Finally saw this today... Oh, dearie, dearie me... Don't get me wrong, I quite enjoyed it, but has there ever been a bigger load of tripe made in Hollywood since the day of the Cecil B De Mille biblical epics? The horses with stirrups - which not even the Romans had - were a bit of a giveaway as to how things were going, then, in no particular order, we had Orion being The Hunter, paper, Atlanteans, telescopes and sextants... I spotted references to Clan of the Cave Bear, Planet of the Apes and Stargate. I'm sure there were more, share them here...
I was so confused. I felt bad for the wooly mammoths working so hard in the hot Egyptian sun. I kept thinking John M would love the whole "pyramids being built by Atlanteans 6000 years early" thing. The sabretooth looked terrible. The girl was hot! Where did she buy her makeup? After the sailboats and pyramids, I was expecting to see hovercraft next. I wish MST3K was still on the air.
Stirrups and paper? Oh my fucking God. I didn't think it could be that bad. I might even see it now so that I can have a good laugh.
IIRC, Emmerich never claimed it to be remotely historical. I think he even said that it was an alternate Earth. Doesn't excuse that it was crap, of course.
It always amazes me what beliefs people are willing to suspend, and where they dramatically draw the line. Warp drives, bumpy foreheads, WHOOSH sounds in space and transporters? Humanoid robots and biblical prophecy? Dwarves, elves and magic rings? Mammoths, pyramids and stirrups? No fuckin way man!
Just as ID4 was a recycled/retooled Stargate (movie) plot, I still maintain the this looks like a recycled Stargate prequel. Think about it. (The story of how Ra was overthrown....)
ID4 is a modernized War of the Worlds, only with a computer virus instead of a biological virus. (I was also going to point out that another difference is that effectively everyone on Earth is an idiot in ID4, but I suppose that's merely a side-effect of the modernization.)
How does Bryce come up with an ID4/Stargate connection? [/quote] There has been considerable fan discussion to the effect that the Independence Day story was derived from a planned sequel to Stargate. Sample discussion can be found here: http://forum.renegadecommentaries.co.uk/lofiversion/index.php?t3008.html
Ahem, it's been common knowledge for years among the sci-fi fan community that Devlin himself admitted that the original outline for ID4 started as part 2 of a planned Stargate *trilogy* by Devlin and Emerich (with more of Ra's aliens arriving on Earth)...but when MGM decided to do the SG-1 series, the original outline was retooled (radically) into ID4. And when I have seen previews for "10,000 B.C.", I see a lot that looks like it would have fit in a Stargate prequel...(about the overthrow of the "God-king" Ra, as described in Stargate the film.) So I wonder if that was a planned prequel that was retooled...I suspect so. - bryce
10,000BC? Yeah, I saw it, my review is here: http://www.wordforge.net/showthread.php?p=1610602 Also: If you take it in that context, it doesn't seem so bad. I won't give it a high rating, but I had fun watching this movie.
Yeah, I hear the film is meant to be a kinda of fantasy "lost civilization" movie, not a historical documentary. But yeah, God King ("He is NOT a God!') pyramids, Atlantis, overthrow of said od-King by slave (backstory to "Stargate" movie when they discuss why Ra left Earth...( advanced tech... And if you listen closely to Daniel Jackson's lecture in the movie - the one where he got laughed at and everyone walked off - he mentions his theory that the Pyramids were built MUCH earlier than believed...around 5 to 10 thousand B.C.E!!! (Hence, the reason he was laughed at.)* A digression, just skip----> Yep, Stargate prequel I am betting, rewritten. *(On an unrelated note - ever, per-chance, look closely at the antique gold glasses (round, wth cords) that Daniel wore in the film? They are ArtCraft, ArtBilt FulView glasses, and I wore the exact same make of glasses from 1989 to 2003!!! But finally after countless sodering they broke for good - though I still have saved 'em in a wooden box. I have wanted a new pair for years, but was told they were no longer made. But I found out yesterday that they ARE still made, and a local optometrist can order a new pair for me! I am so stoked! Although, I am not wearing small, children's plastic glasses - I am not sure how I would adjust again to heavy metal glasses with real glass lenses!? They old one used to leave little red dents/marks on teh bridge of my nose...still, I want. And while they are now more than the $150.00 I paied in '89, they still only run for about 2 to 3 hundred $$$! And I avn make payments! Sorry, but I am SO stoked, I have wanted a new set of these things for YEARS since I broke them for good back in '03 in a fight. Also, up until about a year and 1/2 ago when I started going grey - and I kid you not on this - at least once a week someone would remark how I looked like Spader....I think it was the hair and glasses played a big part in reminding people of a resemblance. I miss that - now I just need the glasses again and to bleach my hair blond again! ^What i *WISH* I still looked like!!!
