has come to resemble this character since the movie. Harry Connick is also a little bit of a ham, perhaps just a tad over playing his fairly small part of a subordinate close friend of Steven’s in the Marine’s Air Corp. I wince every time he goes into his “preacher” routine. Likewise, Brent Spiner makes all that he can as the oddball head of the alien science program at Area 51. It’s sort of rare that a sci-fi film has so many comedic side-characters. Harvey Fierstein also gets into the act, playing David’s boss at the cable company. But his role is mostly running around yelling “David, David”, like a chicken with its head cut off, sort of a waste for his talent. You might say you need a lot of comedy to over balance the severity of the subject matter, but there is only so much scenery that you can chew.

The story is riddled with conveniences, like David’s wife being the Communications Director for the President. Like Jasmine happening to find and save the wounded first lady out of the whole of Los Angeles. Like the fact that an Apple laptop can communicate with a truly alien technology. Like the fact that despite their tentacles and squid-like bodies, the seating in the spaceship would be amenable to humans. Or like the fact that alien space crafts have not changed in the 50 years since the one at Area 51 crashed at Roswell. With the progress Earth technology has made in the past half-century, it’s a little hard to believe that theirs would have seemed to have stopped. In a matter of about fifty years we went from bi-planes in WWI to landing on the moon. Wouldn’t theirs have progressed, too? I could go on and on and I would if I didn’t like the film.

I’ve seen it a couple of times, originally in the theater and a week ago during our family Friday night movie. The film may have story problems, but what summer tent pole movie doesn’t? The plot may be pretty straight forward and the characters never get beyond a caricature, but there really isn’t time for much of that, as the film has a rather large cast to showcase. But you don’t watch a summer film for the high quality stories and great acting; you watch to have fun and to see the spectacle. And on that level, Independence Day does deliver. It’s little wonder that it was a major hit, being the top-grossing film in the US in 1996; breaking opening week and weekend records Jurassic Park had set three years before. (All of those have since been shattered many times over.)

What the film does best is give you hope that when the chips are down, humans from all different countries, religions and races can and will work together. So much has changed in the world since this film was released that that hope seems dimmer now. I have no idea about or interest to see the sequel, but I’m sure “current” events would have to addressed somehow. Part of my reason for not being interested in the sequel is that I think this film doesn’t really need one, especially 20 years later. For me, the original Independence Day is enough. I’m one and done.

Stubs – Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996) Starring: Michael J. Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, Kevin Murphy, Jim Mallon Directed by Jim Mallon. Screenplay by Jim Mallon, Michael J. Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, Kevin Murphy, Mary Jo Pehl, Paul Chapin, Bridget Jones. Based on Mystery Science Theater 3000 created by Joel Hodgson. Produced by Jim Mallon.  Run time: 75 minutes. US. Color. Comedy, Science Fiction

On Thanksgiving night, November 24, 1988, KTMA (now WUCW) channel 22 in Minneapolis, Minnesota began airing Mystery Science Theater 3000; a show created by Joel Hodgson that made fun of bad films, by talking over them and making jokes about the plot, the actors, the direction and the production values. Wrapped around the riffs were live action segments, featuring Joel Robinson (Hodgson), an affable man who worked at the Gizmonic Institute, before being kidnapped and imprisoned in space aboard a dog-bone shaped Satellite of Love by mad scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester (Trace Beaulieu). Joel is forced to watch bad movies as some sort of psychological experiment at the hands of his captor. Joel built several robot friends, Crow T. Robot (voiced by Trace Beaulieu), Tom Servo (voiced mostly by Kevin Murphy) and Gypsy (voiced mostly by Jim Mallon).

Joel Hodgson originated Mystery Science Theater 3000 on KTMA, Minneapolis.

Initially signed for a 13 week run, the show was picked up by Comedy Central, where it ran from 1989 until 1996 and then later on the Sci-Fi channel (now Syfy) from 1997 until 1999. In the middle of season 5 on Comedy Central, Joel left the show and was replaced by Mike Nelson (Michael J. Nelson) as the main tortured protagonist. Hodgson's departure was due to a growing rift with his producing partner, Jim Mallon.

Some (me included) would say that the change was not for the best. It wasn’t so much the parody sections of the show, those were still funny, but the live wrap-arounds, which changed tone and Joel’s more gentle humor was replaced by Nelson’s more brash personality. But the show within a show really seemed to suffer the most in the move to the Sci-Fi channel, when Trace Beaulieu left the show and Dr. Forrester was replaced by mad scientist Pearl Forrester (Mary Jo Pehl), talking chimp Professor Bobo (Kevin Murphy) and Observer (Bill Corbett).

Much of the humor of the show, besides the live action sequences, came from parodying really bad movies. There was always a careful balance that had to be struck between how bad the movie could be and how funny the commentary had to be to keep the viewer interested. If the movie was too bad, then no amount of humor could save the viewing experience.

When the idea to take this concept to the big screen occurred to everyone, the selection of movie was crucial. In this case they chose This Island Earth (1955), directed by Joseph M. Newman and starring Jeff Morrow (Exeter), Faith Domergue (Ruth Adams), Rex Reason (Cal Meacham), Lance Fuller (Brack), Robert Nichols (Joe Wilson) and Russell “and the rest” Johnson (Steve Carlson). This Island Earth, while campy in places, is still considered a classic of its time and genre. And reviewing the film as part of reviewing Mystery Science Theater 3000 is unfair to that film. The movie's running time of 87 minutes had to be cut by 20 minutes to accommodate the MST3K’s run time and several scenes important to the movie were jettisoned. So mention of This Island Earth will be limited here to riffing and a review of that film appears here.

MST3K: The Movie opens with a modified version of the show’s opening. Mad scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester (Trace Beaulieu), working from an underground laboratory, explains the premise of the film, which is he’s forcing them to watch the film, This Island Earth, in an effort to break their wills and then take over the world (he is a mad scientist after all and that’s what they do.)

Evil Dr. Forrester (Trace Beaulieu) explains the premise of the movie.

Up onboard the Satellite of Love, we’re treated to an homage to 2001, A Space Odyssey (1968) as Mike Nelson (Michael J. Nelson) runs in a gravity wheel, which is really more like an exercise wheel you’d find in a guinea pig cage, complete with water dispenser. All seems normal onboard, Gypsy (Jim Mallon) provides Mike with a printout to review. Tom Servo (Kevin Murphy) shows up and asks Mike if he’s interested in finding out what’s making a rhythmic noise, knowing full well that Crow T. Robot (Trace Beaulieu) is behind it.

In the lower decks of the ship, they find Crow, dressed in a World War I army helmet, attempting to dig his way out and even though he does breach the hull, Mike manages to stop further damage by using the helmet to fill the gap.

There is nothing about This Island Earth that avoids getting riffed, as it starts with the opening credits and continues all the way through the film. The production company is Universal-International (“Doesn't the fact that it's universal make it international?”), the starry background (“Who sneezed on the credits?”) and so on. The humor is a mixture of political references, as an example when a jet plane takes off: “John Sununu gets a haircut”; to inside jokes: against the background of stars one of the bots remarks “Look, Orion’s bankrupt” referring to the now defunct movie studio; sexual innuendo about the relationship in the movie between Dr. Cal Meacham and his assistant Joe Wilson; bathroom humor and just plain funny comments and responses.

Nothing is out of line for the MSTK 3000 crew to riff on.

One of the better riffs is in an early scene in Meacham’s lab:

Through a viewport, we see a rectangular metal slab suspended above a squat, boxy metal coil.

Mike: Oh, yeah. This is when science didn't have to have any specific purpose.

Dr. Meacham: Lowering the cylinder.

Servo [as Meacham]: Inserting the breakfast pastry.

Crow [as Narrator]: [darkly] The secret government Eggo project.

Servo [as Meacham]: Contact Dr. Jemima!

Mike [as Meacham]: God, I love the blueberry ones best.

Meacham flips a switch. The toaster-like coil starts to red with heat, and we hear a pinging sound.

Dr. Meacham: Increase the rate of reaction.

Servo [as Meacham]: Start warming the syrup!

Mike [as Meacham]: Yum!

Cal and Joe play with some knobs and dials. The "toaster" emits loud grinding noises.

Dr. Meacham: Check rate of radioactive decay.

Crow [as Meacham]: Increase the Flash Gordon noises and put more science stuff around.

Meachem (Rex Reason) and his assistant watch an experiment go to ruin.

At the end of the experiment, the toaster object blows up.

Mike [as Meacham/Morrison]: Oh, my God! My waffle! Oh, the humanity!

A loud beeping noise follows post-explosion.

Mike: Fries are up!

Mike (Michael Nelson) riffs on This Planet Earth with his
robot friends Crow (Trace Beaulieu) and Servo (Kevin Murphy). 

Like the TV show, there are breaks in the film, including once when the film catches on fire. During one such break, Mike decides to show Crow and Tom that he is a pilot and takes over navigation of the Satellite of Love from Gypsy. The result, Mike flies into the Hubble telescope. His attempt to save the Hubble goes awry as well. Using the satellite’s manipulator arms, called Manos after the series' best known spoof, Mike dislodges the telescope and sets it free to fly like a bird. Instead, it falls from space and burns up in Earth’s atmosphere, leading Crow to chide “You killed the Hubble!”

Mike flies the Satellite of Love (pictured above) into the Hubble telescope.

In another sequence, Tom reveals that he has an interocitor, an alien instrument used in This Island Earth, and the gang goes into his quarters to search for it, hoping it will get them back to Earth. Instead, they make contact with a Matelunan (John Brady), the alien race in the film, who happens to be taking a shower. He tries to help, but no matter what he does, the interocitor sends a red laser beam into Tom. Dr. Forrester intercedes, using his own interocitor, and uses the laser to corral the group back into the movie theater.

When This Island Earth ends, rather than broken by the experience, Mike, Crow, and Tom celebrate with a Metalunan-themed party. Mad at his failure, Dr. Forrester attempts to use his own interocitor to inflict harm on Mike and the others, but only succeeds in transporting himself into the shower with the Metalunan from earlier. Mike and the robots briefly celebrate Dr. Forrester's disappearance, but quickly realize without him they no longer have a way back to Earth. Following this epiphany, Mike says "Hey, wait a minute!" and the crew head back to the theater in time for the movie's ending credits, which they also skewer:

Crow: [talking about the Puppet Wrangler credit for Mystery Science Theater 3000] "Puppet Wrangler"? There weren't any puppets in this movie!

The film, like the TV show, had a niche following and did not do very well at the box-office, bringing in a little over a million dollars during its theatrical run. However, that does not mean the film isn’t very funny. There is really no way to describe the film. Like Airplane! (1980), the jokes come rapid fire and so many hit their mark, that Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie is one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen. While some of the jokes, like the swipe at the over indulgences of President George H.W. Bush’s White House Chief of State, might seem dated, the vast majority are still laugh out loud funny after multiple viewings.

If you need a laugh, then you should see Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie.