On
July 2, a gigantic alien mothership enters orbit around Earth and
deploys several dozen saucer-shaped "destroyer" spacecraft, each 15
miles (24 km) in width. As the destroyers take positions over some of
Earth's major cities, David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), an MIT graduate
working for a cable company in New York City, discovers hidden
satellite transmissions which he believes to be a timer counting down
to a coordinated attack by the aliens. With the help of his ex-wife
Constance Spano (Margaret Colin), a White House employee, he and his
father Julius (Judd Hirsch) gain entrance into the Oval Office to warn
President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman) of the impending attack.
The President immediately orders large-scale evacuations of the
targeted cities, but the aliens attack with advanced directed-energy
weapons before these could occur. The President, portions of his staff,
and the Levinsons narrowly escape aboard Air Force One as the
destroyers simultaneously lay waste to Washington, D.C, New York City,
Los Angeles, and several other major cities around the world.
On July 3, the United States conducts a coordinated counterattack;
Black Knights, a squadron of Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornets participate in
an assault on a destroyer near the destroyed city of Los Angeles. Their
weapons fail to penetrate the craft's force field, and it responds by
releasing scores of smaller "attacker" ships which are similarly
shielded and armed with directed-energy weapons, and a one-sided
dogfight ensues. Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith) survives the attack
by luring a single attacker to the Grand Canyon. There, he blinds the
alien with the braking parachute on his jet and ejects just before
running out of fuel, causing both to crash in the desert. Having
parachuted to safety, he subdues the injured alien. Hiller is
subsequently picked up by Russell Casse (Randy Quaid), who is traveling
across the desert with a group of refugees in a convoy of RVs. They
take the captured alien to nearby Area 51, commanded by Major Mitchell
(Adam Baldwin), where the President and his remaining staff have also
landed. Here, it is shown that Area 51 conceals a top secret facility
housing a repaired attacker and three alien bodies recovered from
Roswell in 1947.
When lead scientist Dr. Brackish Okun (Brent Spiner) removes a
"bio-mechanical" suit from the alien, the specimen regains
consciousness, attempts escape, and takes control of Okun's mind,
presumably killing an examination crew in the process. When questioned
by President Whitmore, it reveals through a telepathic connection that
its species travels from planet to planet, destroying all life and
harvesting a planet's natural resources before moving on to the next
planet. The alien attempts a psychic attack against Whitmore, but is
killed by Whitmore's entourage. Whitmore orders a nuclear attack on all
of the destroyers using B-2 Spirit bombers; the first one to be hit is
the alien destroyer hovering over a deserted Houston, Texas, but this
too fails to penetrate the craft's shield and destroys the city
instead; as a result, the remaining bombers are called back.
On July 4, Levinson devises a plan to use the repaired attacker to gain
access to the interior of the alien mothership in space in order to
introduce a computer virus and plant a nuclear bomb on board. This, it
is hoped, will cause the shields of the Earth-based alien craft to fail
long enough for the human resistance to eliminate them. Hiller
volunteers to be the mission's pilot, with Levinson accompanying him to
upload the virus. With satellite communications knocked out, the
Americans use Morse code to coordinate an attack with the remaining
forces around the world, timed to occur when the invaders' shields are
set to fail. With not enough military pilots to man all available
aircraft, the battle requires several volunteers, including President
Whitmore and Russell, both of whom have previous combat flight
experience.
With the successful implantation of the virus, President Whitmore leads
the American jet fighters against an alien destroyer on approach to
Area 51. Although the aliens now lack shields, the fighters' supply of
missiles are quickly exhausted against the colossal craft and its large
complement of assault ships. The underside of the alien craft opens up
as its directed-energy weapon prepares to fire on the base. Russell
possesses the last remaining missile, but his firing mechanism jams;
changing his plan, he pilots his aircraft into the alien weapon in a
kamikaze attack. The ensuing explosion causes a chain reaction which
annihilates the ship. Using this same method, human resistance forces
around the world destroy the remainder of the alien ships and saving
several surviving major cities, while the nuclear device planted by
Hiller and Levinson destroys the alien mothership soon after the duo
escape. Hiller and Levinson return unharmed, crash-landing their
captured alien fighter in the desert close to Area 51. The world
celebrates, and the film ends as the main characters watch debris from
the mothership enter the atmosphere like fireworks.
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