AHC: Prevent the Independence Day Sequel from Being Garbage

Greenville

Banned
Your challenge is to prevent a sequel or the sequel to 1996's Independence Day from being poorly made and received and into a much larger success.
 

samcster94

Banned
Well, get a different director and a couple of decent writers and make it in the 1999-2004 timeframe.
It'd not be great but it probably would be better.
 

James G

Gone Fishin'
Have someone who can spell the world plausible there early in the production. I walked out of this film; I haven't done that since Spiderman 2 sometime back in the mid 00s.
 
I didn't see the movie itself, but I read a couple of comment's online that it like watching a feature length trailer for part 3.
 
How bad is it? I did not watched it yet


The original one is at least plausible, but the sequel is basically the live action version of a children's Saturday morning cartoon.

Would Will Smith actually being in it improve it at all, or improve Smith's career? It's in kind of a slump at the moment, but I doubt that the OTL sequel would have done him any favours, so it's just as well that he passed on it.
 
Just do not make a sequel. I will admit to watching part 2 out of curiosity. It was just bad. Almost as bad as Suicide Squad. Both bored late night HBO issues.
 

Greenville

Banned
I'll make my own attempt at fixing this film now. However, I like the idea more of having a spin-off sequel instead where aliens who survive the downing of one of the city destroyers would fight humans.

Buy anyway, the script was horrible overall. Too many subplots characters existed. The CGI effects destroyed the film. One of the things which made me the most angry was the soundtrack from the original film was not used almost at all. The ship that came and attack force was too large to me for Earth to successfully deal with. The humans didn't have much of an attack force or plan to resist when the second invasion did arrive. The second species of an alien should not have been a plot element either or humans chasing the invaders back into space.

I will not attempt to repair the story of this film, but replace it. Main characters returning will be fine. David Levinson is still the head of Earth Space Defense. His father has died of old age, however, Connie Levinson who serves in the cabinet of the new president, another female does return. President Whitemore retired after being reelected and still has nightmares of the telepathic attack. His daughter cares for him full-time at their home near Washington D.C. Will Smith's character does return and is a wing commander in the ESD. His son Dylan Hiller is also a pilot serving in the ESD. Wife Jasmine remains a stay at home mother.

Humanity has rebuilt mostly in the wake of the alien attack from 1996 or is in the process of it when the second invasion takes place. There will be no anniversary mentions either. Most technology has been reverse engineered with success after the invasion. Only about a billion humans were killed in 1996, not half of the world's population as OTL. ESD has established massive defenses with millions of soldiers and pilots in its counterforce, not a few hundred like OTL. It has orbital defenses and cannons. Defense stations exist in all major areas of the solar system from the Moon, Mars, the moons of Saturn, and outer edge in the Oort Cloud. They probably have even been building a craft to be used in the event of a planetary evacuation to ensure humanity survives in the event of another attack. Now to the plot.

The first mothership from 1996 did send a distress signal to other members of the fleet as OTL. Another craft does receive it and begins heading towards Earth. It probably has no queen, however. On Earth, President Whitmore and a few others have visions of more aliens coming and try to warn others. Few believe him and see it as dementia for an aging president instead, however. In this timeline after the first invasion, all of the city destroyer craft were eventually destroyed and downed. Few aliens remain and are imprisoned. Humanity has been able to learn from interrogations and research from the first wave that the aliens came not to drill for the core but invade and colonize the planet using its natural resources. Wreckage does cover the planet, but there are no larger ships which could turn on.

At his office on the Moon, Levinson is contacted by field agents for ESD in Asia who have received reports of strange electronic activity in the downed ships from the first invasion. While ignoring this as significant, Levinson is urged to find transport and head to the location. Upon arriving there, it's discovered crashed fighters left intact from the first invasion have fully reactivated from another power source, presumably another mothership in close proximity to Earth. Using what they know of the languages, they discover that indeed a distress signal was sent five years (or whenever) earlier upon the destruction of the mothership. Levinson contacts the new president with these findings who alongside other world leaders put ESD forces on full alert across the solar system. Emergency alert status is placed. However, many times in the past drills and false alarms have been raised, which makes som cynical in the cabinet. Levinson himself reports to Washington D.C. to report the findings in more detail to the president.

Returning to Thomas Whitmore, who is having more intense visions tries to get in contact with the White House to confirm the similar news to what Levinson has warned about. In fact, the psychic phenomenon takes place through the world in a strange epidemic mocked by the world media and the general public.

However, out on the Mars base, we reunite with Commander Hiller who is overseeing the training of ESD recruits. Contact between stations has been lost with that out in the Ort Cloud. Tensions are high as no one is sure if this is simply a malfunction, interference, or the beginning of another attack. Hiller and a task force volunteer to scout a visual of the occurrence. News reports of loss of the loss of contact with the station and ESD high alert status begin to circulate globe and cause panic. Many as in the first film flee cities in mass and arm themselves for a potential second attack.

Soon in space, the electrical problems continue to spread to the surface of Earth as well. As Commander Hiller reaches the facility in the Ort Cloud he reports back to Mars command station that there is no visual on the ESD facility there. It's like it was simply erased. In response, the Mars station becomes staticky as sounds of chaos and an impending attack sound. Hiller and his force return at a high rate of speed to Mars facility. All ESD forces in all sectors prepare for incoming. Even higher levels of the panic strike the surface of Earth, world leaders and the general public are evacuated into massive systems of shelters built in the wake of the first invasion. Earth has prepared for a second attack. Levinson is rerouted from Washington to his own specially prepared bunker leaving behind Connie his wife and son. President Whitemore shelters in place with the general public as well.

Shortly after, Captain Hiller appears over the Mars space battle between alien and ESD fighters. Most of it is in wreckage until he joins in the battle. The dust of Martian soil and heavy smoke from the attack blot out visuals of the scale of the new invading force. It is indeed a new mothership, larger than the last one, but only a few times larger, not the size of the Atlantic Ocean. A heavy warship of some kind. During this very intense battle, most ESD fighters are shot down and the facility there destroyed. Hiller retreats with surviving forces order to gather for a defense of Earth itself.

Indeed this battle takes place, tens of thousands of ESD fighters are gathered in preparation for the new ship to come over the Moon. Orbital batters are also in place for the attack. As before, the mothership appears out of hyperspace and is immediately assaulted when this attack occurs. The Moon installation is destroyed. Dogfights with the newer alien craft destroy most of the ESD forces and orbital batteries that do fire but can't penetrate the shields set up by the massive craft. ESD forces retreat to fall back positions on the planet. Massive evacuations of Earth to other parts of the solar system are being organized and prepared. The new mothership positions itself in orbit. It doesn't hook onto the planet like OTL.

Larger armaments on this craft are able to target every major city on the planet in only a few sequences. They fire. From space, in Captain Hiller's ship and remaining orbital defenses, we can see the carnage of another fiery attack wiping out billions of human inhabitants in a matter of minutes. What took the previous city destroyers in the last invasion days to accomplish is done much faster in the second wave. It can also do this straight from orbit. Evacuation transports trying to leave Earth are also consumed in the attack. This is the end of Day 1 of the attack.

During Day 2, Hiller retreats to an ESD base in North America. No one is sure what this newer ship intends to do after this assault. From the now orbital craft, thousands of smaller destroyers carrying what will be landing parties for a ground invasion to eliminate remaining resistance on the planet begin to arrive all at once. Millions of alien soldiers and armor units, probably in large mechs even will purge the planet of humans and prepare it for colonization. These ships arrive in various places around the planet, the ruins of major cities, oceans, rurally isolated areas, and more. Ground units such as armored mechs depart and begin eliminating any of the human population seen around them. Armed skirmishes between naval vessels, ESD air combat forces, and armored ones on the land engage in battle. President Whitemore helps fight invading forces in the countryside of Virginia. Commander Hiller fights attack forces. He, Jasmine, and Dylan are separated from one another as are Connie and Levinson. ESD forces cannot repel the alien invaders who themselves have shields.

At central command base for ESD, buried a few miles beneath the Earth's surface chaos reigns. The American president now meeting in person with Director Levinson and the surviving members of her military leadership and cabinet. No one can seem to determine a solution as millions of people literally die every hour action is not taken. ESD looks at what research projects have managed to be used in the wake of the first invasion for such an attack. Most of the research cannot be accessed due to losses in communication. However, one thing can be, a weapon which could replicate the mind wave patterns used in telepathic attacks by the aliens. Experiments done years earlier on captured aliens from the first invasion showed it useful as something that could stun or even destroy the aliens. However, the device actually used for it is located thousands of miles away in a secured facility. A heavily armed escort would be needed to acquire and activate this weapon. It's determined that even if the device were usable, it could only act as a distraction in what could be a much larger attack. A plan is organized to retrieve the device and use it as a means send the second party aboard the mothership orbiting the planet and somehow destroy it there.

As this is being planned, however, the facility is discovered by invading alien forces which are able to dig down and eliminate most of the inhabitants. The president, Levinson, and only a small group of the task force are able to escape alive. The president will have to take part in this mission now herself as well. The task forces manage to make it past further forces in the air and lose track of the alien forces. They locate the storage facility for the telepathic device but come under heavy fire during the recovery mission.

Meanwhile, nearby Commander and Captain Hiller are close enough to hear this distress signal to ESD forces and respond. They provide cover long enough for the device to be retrieved successfully and the evacuation to take place. All parties involved retreat to the ESD base where Commander Hiller managed to be stationed. From there, Levinson and Hiller reunite after many years apart. The device is readied by researchers at the facility and plans are put into place to use attempt to use it behind enemy lines as a distraction. If it works, the president will authorize a mission to attack the mothership with it. A location is chosen, the device is used on some alien ground forces attacking a city and manages to stun and even kill some of the attackers. Day 2 ends with this revelation.

Day 3 begins with communication between surviving world military forces to plan an assault designed to be a distraction that could be used to attack the mothership. ESD forces distribute the devices covertly between surviving forces to be used in a joint attack. One of these forces commander by Hiller will be used to send a small force behind the shields of the mothership and attack it directly. In the time since the first invasion, ESD has managed to learn enough about the schematics of the previous invasion force to learn where the gravitational and shield operations of the craft originated from. The plan is to disarm gravitational controls of the ship, cause it to depressurize and kill all the lifeforms aboard. There is little risk the craft will lose orbit and crash onto the planet below. Those on the ground will serve as a distraction for the mission. President Whitmore even reunites with these missions and helps take part. The joint attack is launched and able enough to halt the advancing of alien ground forces. Hiller's mission into the mothership is able to disable a small area its shield long enough to penetrate into the interior. As the mission advances the device's frequency holds back any incoming craft or are destroyed by the armed escort. Eventually, the gravitational and life support controls of the ship are disabled. Controlled explosives used by drone or escort craft manage to puncture holes in the craft and cause it to depressurize in a massive implosion. Loss of the atmosphere inside the ship and exposure to radiation causes most of the aliens inside to be killed in the depressurization. It's enough to rip the craft apart and cause it to lose full shield in the breakup. Invading forces on the ground are scattered because of the loss of communication.

On the ground, land forces are able to take the initiative over aliens on the ground. Surviving orbital defense units are even reactivated and specifically focused on targeting the invaders. The same is true to further burn apart the hull of the mothership and eliminate the remaining resistance. After several days of combined efforts, almost all of the ground forces are eliminated thanks to the mission. The remains of the mothership eventually crash into the surface of the moon as planned or burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. Humans are able to celebrate this victory as well because of the failed invasion.
 
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Greenville

Banned
A spin-off sequel probably makes more sense though also. One of the crashed destroyers has a population of aliens surviving in it with all kinds of weapons. Let's say one of them crashes down in a jungle environment also elsewhere with terrain easy to hide in. Ground forces are sent in to kill or capture any of the aliens left before they can flee to nearby population centers and take more lives. The battle it out using all military forces available even going the wreckage of the destroyed ships until the mission is accomplished.
 

Now this would be a much better sequel.

I tried to like Independence Day: Resurgence. The original is my favorite movie. But I always believed that the sequel would fail to live up to the original, so I never had high or even medium expectations for it. The sequel has a few likable elements, but for the most part it was a disappointment. My low expectations were too high. I was also annoyed by the sheer implausibility of its plot and the stupid decisions made by many of the humans. Granted, the original wasn't totally free of those things. But Resurgence, in retrospect, actually hurt my brain.
 
Just do not make a sequel. I will admit to watching part 2 out of curiosity. It was just bad. Almost as bad as Suicide Squad. Both bored late night HBO issues.
Yeah, the first was fine as is. There was no need for a sequel. In fact, I'd have just preferred if they made a reboot/remake rather than a sequel.
 
The original one is at least plausible, but the sequel is basically the live action version of a children's Saturday morning cartoon.

Would Will Smith actually being in it improve it at all, or improve Smith's career? It's in kind of a slump at the moment, but I doubt that the OTL sequel would have done him any favours, so it's just as well that he passed on it.

I, I, I, what? I suppose it's plausible if you think it's reasonable that the alien computers were using an Apple operating system.
 
I, I, I, what? I suppose it's plausible if you think it's reasonable that the alien computers were using an Apple operating system.

I guess the part where mankind recovers makes sense. I'm pretty sure we'd be fucked after a ship the size of Africa smashed into us :/
 
I guess the part where mankind recovers makes sense. I'm pretty sure we'd be fucked after a ship the size of Africa smashed into us :/

Why did it stop? If it needed the core why not just smash into Earth at full speed and pick up the core without problem.
 
Make it before 2001 at the very least, strike while the iron is hot. The movie could have only worked in that very specific optimistic Clinton era. Watching Resurgence in 2016 was just embarrassing, it was like Emmerich was about to walk on screen and start going "EH EH REMEMBER THIS IN 1996? I SURE DO" although with that said, watching the Burj Khalifa smash into London was pretty fantastic. And for the love of god, drive a dump truck full of money to Will Smith's house and make him do it, having Jeff Goldblum back was great but part of the first movies cheesy charm was the chemistry they shared
 

samcster94

Banned
Make it before 2001 at the very least, strike while the iron is hot. The movie could have only worked in that very specific optimistic Clinton era. Watching Resurgence in 2016 was just embarrassing, it was like Emmerich was about to walk on screen and start going "EH EH REMEMBER THIS IN 1996? I SURE DO" although with that said, watching the Burj Khalifa smash into London was pretty fantastic. And for the love of god, drive a dump truck full of money to Will Smith's house and make him do it, having Jeff Goldblum back was great but part of the first movies cheesy charm was the chemistry they shared
Exactly. Likewise, something as grim as Logan (well made) would not have worked then.
 
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