Independence
Day-saster
(2013/Anchor Bay DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C Extras: D Film: D
It's
hard to hope for much when seeing the title alone of Independence
Day-Saster.
In many ways, it is on par with other productions by the SyFy
Channel - which in my opinion are interesting ideas filled with
wooden characters, gag worthy dialogue, bad digital effects, and flat
filmmaking that lacks any sort of style and substance to make them
memorable. These movies were obviously shot in under a week and
churned out to fill in a two hour time slot on a slow weekday night.
They really need to get better filmmakers and writers behind these
projects.
It
is a shame because there is a lot that can be done with this concept
and many different things that could be said with it politically and
about our society. This film borrows heavily from classics like
Independence
Day, Earth Vs The Flying Saucers, War of the Worlds
and more. In many ways, it owes the most to Battleship
and makes that film look like Citizen
Kane
in comparison, which says a lot.
It’s
the fourth of July, and America is celebrating. But when a hostile
force attacks from outer space and within Earth itself, our planet
may be on the menu for a holiday barbeque. Womp. Womp. Can a small
town fireman, a physics-loving teen, a rogue scientist, some nerdy
hackers, and the stranded President of the United States find a way
to stop the invasion and save the planet? Probably.
What
does the film lack most? Freaking Aliens! You never see them or
really understand why they are attacking us - only that they are in
fact hostile and are sending out drones to wipe us out and take over.
The aliens that come from below the ground with giant drills are not
very threatening to be honest. Another thing, this film did not have
to take place on the fourth of July... it could have very well been
Memorial Day-Saster! I also don't understand why they couldn't have
gotten at least one recognizable face. They obviously had some sort
of budget to work with here.
The
special effects are dicey to say the least. Some of them are
definitely better than others - especially those that are captured in
wide shots. Any time the filmmakers choose to punch in, you can see
really how bad they are. Especially the scenes were digital fire and
explosions are evident. I think the plan was to put the best effect
shots at the beginning and end of the film and all the crappy ones in
the middle in hopes that you would forget about them.
The
picture and sound are standard for DVD and nothing to really write
home about. A lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track and Spanish
subtitles are on the disc. The Widescreen anamorphic aspect ratio is
at 1:78.1 of the original broadcast.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.vimeo.com/jamielockhart
