There are 20 seconds in the 1996 blockbuster film Independence Day that get me every time. And it’s not some big reveal. It’s not some funny joke or hugely emotional beat. It’s just a brief, 20-second blip where the film achieves a level of perfection that, I feel, it never reaches again, and this is coming from a massive fan of the film.
The moment comes about an hour into the proceedings. America has decided to fight back at the aliens who have just destroyed several major cities, killing millions. Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith) is one of the pilots in the air and he just lost his best friend to what are clearly superior aircraft. Sad but determined, the death has given Hiller added passion. Clearly, he can’t beat everyone, but if he can just defeat one of these planes, that would be enough. And it’s at this moment that director Roland Emmerich uses a piece of music from David Arnold’s score that we don’t hear in this way at any other point in the movie. It’s a riff on the main theme, but somehow in a more propulsive, rousing way, and it plays over tight, exciting editing and compositions of Hiller straining to move his plane in ways he’s never used it before. Here’s the moment.
That moment right there is my favorite in all of Independence Day. A beautiful blend of sound, acting, editing, and cinematography. But mostly, it’s the music. These 20 seconds are the only time in the entire movie when Arnold uses that particular beat. Those first few notes, first moving up the scale, then down the scale, then going into a version of the theme just so perfectly conveys Hiller’s guttural need to win this battle not just for himself or for his friend, but for planet Earth. Sure, the film has good music throughout, but every time I hear this piece I wonder “Why isn’t there more of the score in this way all throughout the movie?” It would have made a great movie even better.
Anyway, that’s my 2 cents. No bigger point to it. I just wanted to, on this particular July 4, give my favorite moment in Independence Day its due.
Read our full look back at the film for its 25th anniversary in 2021 right here.
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