I’m aware of Deux Ex Machina. What saves it for me and a number of others is its humor and the formula of alien invasion it’s respecting. This was the 90s and being cheeky and self-referential was much of the marrow of the time. Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum are comedic actors. Their rhythms and star persona are like stand up comedy onscreen. The personalities and temperment of the movie sold it. It’s 1996. THAT was an attribute of popular entertainment at the time. Men in Black (1997) double downed on it the next year.
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You are moving the goalposts. We aren’t talking about the rest of the movie. We are talking about the plot resolution of uploading a virus written with Earth-based software meant for Earth-based equipment, somehow having any effect whatsoever on alien technology.
It wasn’t believable then much less now.
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Note: Some would say ID4 (1996) is disrespecting 50s Sci-Fi Formula. I would say not. It incorporates post modern consciousness and levity into it. And varying on your opinion, you either like that or you don’t. Mars Attacks (1996) is to me closer to that definition. More crass, less story, and bluntly I cringed throughout. Give me ID4 any day over Mars Attacks. “One’s mileage will vary.”
But- stay with me here- What if Jeff Goldblum did it with ChatGPT?
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I’m going to try to be good and not also mention Randy Quaid’s character flying a low-powered crop duster vertically into an alien ship with really heavy missiles roped to its wings, creating a ton of drag, with no means of arming the missiles.
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It’s best not to mention Randy Quaid in most circumstances.
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His character got bit in the butt by a radioactive monkey in Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie’s Island Adventure. Just sayin’.
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I’m not moving anything. It’s the culmination of the movie. Everything leads up to it and that sequence is the payback to the aliens for the preceding story. The aggressive quality or stupid dynamic is tonal and transactional to what happened before. The Aliens annihilated Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and half the globe and the human race is on the brink as Bill Pullman exclaims. To the scene… It is played like a caper or Ocean’s Eleven (2001) stunt. They arrive. The two stars bicker. The alien traffic controller is perplexed and suspicious. It opens the window. They hide. They resolve to die. They jump out and launch the nuke. And in the hustle and bustle they are freed. It’s Keystone Cops Meets The 90s. The Virus? One could argue it’s ridiculous. It’s absurd even. Does it work within the movie it resides? I say it does. Either way the film is extremely popular and lives on. It may not be believable to several people here. But is it a quality thing or a matter of preference? I lean towards how people consume their Sci-Fi. The moment is Pure 90s pastiche. And it lives and dies on how you relate to it. Thanks.
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Actually he was flying a modern plane in the ending. Not a cropduster. The cropduster was earlier in the movie.
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Rad Racer?
My mom played that. Seriously.
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There were two versions of the ending. I saw the biplane ending, but they changed it to the jet ending later.
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That wasn’t the film shown in theaters. What you saw is an unused rough cut scene that was changed before theatrical release. It’s included as an extra on home video but it shouldn’t be thought of as the finished film. The cutting room is called the cutting room floor for a reason.
Bruce, I only saw the movie once. In a theater. However, I’m going to pretend you are right to end this conversation.
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Here’s the scene. From the movie. No cropduster in sight.
The majority of Sixteen Candles makes me cringe.
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There’s one change made to Star Wars that made me go download the fan restorations. In the original after Obi Wan gives his speech about how they are heading to a dangerous place and they will have to be careful the next scene is them interacting with the guards, maintaining the tension. In the new versions they added wacky slapstick comic relief right after his speech, makes me mad just thinking about it.
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EBK. I found the Independence Day (1996) Alternate Versions page on IMDB. According to this the Cropduster Alternate Ending is included as an extra on the Laserdisc. I’ve owned the film on every format since. It was a supplement on the 20th Anniversary Blu-Ray and the 4K release. It wasn’t on the first Blu-Ray. When I saw the film on opening day in 1996, the current ending was already added. I never saw the scene till just now. And I agree pretty preposterous. Thank God it was changed. I never doubted you. It was more of a question of how relevant an excised scene is on crtiquing a movie. Thank You on bringing attention to this. I had known about it but hadn’t seen it. Thanks Again.
From IMDB –
"Independence Day
Alternate versions
An extended version of the film contains ca. 8 minutes of extended/additional footage bringing it to 153 minutes total.
The scenes include:
The first dialogue between President Whitmore and Constance Spano was extended.
A few sentences were added in the scene as Whitmore proposes to go to DefCon 3.
The first added scene is a dialogue between David Levinson and a colleague at the TV station. He explains that an unknown signal is responsible for the bad TV broadcasting and that he may be able to block this signal.
In the next extended scene Russell Casse meets his son after he was released from prison.
Up next the dialogue between Jasmine and Tiffany in the strip club was extended.
Then there is an extended dialogue between David and his father on the way to the White house. Right after this is an added scene in which David is searching for the number of Constance’s handy.
Another added scene features David and his father in the oval Office. The father is talking about the persons who visited this office. Actors, football players and now himself…
Right after Jasmine found the truck, there is an added scene in which the illness of Russell’s youngest son is described.
The next added scene features Jasmine as she drives the truck and some survivors through the destroyed city.
Later in Area 51 there is an added scene in which David Levinson and Dr. Brakkish Okun go into the alien spacecraft. Here the Doctor explains some of the alien technology.
As Captain Steven Hiller arrives with the alien visitor, a scene was added in which Russell asks for a doctor for his ill son.
The last extended scene shows Russell’s daughter establishing a new friendship while the fight rages above Area 51.
In most versions shown in cinemas and also the ones available on video, scenes are missing that stress the global dimension of the alien attack. In these scenes, international tv-journalists report about the devastation in their respective countries, and the destroying of international cities is shown (e.g. Paris). The cast list still contains some of these reporters, e.g. it names Jessica Cardinahl as German reporter, and also Korean and Russian reporters. These scenes were interesting, as they illustrate that the aliens are not an American problem, but a global one.
The laserdisc special edition includes an alternate ending to the final aerial battle sequence. In it Russell Casse was rejected as a pilot for one of the jets to attack the alien ship approaching Area 51. However, he arrives at the end of battle flying his crop duster (which he has been towing behind his motor home) with a missile strapped to it. He then flies the crop duster into the energy beam weapon of the alien ship to bring it down.
In the original UK theatrical release during the closing sequence in the desert as Levinson (Goldblum) and Hiller (Smith) are walking towards the jeep, Hiller suggests to Levinson that he needs a new ‘hero’ walk and to swing his hips more. This dialogue, that explains Goldblum’s odd walk, is missing from the video release.
In the Australian/New Zealand video and theatrical release several shots were edited out so the film could receive a PG rating. These include the destruction of the AWAC as it enters the fire cloud and the shot of the helicopter pilots when the alien destroyer shoots them down. It was eventually released uncut still retaining it PG rating for the Blu-ray release.
Several of the media reports shown in the movie were actually shot on videotape (including special effects). A number of these scenes, plus others not in the movie, were edited together into a fake newscast that is available on the DVD release.
In the UK Television version of the film (possibly also VHS and DVD versions) all TV news reports are changed from the American broadcasts to Sky News broadcasts (a British news channel and, at the time of the movie, the only 24 hours news service in the UK)
In some cinemas in the Middle East, all scenes including Judd Hirsch were removed. In the film, Hirsch’s character speaks Yiddish and wears the traditional Jewish yarmulke."
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I laughed out loud in the theater at that, and so did a bunch of other people. I doubt that any of us thought the movie was trying to be funny.
But Dr. Ian Malcolm said it was so. That was like expert opinion.