Directed by Roland Emmerich. Written by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin.

Captain Steven Hiller

• [to the unconscious alien] Y'know, this was supposed to be my weekend off. But noooo. You got me out here, draggin' your heavy ass, through the burnin' desert, with your dreadlocks sticking out the back of my parachute. You gotta come down here with an attitude, actin' all big and bad…and WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SMELL?! [screams and kicks the alien] I could've been at a BARBECUE! But I ain't mad.

Julius Levinson

• [to David] It's the White House, for crying out loud. You can't just drive up and ring the bell.

• So tell me something: you're so smart, how come you spent 8 years at M.I.T. to become a cable repairman?

• All I'm saying is that they have people to handle these things. They want HBO, they'll call you.

President Thomas Whitmore

• Good morning. [Turns on mic] Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world, and you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. Mankind. That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it's fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom… Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution… but from annihilation. We're fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day when the world declared in one voice: We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!

Dialogue

President: I have a confession to make. I'm sleeping next to a beautiful young brunette.

Marilyn: You didn't let her stay up all night watching TV, did you?

President: Of course not.

[pause]

Patricia: Daddy let me watch Letterman.

President: Traitor.

Connie: Now what do we do?

President: Address the nation. There's gonna be a lot of frightened people out there.

Connie: Yeah? I'm one of 'em.

Jasmine: There you go, there you go, thinking you're all that. But you are not as charming as you think you are, sir.

Steven: Yes, I am.

Marty: A countdown…wait, a countdown to what, David?

David: Uh, it's like in chess: First, you strategically position your pieces and when the timing is right you… strike. See? They're positioning themselves all over the world using this signal to synchronize their efforts. In approximately six hours the signal's gonna disappear and the countdown's gonna be over.

Marty: And then what?

David: Checkmate.

Marty: [Gasp] Oh, my God. Oh my God! I gotta call my brother, I'd better call my housekeeper, I gotta call my lawyer. Nah, forget my lawyer.

Jimmy: You scared, man?

Steven: No. You?

Jimmy: Nope. [pauses] Hold me.

Steven: Hey, pay attention.

Lieutenant: Something you wanna add to this briefing, Captain Hiller?

Steven: No, sir. I'm just a little anxious to get up there and whup E.T.'s ass. That's all.

[everyone else laughs]

Lieutenant: And you'll get your chance. You'll all get your chance. Good hunting. Dismissed!

Jimmy: Let's kick the tires and light the fires, big daddy!

[David, Connie, General Grey, and Nimzicki are all talking at once, after David objects to them using nuclear weapons]

Nimzicki: Shut up! Captain, get him out of here!

David: Hey, don't tell him to shut up! You'd all be dead now if it wasn't for my David! None of you did anything to prevent this!

General: There was nothing we could do! We were totally unprepared for this.

Julius: Oh don't give me "unprepared"! It was, what? In the nineteen- what, fifties. Whatever You had that spaceship.

David: Dad.

Julius: Yeah, that thing you found in New Mexico. Where was that?

David: Dad, not the spaceship.

Julius: Roswell. Roswell, New Mexico. No, you had the spaceship and you had the bodies. They were locked up in a, in a bunker. Where was that?

Connie: Sir... I don't know.

Julius: David? Area 51, right? Area 51! You knew then! And you did nothing!

President: Sir, regardless of what you may have read in the tabloids, there has never been any spacecraft recovered by our government. Take my word for it. There's no Area 51. There's no recovered spaceship.

Nimzicki: Uh, excuse me, Mr. President. That's not entirely accurate.

David: What, which part?

President: I don't understand, where does all this come from? How do you get funding for something like this?

Julius: You don't actually think they spend $20,000 on a hammer, $30,000 on a toilet seat, do you?

President:I know there is much to learn from each other if we can make a truce. We can find a way to Co-exist. can there be a peace between us?

Alien: Peace? NO PEACE!

President: What is it you want us to do?

Alien: Die... Die.

Marty: David! David, what the hell's the point of having a beeper if you aren't even gonna turn it on?!?!

David: It was turned on. I was ignoring you.

Taglines

• EARTH: Take A Good Look. It Could Be Your Last.

• We've Always Believed We Weren't Alone. On July 4th, We'll Wish We Were.

• The Question Of Whether Or Not We Are Alone In The Universe...Has Been Answered.

• WARNING! Your Next Stop May Not Be There.

• They Only Want One Thing...DESTRUCTION.

• On July 2nd, They Arrive. On July 3rd, They Strike. On July 4th, We Fight Back.

• Today, The Human Race Celebrates Their Independence Day.

• Enjoy The Super Bowl, It May Be Your Last.
  • from the Independence Day Super Bowl commercial

Cast

• Bill Pullman - President Thomas Whitmore
• Margaret Colin - Connie Spano
• Jeff Goldblum - David Levinson
• Will Smith - Captain Steve Hiller
• Vivica A. Fox - Jasmine Dubrow
• Randy Quaid - Russell Casse
• Judd Hirsch - Julius Levinson