Independence Daysaster

Independence Day-saster (2013)

** (out of 4)

It's the Fourth of July and President Garcette (Tom Everett Scott) is heading back to his hometown to visit his brother and son but before he can land on the ground the Earth is attacked by aliens. Now this small town and their hero must join forces to try and destroy the aliens before they wipe out the population. If you're wanting high art or class then INDEPENDENCE DAY-SASTER isn't going to be for you but those seeking pure "C" level entertainment should find a few quality moments here. Again, one really shouldn't be expecting any sort of masterpiece, classic or even a good film but I like the fact that director W.D. Hogan didn't try to make the picture something it's not and instead of trying to turn this into an "A" picture he instead delivered the goods on a cheap level. That's certainly a good thing because there's nothing more annoying than a low-budget film trying to do something it can't. This film doesn't shy away from the fact that they didn't have much money and instead they use it to their advantage by making the film fun. The fun factor at least makes the picture worth sitting through because you really do feel as if you're watching one of those sci-fi films from the 1950s that you'd see at the drive-in. The special effects are never believable but they're at least mildly charming in their own cheap way. The performances aren't anything spectacular but they're at least fun as well. This includes Scott who we haven't seen too much of lately. INDEPENDENCE DAY-SASTER isn't going to win any major awards but considering this played on the SyFy channel you should know that there's much worse out there.

Independence Daysaster did have a silly but also intriguing concept and title going for it, so it was definitely worth considering a viewing. As a movie, it is hardly a masterpiece of film-making- far from it- but it doesn't try to be and there is much worse around. For a SyFy original movie, it is neither among the best or worst, there are too many flaws to recommend but it is somewhat tolerable. The acting mostly is reasonably good here, almost everyone seems to be having some sort of fun acting in a way that doesn't try too hard or suggestive of going through the motions. The scenery is nice, simple but not in-someone's-basement sort of quality, the shot of earth from outer space view and what there is of the action is fun and edge-of-your-seat quality. The music was a mixed bag, sometimes rousing, at other times too much of a dirge and the sort of sounds and rhythms that you've heard more than once. While the acting is not bad, Tom Everett Scott was unconvincing as the president, he lacked cragginess and proper authority and seemed bewildered too. Like most SyFy originals, Independence Daysaster is badly hindered by its budget. The special effects look really cheap and are papier-mâché-like in quality, while it was clear from the photography and editing that Independence Daysaster was made in a rush and with not much love. The script isn't too complicated but at the same time comes as too simplistic and never strongly develops the characters, the inspirational speech was really clichéd and not one of those speeches that you want to take inspiration from, Scott's lack of conviction in delivery didn't help either. The story is a case of too much talk and being behind technology and not enough action, there are entertaining moments but not enough and there are too many dull stretches. The predictability levels are also high, and the suspense and genuine-care-for-situation levels low. The characters are not annoying as such and serve a point to the story, but they are never anywhere developed enough to make the audience connect with them. The aliens are under-utilised, not much of a threat judging from how people react to them and they are not in any way relateable. And then there's the science, not as infuriating as other SyFy original movies but far too silly to be believable. All in all, nothing special and not particularly a good movie but it's never really unbearably bad either. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Just another poor knock off trying to capitalize on another movies' success and failing miserably. Interesting because it looked like they could have done so much better.

First, they should have saved their money and tried to come up with an actual idea of their own. I know that's rare, especially in the entertainment community.

Sad really, it seemed that few of the actors were actually good. Yet the team behind the camera, including the director, the effects people, and the script writers, IN GENERAL were MUCH less capable (there were a few signs of better than worse, but not often).

Its almost like they didn't want to fully committing to the final product. In a few places, and a few people, took this real serious and worked hard to be as good as possible. But in other areas .. IMPORTANT areas ... they seemed to have simply scrimped too much. Or maybe they really are that bad at their jobs?

... comes one of the worst films you are likely to see in your lifetime, with (amazingly) a clever idea to the script that is totally lost in translation.

For the benefit of IMDb members not aware of the dynamic that supports Canadian knockoffs like this: these films exist because and only because of a massive tax subsidy at multiple levels of government in Canada, aided and abetted by a weaker dollar (relative to the US buck) which calls out to US producers in search of higher profits like a Siren Song to Ulysses.

The results can be excellent (Eureka) but are mostly horrible. When a film franchise dies in the US, a Canuck producer will buy the rights to a final sequel, a sequel designed to be "in profit" before the cameras even roll.

That said, this is an Indedependence Day knockoff done so poorly that it includes lines of dialog (and actors and special effects) that will make you cringe. This is an ADULT film where alien invaders have wiped out all major cities on earth but somehow the earth is SAVED by a bunch of teenage computer hackers in a BARN.

What more can I say??? The best performance -- the only credible performance -- is by Merriman. The entire 2 hr film has a total cast of about 7 people in all and the other 6 are forgettable.

Is it possible to do a two hour film more cheaply?

Clever those Canadians

When I stumbled upon the 2013 movie "Independence Daysaster" by random chance here in 2024, I immediately figured that this would be a mockbuster from The Asylum. Sure, I had never heard about the movie, but the title alone was just screaming The Asylum mockbuster.

With "Independence Daysaster" being a movie that I had never heard about, much less watched, of course I opted to sit down and give director W. D. Hogan's 2013 movie a fair chance. Were I harboring any expectations? Nope, none whatsoever.

And imagine my surprise when there was no logo from The Asylum as the movie started. So at least it was off to a good start.

Writers Sydney Roper and Rudy Thauberger put together an enjoyable enough script and storyline. Sure, the storyline was generic and predictable, but it made for a fair enough cheesy sci-fi action flick, although in the lower end of the scale. But I will say that I was actually well-enough entertained by the storyline here, though it is hardly a movie that I will be visiting a second time.

I don't think I was familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list. And believe it or not, but that is actually something I do enjoy when I sit down to watch a movie. And it should be said that the actors and actresses on the cast list in "Independence Daysaster" put on good performances, despite the generic material they had to work with.

The CGI in the movie was a mixed bag of nuts, because some of the CGI scenes were fair, while others were clunky and looked like something from a 1990s computer game.

My rating of "Independence Daysaster" lands on a four out of ten stars.