Independence Day: The Last of the Handmade Blockbusters | Art of the Scene
CineFix
Jul 3, 2026 13:15
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Independence Day took over the summer of 1996 like the alien invasion it inflicted onto big screens around the world, ushering in a new era of suped-up, cinematic spectacle. But Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman weren't the real stars of ID4. That honor goes to explosions. But the mid-90s were a fascinating time in Hollywood, transitioning from old school, traditional effects work into the age of CGI. Before computer effects wizardry became the answer to "how do we film this," Roland Emmerich, Dean Devlin and legions of artists, model-makers and pyrotechnics experts took one last swing at doing things the hard way, making Independence Day the last of the handmade blockbusters.
This Art of the Scene was written and narrated by Charlie Lopresto and edited by Lynette Guzman.
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