Hi, I’m Michael. This is Lessons from the Screenplay.
When I was a kid I watched Independence Day a LOT. Over and over again, second only to
Star Wars.
So when I decided to revisit it as an adult who’s spent his life studying filmmaking,
I was worried it wouldn’t hold up.
But reading the screenplay I was pleasantly surprised to find it was actually as compelling
as ever…and kind of made me feel like a kid again.
So today I want to talk about why that is. Why is Independence Day so memorable when
most other disaster movies are completely forgettable?
How is Independence Day so good twenty years later?
Epic Antagonist
The first thing I noticed while reading the screenplay was how epic the aliens felt — even
in text form.
"AN ENORMOUS SHADOW creeps toward us blotting out the horizon, a loud RUMBLE is heard.
Suddenly we are covered in DARKNESS as the SHADOW engulfs us. Only the lonely image of
our EARTH hangs in the air, until a huge silhouette OBJECT suddenly blocks our view."
Awesome.
But making an antagonist epic doesn’t automatically make them compelling — they need to have
character beyond being huge.
Independence Day does this by embracing the idea that less is more, and has the confidence
to let things move slowly.
Let’s look at this simple scene:
"Drifting away from us the old Russian satellite becomes smaller and smaller. We PAN with it
as we SEE it’s on a collision course with something huge.
Suddenly the satellite EXPLODES on IMPACT with the much larger object that dwarfs the
puny piece of hardware. As huge as it is, we get the feeling we’ve only seen a portion
of the total.
Instead of showing the whole alien craft, the screenwriters wrote a scene that implies
its size by comparison.
This engages the audience, makes them lean in and wonder “how big is this thing?”
Way more interesting than a wide shot.
In some ways the movie is more like a monster thriller — like Jaws on a huge scale.
It has a slow, ominous build. We don’t even really see a full alien craft until page twenty-six,
and their attack doesn’t begin until page forty-eight.
This allows the screenwriters to focus on establishing the characters, which is important.
Because in Independence Day…
The Action is About The Characters
There are three main protagonists in Independence Day.
David, President Whitmore, Captain Steven Hiller.
And many, many other characters that the audience comes to know in one way or another.
In total, there are twenty characters of significance in Independence Day, and we meet seventeen
of them in the first twenty-four pages of the script.
That's a lot of characters to get know very quickly.
So how do the screenwriters accomplishthis?
Let’s examine the introduction of Jeff Goldblum’s character
To see how the writers deliver information quickly.
First of all, visually we’re shown that he’s in New York.
He’s playing chess and taking it very seriously — which implies he’s an intelligent, patient
person.
He criticizes his father for using styrofoam — suggesting that he cares about the planet.
Then:
Here, one character is telling another character something they already know just so the audience
can hear it. This is often considered lazy exposition.
But, in this case it’s simultaneously revealing the dynamic between them.
There's a quick bit about cigars…
…which sets up this line:
And finally…
…which sets up this line:
Also this line:
That is a lot of work done in a page and a half of script.
In this way the screenwriters are able to efficiently introduce all the characters.
So by the time the attack finally begins…
The people in harm’s way are people we care about.
Even when it’s just this guy, who gets to be named “Alex” in the script and has
one out-of-focus line earlier in the movie…
"Excuse me, Mr. President. They're starting."
…writing each action scene from a character perspective makes this sequence about more
than just a building blowing up…
…it makes it about the aliens killing humans.
But good action doesn’t simply involve the characters, it dramatically affects them.
Which brings me to my final topic:
Be Mean to Your Characters
Many inexperienced writers are too nice to their protagonists.
They’re afraid to make them truly suffer and struggle, so they end up with boring characters
and dry stories.
Independence Day is mean to its characters.
The alien attacks have consequences. People die.
They affect the characters and change their trajectories.
The action matters.
Out of the twenty characters in the movie, six of them are dead by the end.
At least, I think Dr. Okun is dead…
But then he showed up in the trailer for the sequel…
But it’s definitely not ambiguous in the script…
…so… I don’t know.
David loses his boss.
Steve loses his best friend.
And President Whitmore — oh man, President Whitmore.
I didn’t realize this when I first saw the movie — maybe because I was ten — but
also because it’s more clear in the script.
Independence Day is largely a movie about a man having to shoulder an unthinkable responsibility
and failing over and over.
Whitmore is introduced as a weak president…
"Whitmore seems less like the President and more like the orphan child Oliver
asking, 'Please sir, I'd like some more.'"
His deputy chief of staff disrespects him…
"We may need to upgrade to DEFCON 3."
"Absolutely. General, contact NORAD. You tell them we've upgraded to DEFCON 3."
He makes decisions that cost millions of lives…
"We'll advise people not to panic. The best idea right now is to stay in their homes."
He nukes his own country for nothing…
"Target remains."
And loses the love of his life…
"Is mommy sleeping now?"
"Yeah."
Anyway, my point is: Independence Day works so well because we empathize with the characters,
There are casualties along the way as they struggle against a powerful opponent.
The characters who survive attacks do so by narrowly out-thinking their
opponent. Beating the aliens is not going to be easy.
To be clear, this is not to say that Independence Day is not without coincidence, cheesiness
or bad dialogue. There’s a fair amount of that.
But the deeper, structural writing — the characters, their struggle, their sacrifices
— is on point, and creates a truly exciting experience…even to this day.
"Hello boys...I'm back!"
Thanks for watching.
If you have a suggestion for a screenplay I should analyze in the future, leave a comment
below. And if you enjoyed this video, please be sure to like it and subscribe!
So many typos!
Really?! In THE speech?!
"You're really starting to make us look bad."