Benjamin's Stash: Video Pick of the Week

      Hello, readers. I was able to get a second viewing of Man of Steel today, and I gotta say it definitely holds up a second time around. There were a few moments peppered throughout I didn't catch the first time (a Lana Lang reference that somehow went by me the first time, for example). That out of the way, with Roland Emmerich's White House Down opening this Friday, I'm devoting this week's video pick to one of the most entertaining summer flicks of the 90's, co-written and directed by Mr. Emmerich himself.

      "Welcome to Urf!" Independence Day begins on July 2 when an alien mothership enters Earth's orbit, deploying several destroyer spacecraft, each about 15 miles in diameter. David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), an MIT graduate working for a New York City cable company, discovers a hidden satellite transmission which he believes is a countdown to a coordinated attack by the aliens. After warning President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman) of the coming attack, the president orders mass evacuations of all the major cities being targeted. Despite these efforts, the aliens are successful in destroying the cites resulting in a counter-attack by the Americans led by Marine Corps Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith).

      Come with me, children. Put your 10,000 BC DVD down and let me take you back to a time and place when Roland Emmerich films were good. This is an example of a popcorn flick done right. You have a great all-star cast featuring Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Randy Quaid (quite possibly playing himself as crazy as he appears here), Robert Loggia, Mary McDonnell, Harvey Fierstein and Judd Hirsch. You have exciting action packed moments featuring a terrifically shot sequence of cites being blasted away to Kingdom come. Most importantly, you have a self-aware script by producer Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich that knows when to not take itself so seriously. It almost makes me forget the two hour preaching beatdown I suffered while sitting through The Day After Tomorrow. Credit also Emmerich for certainly delivering the action packed goods, but not venturing into Michael Bay territory by raping our senses (Do I need to bring up Armageddon or the Transformers trilogy?). It's not perfect. It's not original. Then again, it doesn't try to be either. Yeah, Pullman's "Today we celebrate our Independence Day!" is beyond cheesy. That doesn't stop this film from still being a damn good time, though, offering two and half hours of good performances, visual entertainment, spectacular set pieces and humor that works.