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All we need to do is tape Australian commercial-TV shows
and play them back ad nauseum.
If that doesn't have them bored to death, or puking into
their tirrian gas masks (hopefully, leading to drowning) then
they will be impossible to beat and we should give up and
offer to serve them drinks and lobster beside the beach.
The last time the aliens arrived it was a close run thing
but, fortunately, the Americans led the world in a united
battle against the invaders and we saw them off.
The documentary on that conflict, Independence Day,
is out on DVD and will show you in glorious detail the arrival
of massive alien ships, their unprovoked bid to exterminate
mankind and how the good guys eventually prevailed.
It is a terrific piece of film-making that manages to cover
the entire struggle from first contact to destruction. In
between, we have massive battlescenes involving hundreds of
air force planes up against alien fighters, an alien-cam view
of the insides of the alien mothership, the intelligence war
to crack the enemy codes and the scientific breakthrough that
can save Earth.
There are close-up features on US President Bill Pullman
- who as a former fighter pilot, fires up the human race to
belt the invaders around their five ears - on top boffin Jeff
Goldblum - who develops a way that may deal with the enemy's
superior techno-wizardry, and pilot extraordinaire Will Smith
- who shoots down an alien and whups its ass big time.
Occasionally, the doco drops into sentimental ooze - particularly
the Prez's speech about July 4 - but it is generally a rip-roaring
tale of danger, humour in adversity and the god-given right
of mankind to kill anything it can gets its missiles into.
The imagery is stunning with some bits of film-making that
stretch what has previously been thought of as impossible.
In order to keep a permanent record of the great battles,
the producers have given a faultless transfer of the documentary
on to DVD. Considering how close the camera crews had to get
to the alien ships the near-perfect sharpness and colour make
their sacrifices worthwhile.
Independence Day is a doco that deserves a place in
every library.
Continued:
DVD details at a glance >
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