No one can argue that Hollywood has been trending upward in recent years. Costs of production are skyrocketing, movie stars are being rewarded $10-20 million per picture, and big-hype marketing has replaced quality as the best way to get warm bodies to the theater. You want huge hype? How about blowing up the White House during an election year? Independence Day endeared itself to the American populace simply by including this brief shot in the trailer. Judging by the enthusiastic response of the audience, the action could have stopped there and still been considered a success. But that kind of hype has become a necessary element in the Hollywood machine. How can a film turn a profit when suffering under the weight of ludicrous star salaries and bloated marketing costs? These types of films must appeal to everyone. No exceptions.

Consider this: the studio also marketed this movie as ID4. Never mind that, when uncontracted, Independence Day Four has no particular meaning. It serves the same purpose that T2 did in 1991, when Terminator 2 was sold using that title. It's easier to chant, easier to yell, easier for kids to pronounce when begging for toys, and easier to translate when the film is dubbed and sold overseas. And that's what this is all about: selling tickets.

You have to see this movie. You have no choice. In all sincerity, I urge you to spend your dough on a ticket. It is skillfully constructed and truly suspenseful, and with plenty of belly laughs and crowd-pleasing performances to keep you on your toes. You will be blown away, and you will have a good time. I have no qualms with this film as a two-hour diversion from reality, but I am staggered by the calculated marketing techniques and, more importantly, by the what-you-see-is-what-you-get nature of ID4 as a text.

The disturbing message behind this film is that there is no message. If you're looking for subtext, check out a science-fiction film from a previous generation. 2001: A Space Oddysey, Star Wars, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and E.T. were all vehicles for philosophy, but this no longer seems to be a concern. A line has been crossed. Last year's blockbuster Apollo 13 was also a space flick, but remember -- it's a nonfiction period film. The fact that ID4 is about aliens is almost incidental. This is a war film, plain and simple, with all the same pretty explosions and fervent patriotism that have been a part of that genre since it was invented. This time, however, there is an important difference. For once, all beings who walk the planet can leave the theater feeling like they were on the winning side. We have a tendency to root for the underdog, but how many of us can really empathize with Rocky, or Luke Skywalker, or Forrest Gump? It's hard to do, yet those characters were able to captivate huge audiences. A few dozen characters are introduced in the opening ten minutes of ID4. On the first viewing, you can't keep track of the masses (it seems that the filmmakers assume that we will buy the video and watch it repeatedly -- they're probably right) and that's all part of the marketing device. The good guys are on the big screen, sure, but in the long run, the action includes everyone in the target audience. How shrewd is that?

Independence Day will not be an influential picture. Sure, you will see copycat flicks in the theaters for the next few years, but those pictures will be made for purely economic reasons. There could be a sequel (all those aliens in the crashed spaceships are still alive, aren't they?) but what could it accomplish? This movie is an endpoint in the history of film -- a big, noisy, glitzy, shameless distillation of all that has come before it. What can you do for an encore after the world has been destroyed?