''Independence Daysaster'' is a 2013 Canadian

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

directed by W. D. Hogan and stars

Ryan Merriman Ryan Earl Merriman (born April 10, 1983) is an American actor. He began his career at the age of ten and has appeared in several feature films and television shows. He is best known for a handful of Disney Channel original movies and for portr ...

and

Tom Everett Scott Thomas Everett Scott (born September 7, 1970) is an American actor. His film work includes a starring role as drummer Guy Patterson in the film '' That Thing You Do!'', the protagonist in '' An American Werewolf in Paris'', and notable roles i ...

. The film premiered on June 27, 2013, on Syfy and was released on DVD on May 27, 2014. The film is a

mockbuster A mockbuster (also known as knockbuster or a drafting opportunity) is a film created to exploit the publicity of another major motion picture with a similar title or subject. Mockbusters are often made with a low budget and quick production to ma ...

of the 1996 film ''

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...

''.

Plot

In Moose Ridge,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

, Andrew Garsette, his two friends, Nick and Eliza, and his uncle Pete, a local firefighter, prepare to meet Andrew's father and Pete's brother,

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

Sam Garsette, who is coming home for the

Fourth of July Independence Day ( colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United State ...

celebrations. Sam approaches on

Marine One Marine One is the call sign of any United States Marine Corps aircraft carrying the president of the United States. It usually denotes a helicopter operated by Marine Helicopter Squadron One ( HMX-1) "Nighthawks", consisting of either the larg ...

, but it is unexpectedly rerouted to nearby Dixon Airbase. Meanwhile, SETI scientist Celia Layman is informed of a mysterious signal heading somewhere and being sent back. Suddenly, alien machines begin drilling through the surface from underground, and more alien machines shoot from the sky; both types of machine appear in various locations around the world. Pete convinces

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

agents to take the kids away while he attempts to help the townspeople. He finds Celia broken down on the side of the road and reluctantly agrees to take her into the town, but finds it destroyed and proposes heading to Dixon. Sam orders Vice President Dennis Brubaker and General Moore not to engage the ships without intel. However, Marine One is hit and crashes, leading Brubaker to presume Sam dead as he and Moore escape

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

before it is destroyed. Brubaker and Moore arrive at Dixon Airbase, where Brubaker is forced to take over the presidency. With the reluctant approval of base officer Spears, Brubaker authorizes an Air Force counterattack. Meanwhile, the Secret Service convoy is hit; the agents are killed and Nick is injured. Andrew, Eliza and Nick reunite with Pete and Celia; they witness a dogfight between aliens and fighter jets. The jets are easily decimated, whereas Pete manages to down one drone with Celia's

phonon In physics, a phonon is a collective excitation in a periodic, elastic arrangement of atoms or molecules in condensed matter, specifically in solids and some liquids. A type of quasiparticle, a phonon is an excited state in the quantum mechanical ...

-emitting device. They reach Dixon and attempt to get help, but when a large ship emerges, Nick is abducted and presumably killed. Pete and Celia discover that the device disables the aliens by disabling their connection with the alien mothership. They collect an alien battery, and witness more drones bringing wreckages back to the mothership. When another wave of aliens attacks them, the device, given more power by the battery, downs all of them with one pulse. Having survived his crash, Sam encounters Todd, a computer genius, who manages to contact Dixon with the help of his friend Leni, confirming Sam's survival to Brubaker, who reveals that the base's scientists have discovered the alien mothership near the moon. Sam again refuses to order an attack on it; the connection is disabled, and Brubaker authorizes a nuclear missile strike on the ship. However, the drones surrounding the ship intercept all the missiles. Moore realises that the drilling machines are emitting a gas that is fundamentally changing Earth's atmosphere; Earth will become uninhabitable to human life in days. Sam is found by Pete's group, and they devise a plan to defeat the aliens by letting a drone take the device up to the mothership and activate it with a satellite signal, disabling all the drones' connections. Sam then contacts Spears, as Dixon is attacked, ordering another missile strike, but Spears tells Sam that missiles can now only be launched from the silos directly, before she, Moore and Brubaker are killed. En route to a nearby satellite base, they are attacked again. Celia sacrifices herself, allowing the drone to take the device to the ship. Sam contacts a team of Army Rangers and orders them to launch the missiles. As the missiles are launched, Andrew, Eliza, Todd and Leni attempt to send the signal, but it is cut by another alien ambush. Pete manages to destroy it by igniting his truck's fuel with a Roman candle and repair the lines, allowing the kids to resend the signal. When the missiles approach the ship, most of them are again intercepted by drones, but the remaining ones are disabled when the signal successfully activates the device, allowing one missile to reach and destroy the ship. The ship's destruction resembles a giant firework explosion. The film ends with a larger alien fleet approaching Earth.

Cast

as Pete Garsette *

Andrea Brooks Andrea K. Brooks (born March 3, 1989) is a Canadian actress and model best known for portraying Faith Carter on the Hallmark series '' When Calls the Heart'' and Eve Teschmacher in The CW series ''Supergirl''. Early life Born in Brantford, Ont ...

as Eliza * Emily Holmes as Celia Leyman * Keenan Tracey as Andrew Garsette *

Garwin Sanford Garwin Sanford (born 14 March 1955) is a Canadian film and television actor known for his roles on ''Stargate SG-1'' and ''Stargate Atlantis''. Career Sanford's most notable roles are Narim in ''Stargate SG-1'' and Simon Wallace in ''Stargate ...

as Dennis Brubaker *

Michael Kopsa Michael Kopsa (January 22, 1956 – October 23, 2022) was a Canadian actor. Kopsa was best known for his role as Char Aznable in the English dub of ''Mobile Suit Gundam'' and for his role as Commander Volcott O'Huey in ''Galaxy Angel''. He al ...

as General Moore * Jill Teed as Spears *

as Sam Garsette

References

External links

* * {{ID4 Independence Day 2013 television films 2013 films 2013 science fiction action films Alien invasions in films Canadian science fiction action films 2013 independent films Canadian independent films Canadian science fiction television films English-language Canadian films Films set in Oregon Films set in Washington, D.C. Independence Day (United States) films CineTel Films films Syfy original films Mockbuster films 2010s English-language films Films directed by W. D. Hogan 2010s American films 2010s Canadian films