Movie Wave Home | Reviews by Title | Reviews by Composer

INDEPENDENCE DAY
Cacophonous
A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

Music composed by
DAVID ARNOLD

Rating
* * * *



Performed by
UNNAMED ORCHESTRA
conducted by
NICHOLAS DODD

Orchestration
NICHOLAS DODD

Engineered by
DENNIS SANDS
Music Editor
LAURIE HIGGINS
Produced by
DAVID ARNOLD

Album running time
50:33

Released by
BMG CLASSICS
Catalog number
09026 68564 2

Album cover copyright (c) 1996 BMG Music; review copyright (c) 2006 James Southall

In some ways, Hollywood's nadir came in 1996 when the bloated, ridiculous, absurdly-bad Independence Day became an absolute smash-hit.  Insulting the intelligence of all but the most feral members of the audience, I've no idea how Roland Emmerich's overblown alien invasion movie did as well as it did, but sadly it ushered in a whole new era of films which thought throwing in shots of well-known landmarks was enough to keep audiences captivated - and they were probably right.

Undoubtedly its finest component was the music, by David Arnold, the British composer who was still not particularly well-known at the time, aside from his score for Emmerich's similarly-ridiculous Stargate.  Of course, since then he's gone on to Bond and various other projects, but has never done another epic score like this one, which is a pity, because if there's one thing bad films like this give the world, it's opportunities for composers to write grand, overblown music.

The score opens with a plaintive trumpet solo straight out of Dances with Wolves (via Legends of the Fall), but don't let that fool you - after that it's virtually non-stop action, with richly-orchestrated music hammering the listener over the head with just how grandiose everything is.  And it's a delight!  Melodic, based around a couple of great themes, it certainly recalls the swashbuckling scores of film music's golden age.  A track like "Evacuation" is so unsubtle it's just brilliant, with the whole orchestra playing as loud as possible, creating thrills which are genuine on album, even if they only serve to accentuate how fake everything is on-screen.  With the choir thrown in as well, it's virtually impossible not to be bowled over by how enthusiastic everything is.

There's plenty more to come, of course - the uber-patriotic "President's Speech"; the action-packed thrill-ride, "The Day We Fight Back"; and the incredible nine-minute end titles, which features the kind of trumpet part which makes lesser men pass out.  It's blissfully unsubtle, breathlessly exciting from start to end, and the orchestration is bright enough that it avoids the headache-inducing stupour that can be caused by scores like this.  Fifty minutes is the perfect length - any more, and it would surely outstay its welcome - and Arnold is unlikely to ever top this one.

Tracks

  1. 1969 - We Came In Peace (2:04)
  2. SETI Radio Signal (1:52)
  3. The Darkest Day (4:13)
  4. Cancelled Leave (1:45)
  5. Evacuation (5:47)
  6. Fire Storm (1:25)
  7. Aftermath (3:35)
  8. Base Attack (6:11)
  9. El Toro Destroyed (1:30)
  10. International Code (1:32)
  11. The President's Speech (3:10)
  12. The Day We Fight Back (4:58)
  13. Jolly Roger (3:15)
  14. End Titles (9:08)
    15.