Independence Day

1996

Roland Emmerich's alien-invasion spectacle sends city-sized ships to hover over Earth's capitals before they open fire, leaving a fighter pilot, a cable engineer, and the President of the United States to mount a July 4 counterattack. Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, and Bill Pullman lead a cast that includes Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Randy Quaid, and Vivica A. Fox. It was the top-grossing film of 1996, won the Oscar for visual effects, and Pullman's rallying speech remains one of the most quoted in American movies.