Independence Day/Best scene/Roland Emmerich/Bill Pullman/Randy Quaid/Adam Baldwin/James Duval

On July 2, 1996, an enormous mothership orbits around Earth, deploying assault fortress saucers, each with a fifteen-mile radius, that take positions over Earth's major cities. David Levinson, an MIT-trained satellite technician, decodes a signal embedded within global satellite transmissions, realizing it is the aliens' countdown timer for a coordinated attack. With help from his ex-wife, White House Communications Director Constance Spano, David and his father Julius gain access to the Oval Office and alert President Thomas Whitmore to the threat. Whitmore orders evacuations of New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., but it is too late. The saucers fire destructive beams, causing massive explosions that kill millions. Whitmore, the Levinsons, and a few others narrowly escape aboard Air Force One as the capital is destroyed, along with the other locations over which the city-destroying warships are positioned.

On July 3, counterattacks against the alien invaders begin worldwide, but their warships are shielded by force fields. Each saucer launches a swarm of attack fighters with their own shields as well, which decimate the human fighter squadrons and military bases. Captain Steven Hiller, one of the mission's squadron leaders with the United States Marine Corps based out of El Toro, survives by luring his attacker to the enclosed spaces of the Grand Canyon before ejecting from his plane safely, causing the enemy fighter to crash-land. He subdues the downed alien and flags down a convoy of refugees, hitching a ride with former combat pilot Russell Casse. They transport the unconscious alien to Area 51, where Whitmore's group has landed. Secretary of Defense Albert Nimzicki has revealed that a faction of the government has been involved in a UFO conspiracy since 1947, when one of the invaders' attack fighters crashed in Roswell. Area 51 houses the now-refurbished alien fighter, and three alien corpses recovered from the crash. As scientist Dr. Brackish Okun examines the alien captured by Steven, it regains consciousness and attacks, telepathically invading Okun's mind and killing other personnel. It uses Okun's vocal cords to communicate before launching a psychic attack against Whitmore. After Secret Service agents and military personnel kill the alien, Whitmore reveals what he learned when they were linked: the invaders plan to strip Earth of natural resources. He reluctantly authorizes a nuclear attack against one warship situated above Houston as a trial, but it remains intact. Meanwhile, Steven's fiancée Jasmine Dubrow and her son, having survived the destruction of Los Angeles, rescue other survivors, including the critically injured First Lady, Marilyn. Though they are later found by Steven and taken to Area 51, Marilyn dies shortly after being reunited with her family.

On July 4, David writes a computer virus as a means to deactivate the aliens' shields, and devises a plan to do this by uploading it into the mothership from the refurbished alien fighter, which Steven volunteers to pilot. The U.S. military contacts surviving airborne squadrons around the world through Morse code to organize a united counter-offense against the aliens. With military pilots in short supply, Whitmore enlists the help of volunteers with flight experience, including Russell, to fly the remaining jets at Area 51; and leads an attack on a warship bearing down on the base. Entering the mothership, Steven and David upload the virus and deploy a nuclear missile on board, nullifying the aliens' communications system and reinforcements followed by its obliteration. With the aliens' shields deactivated, Whitmore's squadron is able to combat the enemy fighters, but their ammunition is exhausted before they can destroy the saucer. As it prepares to fire on the base, Russell has one last missile, but is unable to fire due to a launcher malfunction; he sacrifices his own life by crashing his jet with the missile into the saucer's weapon, which destroys the warship completely. Human military forces worldwide are notified of the alien ships' critical point and successfully destroy the others. As humanity is rejoicing in victory, Steven and David return to Area 51 unharmed and reunite with their families.

[valdoalmeida]

Bill Pullman's "Let's plow the road!" remains, for me, the best one liner ever.

[Knytes]

"Alright, boys, let's give Mr. Casse some cover!...Gentleman, let's plow the road!"

Still one of my favorite movie lines ever.

[Shadow-Walker-]

He went from a drunk and an embarrassment to his children to an unsung hero to the world. May you fly with the Valkyries my friend

[marshallbataluna]

Best line in movie history. “Hello boys im

[chefchris]

I remember watching this in theaters and the whole theater just cheered when you hear “Sorry I’m late Mr. President.”

[TheDarkarrow]

“Do me a favor, tell my children I love them very much.”……That part still brings tears to my eyes 🥺❤️

[BuckyMac]

“What your father did was very brave, you should be proud of him”

“I am”
That had me crying

[arielmorales]

This was such a powerful scene. The fact that everyone was terrified about the alien weapon and the uncertainty of the continuity of human race and then comes Russell he goes psycho mode histerically laughing and mocking the aliens, confident he is determined to anihiliate them forever with the weapon he is carrying. Wow.

[jerseyheller]

Russell Case would deserve a Medal of Honor for making the ultimate sacrifice for his family and country.

[KaraRocknRoll]

“He did it! The son of a bitch did it!” I don’t think there would have been a more perfect line. Bill Pullman put so much passion and thrill in that line. The part he looks back a second time to me is his way of saying “Thank you for your sacrifice Mr. Case.”

[EdricLysharae]

Ahh 90's American feel-good action films... We were so innocent back then.

[petersmithyy]

Man they don't make movies like this anymore.

[pitbulkid]

Russell Casse dragged with him dead Aliens to the afterlife...😂😂😂
Bad-ass Hero...😂😂😂

[pauldickinson]

"Dude... like... holy shit."
- Residents of Valhalla upon Russell's arrival

[logicaldude]

It gives me chills whenever I hear him say, "I've got tone..."

The music and everything at stake is just perfect.

[artlexxgames]

I still have tears in the eyes with this scene everytime I watch it.. "tell my children I love them very much".. damn...

[kikesan]

It's been around 25 years since I first saw this epic scene at the theater and I still get the chills. Absolutely awesome!!! A big cause why ID Resurgence was a failure was the fact that they completely forgot about Russell Case in the sequel. That's nonsense since his brave action changed the course of the war and saved the whole planet.

[fRotLop]

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13)

[Doinstuffman]

"Hello, boys... I'm

One of the greatest one-liners in film.

[Demanacus]

You can actually see how his face went from frustration to the jammed missle to a face of sadness when he knew what to do