July 5, 1996 -- The hype finally got to me.

I broke a couple of rules on this film. I let the hype get to me and I read somebody else's review before I went to see it.

The review was in rec.arts.movies.reviews. The guy, I forget who, one of the regulars, didn't like it, so my expectations were low. I was busy riding a B-17 bomber through Laramie's friendly skies when the movie opened on July 2, so I went to see it the first show the next day.

I expected big crowds. The former publisher of the newspaper I work for, Russ Allbaugh, had called about the big crowds (he lives near the theater) on the special "pre-opening night." Nationwide, the pre-opening crowds set a record. I got to the Fox Theatre a half hour early.

I ended up standing in line with a bunch of kids, waiting for the theater to open. I didn't mind that they were ahead of me, because I knew they'd be sitting down in the first row getting neck pains. It turned out that if I'd got there at 1 p.m. I would have been better off, because there wasn't much of a crowd after all.

It turns out to be a pretty good movie. It isn't great, but it is a rousing adventure with some funny lines thrown in for good measure.

There aren't any big stars in it, but there are some good actors just the same, guys like Bill Pullman ("While You Were Sleeping") as the President and Will Smith ("Six Degrees of Separation") as a fighter pilot, are talented young actors. It is always a pleasure to watch under appreciated veteran actors like Randy Quaid, who plays a drunken ex-Vietnam fighter pilot, and Judd Hirsch, who plays Jeff Goldblum's father (Goldblum plays the same scientist character he's been doing since "The Fly" and "Jurassic Park").

The plot, for those of you who somehow escaped the pervasive publicity on this film, is straight out of those 1950's B-grade science fiction films. Aliens invade the earth and humans must unite and fight back to survive. The story is very similar to the old H.G. Welles novel, "War of the Worlds."

What sets this film apart is the big scale of the story, the competent special effects and the ingenious solution to the alien invader's force field defense.

It is not a bad story and it is told well by director Roland Emmerich, but with better writing, a couple of stars and better special effects, this could have been in the class of "Star Wars" or "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

Don't get me wrong. This is a good film. It's ambitious and competently put together, but with a little more ambition, it could have been truly great. As it is, it rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy this movie in video and/or DVD format, the soundtrack, books, even used videos, games and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.