Independence Day (1996)

Who will save the Earth after huge alien spacecraft demolish the Empire State Building, the White House, downtown Los Angeles and most of the world’s major cities? How about a brave Marine pilot (Will Smith), a brilliant cable TV technician (Jeff Goldblum), and the U.S. president (Bill Pullman), who must all work together to coordinate a daring offensive to stop the invasion on the 4th of July? The smash-hit mixture of sci-fi thrills and disaster movie dramatics also stars Robert Loggia, Margaret Colin, Vivica A. Fox, and Randy Quaid. 144 min. C/Rtg: PG-13

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

It’s been two decades since humanity defended itself against a devastating alien attack on July 4th--and now they’ll have to do it again. This time, scientist David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) and a group of gung-ho space pilots must defeat the extraterrestrial invaders, who’ve returned under the command of one of their queens with a plan to harvest fuel by drilling into the planet’s core. Liam Hemsworth, Jesse Usher, Maika Monroe, Sela Ward, Judd Hirsch, and Bill Pullman co-star in this exciting sci-fi sequel. 120 min. C/Rtg: PG-13