Few science-fiction movies — indeed, few action movies — these days make room for God, for traditional marriage and for explicit prayer.
But all three of these were front and center in the 1996 blockbuster hit “Independence Day.”
Directed by Roland Emmerich (“The Patriot,” “2012,” “The Day After Tomorrow”), and produced and written by Dean Devlin (“Stargate,” “Leverage,” “The Librarians”) — the son of a Jewish father and a Filipina mother — the film centers on an unlikely pair of heroes: Air Force pilot Capt. Steven Hillier and MIT-educated computer expert David Levinson, who wind up tasked with the responsibility of saving the Earth from alien invaders.
As the movie opens, Hillier is living with his exotic-dancer girlfriend (Vivica A. Fox), who’s hoping he will eventually want to be her husband and her son’s stepfather. Hillier has a wedding ring in his possession, but either he’s afraid of commitment or worried that marrying an exotic dancer will ruin his chances of getting into NASA (as his pal, Capt. Jimmy Wilder, played by Catholic Harry Connick), warns him.
Levinson — who’s Jewish, although how much he practices his faith is not specified — is living on his own in New York City, while his ex-wife, Constance Spano (Margaret Colin), is working for President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman), himself a former combat pilot. He hangs out a lot with his father, Julius (Judd Hirsch), who’d rather his son reunited with his wife, whom he obviously still loves (as, three years after the divorce, Levinson’s still wearing his wedding ring).
Over the course of the film, Hillier marries his girlfriend — in an Area 51 chapel, which has a big cross on the wall — with Levinson and Constance as witnesses (where she notes the wedding band). By the end of the film, it looks as if the divorced spouses have reconnected and are to be reconciled.
Meanwhile, Julius, who tells his son he stopped talking to God after his own wife’s death, rediscovers his faith. Before Levinson heads out with Hillier to battle the aliens, he hands his father his Kippah and a small book of Scripture. As the battle rages above, Julius sits down with a circle of children to pray — including an adult who admits, “I’m not Jewish,” to which Julius replies, “Nobody’s perfect.”
On a smaller note, the Latino stepson of crop duster Russell Cates (Dennis Quaid) — who also winds up a hero — wears a crucifix and a holy medal.
The film is also light on profanity, and has no nudity or sex scenes.
It wouldn’t be accurate to say “Independence Day” is a faith-based movie, but it is an action/sci-fi movie that makes room for family, courage, self-sacrifice, friendship and faith.
Now, the long-awaited sequel is in the works, called (for the moment) “Independence Day 2,” again written by Devlin and directed by Emmerich.
Although Will Smith, who became a mega-star in the years since “Independence Day,” doesn’t appear to be on board (but Fox is), several of the original cast are signed, along with some newcomers (in addition to the folks below, there’s Goldblum, Jesse Usher, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Liam Hemsworth:
Today we celebrate our #IndependenceDay sequel. Welcome back, Bill Pullman. pic.twitter.com/hR3qisg70i
— Roland Emmerich (@rolandemmerich) April 17, 2015
It’s official… we’re thrilled to have the GREAT Judd Hirsch grace the set of #IndependenceDay once again! pic.twitter.com/vSIEQsZwjb
— Roland Emmerich (@rolandemmerich) April 17, 2015
This just in… @JoeyKingActress and @BrentSpiner officially signed for #IndependenceDay – Welcome aboard! — Roland Emmerich (@rolandemmerich) April 9, 2015
Travis Tope just signed. Like right this second. Please join us in welcoming him to the cast of #IndependenceDay. pic.twitter.com/pyOUUQiitE
— Roland Emmerich (@rolandemmerich) March 27, 2015
And just today:
Headed to start filming #IndependenceDay with @rolandemmerich and our wonderful producers! ✈️ pic.twitter.com/HbEY8OQqTq
— Joey King (@JoeyKingActress) April 20, 2015
As for the future of faith in the movie, I suspect all of those elements in the original came from Devlin, since Emmerich made it very clear during promotion of his movie “2012” that he’s no fan of organized religion, as he told HitFix.com’s Dan Fienberg:
I’m openly a guy who’s against organized religion. When look at it practically, yes, the Catholic Church has kind of created the Red Cross and stuff like that and runs a couple hospitals and orphanages, but when you see the Catholic Church in general and you see, let’s say, the last Pope, who was replaced by the German Pope, they want to canonize him now, and this was a guy who single-handedly told Africa not to use condoms. I just feel this is not right. Nobody says anything. I’m always of the belief that if you believe in something, why do you need a house to go in? Why do you need a church at all? Why do you not pray in your home? Why do you not build a little thing in the corner of your living room and pray there? Why do you need all of the other people? Why do you need priests? Why do you need all of these things? I think that organized religion has brought only misery, when you see it right now, what’s going between the Arabs and the Western world? Come on. People in Koran schools learn to hate other people. Just for me, that’s incredible that in our time and with our technology and information age, that we still have fundamentalists in very high places.
So, keep your fingers crossed, do the Sign of the Cross, and we’ll all find out on June 26, 2016, just ahead of … Independence Day.
UPDATE: Just got word that “Independence Day 2” is going to be shot at ABQ Studios in Albuquerque, New Mexico, home to “Breaking Bad,” “Better Call Saul,” “The Avengers,” “The Night Shift” and the upcoming film “Sicario.”
Image: Courtesy 20th Century Fox, Electric Entertainment
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In