My next Screenplay article on …‘Independence Day’ film

Independence Day is a 1996 science fiction film about a hostile alien invasion of Earth, focusing on a disparate group of individuals and families as they coincidentally converge in the Nevada desert and, along with the rest of the human population, participate in a last-chance retaliation effort on July 4. It was directed by Roland Emmerich, who co-wrote the script with producer Dean Devlin.
The movie was scheduled for release on July 3, 1996, but due to the high level of anticipation for the film, many theaters began showing it on the evening of July 2, 1996, the same day the action in the film begins. The movie's total worldwide gross was $816,969,268, which at one point was the second-highest worldwide gross of all-time. It currently holds the 18th highest worldwide gross for a movie all-time, and was at the forefront of the large-scale disaster film and science fiction resurgences of the mid-to-late-1990s.
Short Story
On July 2, a mammoth alien mothership enters orbit around Earth and deploys several dozen saucer-shaped "destroyer" spacecraft, each 15 miles in width. As the destroyers take positions over some of Earth's major cities, David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), an underachieving MIT-graduate working for a cable company in New York City, discovers hidden satellite transmissions which he believes to be a timer counting down to a coordinated attack by the aliens. With the help of his ex-wife Constance Spano (Margaret Colin), a White House employee, he and his father Julius (Judd Hirsch) gain entrance into the Oval Office to warn President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman) of the impending attack. The President orders an evacuation of the targeted cities, but soon afterwards the hovering spacecraft incinerate the cities using advanced directed-energy weapons, killing millions. The President, portions of his staff, and the Levinsons narrowly escape aboard Air Force One after a destroyer lays waste to Washington D.C.
On July 3, the United States conducts a coordinated counterattack. A squadron of Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornets, the Black Knights stationed out of El Toro MCAS in Irvine, California, participates in an assault on a destroyer near the now destroyed city of Los Angeles. Their weapons fail to penetrate the craft's force field, and it responds by releasing scores of "attacker" ships which are similarly shielded and armed with directed-energy weapons. A one-sided dogfight ensues, and Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith) ends up the sole survivor, eluding a single attacker by luring it to the Grand Canyon. There, he blinds the alien pilot with his jet's braking parachute and ejects just before running out of fuel, causing both to crash in the desert. Having parachuted to safety, he subdues the injured alien. Hiller is picked up by Russell Casse (Randy Quaid), who is traveling across the desert with a group of refugees in a convoy of RVs. From there they take the captured alien to nearby Area 51, commanded by Major Mitchell (Adam Baldwin), where the President and his remaining staff have also landed. Area 51 conceals a top secret facility housing a repaired attacker and three alien bodies recovered from Roswell in 1947.
When lead scientist Dr. Brackish Okun (Brent Spiner) examines the new alien specimen, it attempts escape and takes control of his mind. When questioned by President Whitmore, it reveals through a telepathic connection that its species travels from planet to planet, destroying all life and harvesting a planet's natural resources before moving on. The alien attempts a psychic attack against Whitmore but is killed by Major Mitchell. Whitmore orders a nuclear attack using B-2 Spirit bombers on an alien destroyer which is hovering over a deserted Houston, but this too fails to penetrate the craft's shield.
On July 4, Levinson devises a plan to use the captured attacker to gain access to the interior of the alien mothership in space in order to introduce a computer virus and plant a nuclear missile on board. This, it is hoped, will cause the shields of the Earth-based alien craft to fail long enough for the human resistance to eliminate them. Hiller volunteers to be the mission's pilot, with Levinson accompanying him to upload the virus. With satellite communications knocked out, the Americans use Morse code to coordinate an attack with the remaining forces around the world, timed to occur when the invaders' shields are set to fail. With not enough military pilots to man all available aircraft, the battle requires several volunteers, including President Whitmore and Russell, who both have previous combat flight experience.
With the successful implantation of the virus, President Whitmore leads the U.S. jet fighters against an alien destroyer on approach to Area 51. Though the aliens are now lacking shields, the fighters' supply of missiles are quickly exhausted against the colossal craft and its large complement of assault ships. The underside of the alien craft opens up as its primary weapon prepares to fire on the base. Russell possesses the one remaining missile, but his firing mechanism jams. He pilots his aircraft into the alien weapon in a kamikaze attack. The ensuing explosion causes a chain reaction which completely annihilates the ship. Human resistance forces around the world use the same weak point to destroy the remainder of the alien ships, while the nuclear device planted by Hiller and Levinson destroys the alien mothership soon after the duo make a daring escape. Hiller and Levinson return unharmed, crash-landing their captured alien fighter in the desert close to Area 51. The film ends as the main characters watch debris from the mothership enter the atmosphere like shooting stars.

Lead Cast and their roles
Will Smith as Captain Steven Hiller
Bill Pullman as President Thomas J. Whitmore
Jeff Goldblum as David Levinson
Mary McDonnell as First Lady Marilyn Whitmore
Judd Hirsch as Julius Levinson
Robert Loggia as General William Grey
Randy Quaid as Russell Casse
Margaret Colin as Constance Spano
Vivica A. Fox as Jasmine Dubrow
James Rebhorn as Albert Nimziki
Harvey Fierstein as Marty Gilbert
Brent Spiner as Dr. Brackish Okun
Harry Connick, Jr. as Captain Jimmy Wilder