Synopsis for
Independence Day (1996) More at IMDbPro »

On July 2, a giant alien mothership enters orbit around Earth and deploys several dozen saucer-shaped "destroyer" spacecraft, each 15 miles (24 km) in width. As the destroyers take positions over some of Earth's major cities, David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), an MIT-graduate working for a cable company in New York City, discovers hidden satellite transmissions which he believes is 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 staffer, David 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 immediately orders large-scale evacuations of the targeted cities, but the aliens attack with advanced directed energy weapons before these could occur. The President, portions of his staff, and the Levinsons narrowly escape aboard Air Force One as a destroyer lays waste to Washington D.C.

One of the alien ships uses force fields to fend off missiles fired from American aircraft. On July 3, the United States conducts a coordinated counterattack; the movie follows the Black Knights, a squadron of Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornets, as they participate in an assault on a destroyer near the destroyed city of Los Angeles. Their weapons fail to penetrate the craft's force field, and it responds by releasing scores of smaller "attacker" ships which are similarly shielded and armed with directed-energy weapons, and a one-sided dogfight ensues. Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith) manages to survive the attack by luring a single attacker to the Grand Canyon. There, he blinds the alien with the braking parachute on his jet and ejects just before running out of fuel. Having parachuted to safety, he subdues the injured alien. Hiller is picked up by Russell Casse (Randy Quaid), traveling across the desert with a group of refugees in a convoy of RVs. From there they take the captured alien to Area 51, commanded by Major Mitchell (Adam Baldwin), where the President and his remaining staff landed. This 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) removes a "bio-mechanical" suit from the alien, the specimen regains consciousness. It attempts escape and takes control of Okun's mind, killing an examination crew in process. When questioned by President Whitmore, it reveals 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 on all of the destroyers using B-2 Spirit bombers; the first one hit is the alien destroyer hovering over a deserted Houston, but this too fails to penetrate the craft's shield and destroys the city instead; as a result, the remaining bombers were called back.

By the time Hiller and President Whitmore learn there are survivors of the alien attacks, it's too late for them to help one person in particular: the First Lady, Marilyn Whitmore (Mary McDonnell). She has been rushed to a hospital by dies as a result of injuries after the helicopter she was trying to escape in crashes. Jasmine (Vivica A. Fox), the woman Hiller is involved with, has better luck. She survives, shaken, but relatively unharmed.

Once Whitmore returns to Area 51, he fires Secretary of Defense Nimzicki (James Rebhorn).

The alien fighter approaches the mothership. On July 4, Levinson devises a plan to use the repaired 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 American jet fighters against an alien destroyer on approach to Area 51. Although the aliens now lack 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 directed energy weapon prepares to fire on the base. Russell possesses the last remaining missile, but his firing mechanism jams; he decides to pilot his aircraft into the alien weapon in a kamikaze attack. The explosion causes a chain reaction which 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 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.