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By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
When you think about it, the holidays are a paradox: they’re about coming together as a family, but far too many Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners start with fine wine and end with r nasty arguments this side of reddit. If this sounds a little like your own holiday experience, then you’re probably anxious about a time when your family could act around each other like normal human beings. For those looking to get the family together again, here’s some good news: you can stream Independence Daythe movie that brought the whole country together, on Hulu today.
Independence Day Full of Grandeur
If you have never watched Independence Day (on Hulu, in theaters, or anywhere in between), you should know that it has a surprisingly simple premise. When aliens attack the planet and start killing humans en masse, the fate of the entire world rests on the shoulders of a hotshot jet pilot and extraordinary computer technology. However, whether they succeed or not may ultimately depend on the contributions of everyone from the inspirational president of the United States to an alcoholic Vietnam veteran.
One compelling reason to check out this creature feature is that the out-of-this-world cast includes Will Smith as the cocky pilot and Jeff Goldblum as the first class computer technician. Bill Pullman plays the president facing the greatest crisis in the history of the world, and his wife is played by Battlestar Galactica queen Mary McDonnell. Other memorable actors in this film include Vivica A. Fox, Brent Spinnerand Randy Quaid (in what is almost certainly the best film of his career).
Watching Independence Day forward Hulu is a great way to revisit the iconic speech Pullman’s character gives to bring the world together against a common threat. In real life, the world certainly came together to transform this Hollywood blockbuster into a galaxy-sized hit. Against a budget of just $75 million, the film grossed a whopping $817.4 million, a profit that ultimately prompted 20th Century Fox to release a sequel that is (sad to say) inferior in basically every way.
Bringing Audiences Together
Independence Day bringing the world together before Hulu was even a twinkle in a streaming the eye of the executive, and he also did something almost impossible: he brought audiences and critics together. Ar Rotten tomatoesthe film has a critical score of 68 percent, with critics generally stating that the film makes up for its thin character with all the thrills and scenes we expect from a summer blockbuster. In terms of audiences, the Popcornmeter for this film is at 75 percent, indicating that casual film fans are generally even more hyped for this film than their critical counterparts.
All these years later, it’s clear that more than hype helped make this movie such a monster. Will Smith’s charisma helps him steal every scene, and his manic energy meshes so perfectly with Jeff Goldblum’s knight in nerdy armor. For that matter, Bill Pullman is the perfect cinematic president, and after he combines a rousing speech with death-defying heroism, you’ll probably wish our own politicians were even half as inspiring and amazing
In many ways, Pullman’s character underlines the heart of the film…when you revisit Independence Day on Hulu, you might be surprised to find that this movie is so much more than the sum of its explosive set pieces. Everyone remembers the iconic scene of the aliens blowing up the White House, and because of that, it’s hard to remember that this movie is less about tearing things apart and more about putting things together. As we descend further into the chaos of a country divided by everything from politics to social media, this film’s vision of international unity is a fantasy we can definitely get behind.
Will you find Independence Day as inspired as I was when you stream it on Hulu, or is this the one movie you want to “welcome to Earth” by throwing on the floor? You won’t know until you check it out for yourself. Afterwards, you can help us try to answer one burning question: how did the aliens develop interstellar travel before they invented malware blocking software?
Stream Independence Day is Hulu.
