▶ JustWatch
Currently available to stream, rent, or buy. JustWatch helps you easily find where you can legally watch your favorite movies and TV shows online.
Rent
Buy
20 years after defeating the aliens who invaded the Earth, the world is almost a Utopia wherein technology taken from the aliens have made the planet a paradise. They built a base on the moon. And just as the anniversary is approaching, strange things are happening. President Whitmore who led the attack on the aliens 20 years ago is acting strangely and is drawing some strange symbols. David Levinson the man who figured out how to defeat the aliens travels to Africa to inspect one of the alien ships that crashed. The leader who is on possession of the craft, takes Levinson and they discover they sent a distress signal before it went down and apparently it was drilling through the Earth's core. The leader is also drawing the same things that Whitmore is. At Area 51, Dr. Okun who fell into a coma 20 years after being attacked telepathically by an alien wakes up and starts drawing the same thing Whitmore is. Whitmore tries to warn everyone that the aliens are returning. And sure enough a space craft appears just near the moon. The ship is different from the aliens'. The President is being advised to shoot it down but Levinson doesn't think they should. The President gives the order and shoots it down. Levinson wants to go to the moon but the President wants him to attend the anniversary celebration. Levinson asks Whitmore's daughter to ask her boyfriend who is among the ones at the moon base to pick him up. They go to the moon and he inspects the craft and finds something. He takes it and brings it to Area 51. At the same time an alien ship like the one who attacked the planet 20 years ago shows up and attacks the planet. Levinson arrives at Area 51 and gives the thing to Okun. Whitmore arrives and along with Okun and the African, they compare notes and they deduce why the aliens came to Earth 20 years ago. And now they are back to finish the job.
Other Movies in the Series
Audience Reviews
Rate and Review
Roland Emmerich's 2016 sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence, attempts to reignite the nostalgic blockbuster magic of the 1996 original. Set two decades after the initial invasion, humanity has integrated reverse-engineered alien technology to build an advanced global defense network. However, the extraterrestrial threat returns with an even more gigantic fleet targeting Earth's core. While the film strictly adheres to the "bigger, louder, and more CGI-heavy" Hollywood formula, it fails to capture the warmth, urgency, and pop-culture charm that made its predecessor an iconic classic. The absence of Will Smith leaves a glaring void in star power and charisma. Although Liam Hemsworth and a new group of younger pilots attempt to bring fresh energy to the narrative, their characters suffer from shallow writing and lack emotional resonance. Returning veterans like Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman offer a pleasant dose of nostalgia, but they are ultimately bogged down by a formulaic script and predictable plot points. While the visual scale of destruction is undeniably massive, in an era saturated with digital effects, the spectacle lacks real weight and awe. Ultimately, Independence Day: Resurgence delivers passable popcorn action, but stands as a textbook example of a sequel relying on scale rather than narrative substance.