Fourth of July movie time: Rotten Tomatoes tops Bill Pullman's most iconic movie

Independence Day, a 1996 blockbuster, is a must-watch for the Fourth of July.

The July Fourth weekend is finally here, and as you consider the BBQ and wait impatiently for the fireworks, now is also your chance to hit that popcorny classic that needs no introduction: Independence Day.

Celebrate the Fourth of July with Independence Day, a classic 1996 film about an alien invasion. (IMDB)

Released in 1996, Independence Day is one of those summer blockbusters that just doesn’t get old, especially around July 4, available on Disney+.

You haven’t seen it? Seriously? Here’s the gist: the world faces a full-blown alien invasion right before Independence Day. That sparks an epic team-up between US Marine Captain Steven Hiller, played by a young and wisecracking Will Smith, the President of the United States, Bill Pullman, and a brainy tech expert, Jeff Goldblum, along with a group of unlikely heroes determined to save Earth.

Independence Day blew up the box office

The movie was a massive box office hit, raking in $817.4 million on a budget of $75 million. That’s a serious bang for the buck. Critics were generally positive, with Rotten Tomatoes showing 68% of critics giving it a thumbs-up. But audiences were even more enthusiastic, scoring it 75%.

So, it's no wonder that Independence Day has also won a few classy awards, such as the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album of a Motion Picture.

Notably, twenty years later, in 2016, Independence Day: Resurgence, the sequel, dropped. It brought back familiar faces like Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum. Will Smith, however, was absent. According to the film’s director, Roland Emmerich, Smith was “too expensive.” But Smith had his own explanation, saying he had “scheduling conflicts” due to filming Suicide Squad.

However, the sequel didn’t come close; on Rotten Tomatoes, just 29% of critics gave it a positive review. The audience score wasn’t much better, sitting at a rough 30%.