Independence Day: Resurgence appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Overall, the image seemed satisfying.
For the most part, the movie exhibited good delineation. Though I thought some interiors could be a little soft, the film usually gave us solid sharpness. Neither jagged edges nor moiré effects appeared, and I saw no signs of edge haloes or print flaws.
To the surprise of no one, Resurgence provided a palette focused on orange and – especially – teal. These hues seemed uncreative but the movie depicted them in a positive manner. Blacks were dark and tight, while low-light shots offered appropriate clarity. The movie gave us a nice presentation.
Even better, the DTS-HD MA 7.1 soundtrack of Resurgence added a lot of kick to the proceedings. With all sorts of mayhem and action, the mix opened up to use all the channels on a frequent basis. These created a vivid soundscape that immersed us in the material to create an involving experience.
Audio quality seemed solid as well, so dialogue was natural and well-integrated. Music sounded bold and full, while effects packed a strong punch. These elements showed good definiton and contributed excellent low-end response. The soundtrack suited the story and added a lot to the tale.
The extras open with an audio commentary from director Roland Emmerich. He provides a running, screen-specific look at story and character issues, cast and performances, locations and sets, various effects and related topics.
Prior Emmerich commentaries tended to be dull, and this one seems no different. Emmerich often does little more than narrate the film, and the facts he provides usually lack much real depth or insight. Expect a slow, semi-tedious chat here.
Eight Deleted Scenes run a total of eight minutes, 24 seconds. In addition to an alternate opening, these clips tend to offer minor expansions of supporting characters – and we see the White House get destroyed again ala the first movie. Some offer minor moments of interest but I can’t claim any stand out as memorable.
We can view the scenes with or without commentary from Emmerich, as he gives us basics about the cut footage. He fails to add much.
A featurette called The War of 1996 fills five minutes, 11 seconds. It views the movie events as real and brings us up to date on what happened in the 20 years between movies. It acts as a nice way to fill in gaps left by Resurgence - I’d recommend that viewers watch “War” before they take in the feature film.
It’s Early, ABQ! goes for three minutes, seven seconds. A segment of a mock local TV chat show, the Julius character promotes his book. Fred Armisen plays the host, and both Judd Hirsch and Jeff Goldblum reprise their movie roles. “Early” offers a hoot and effective promotion – if Resurgence showed half the cleverness of “War” and “Early”, it would’ve been a much better film.
Next comes a 14-part documentary called Another Day: The Making of Independence Day: Resurgence. All together, the program fills a total of 55 minutes, 25 seconds and includes comments from Emmerich, Goldblum, Hirsch, producer/writer Dean Devlin, producer/composer Harald Kloser, co-producer/visual effects supervisor Volker Engel, production designer Barry Chusid, executive producers Larry Franco and Carston Lorenz, vehicle design art director Ron Mendell, art director Crista Monroe, special effects technician Allen Pike, art director Clint Wallace, writer Nicholas Wright, general foreman Joe Montenegro, director of photography Markus Forderer, and actors Bill Pullman, Liam Hemsworth, Brent Spiner, Jessie Usher, William Fichtner, Vivica A. Fox, Maika Monroe, DeObia Oparei, and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
“Day” examines the long path to a sequel, story/characters, cast and performances, set/production design, creatures and ships/technology, various effects, stunts and action. “Day” covers the production in a reasonable manner, but it lacks depth. The program feels more puffy/promotional than I’d like – we learn a fair amount about the flick but “Day” doesn’t use its running time as efficiently as I’d like.
A Gag Reel takes up six minutes, 14 seconds. Much of it shows the usual goofs/giggles, but it adds enough improv bits to become worth a look.
Under Concept Art, we get stills broken into five areas. These look at “Aliens” (69 stills), “AI” (8), “Humans” (35), “Locations” (18) and “Original Presentation Images” (17). These add up to a good collection of elements.
The disc opens with ads for Assassin’s Creed, Deadpool and X-Men: Apocalypse. We also get two trailers and a TV spot for Resurgence.
After 20 years, the Independence Day franchise returns with the proverbial whimper. Though a few scenes offer decent excitement, too much of the movie seems muddled and free from thrills. The Blu-ray brings us pretty good picture as well as excellent audio and a moderately informative set of supplements. I like the original film but Resurgence ends up as a definite disappointment.