The cast is largely considered untouchable; Sharon Stone and The performer transcribed as DeMorne (identity unresolved) are proposed for Lynette, with continued admiration for Lisa Blount. — Bill Simmons
A later-era Denzel Washington is proposed as an especially strong Foley, explicitly outside the original casting period. — Bill Simmons
Denzel's military filmography is recalled in support of the hypothetical Foley casting; A Soldier's Story and Adolph Caesar's sergeant are praised. — Bill Simmons
Cousin Eddie is an all-time heat check and obvious winner, with a suggestion that the award could be named for him; the white-shoes gift is remembered fondly. — Bill Simmons
What America looks like afterward; should Margaret Colin's character end up with Pullman; did the movie invent computer viruses; did Randy Quaid become his character
The big unanswerable question: what is left to be president of afterward, and how fast can America be propped up again. — Chris Ryan
With three major cities lost, Dallas or Chicago might become the alpha city, Chicago might be upset it got no ship, and the Dallas Cowboys come out unscathed. — Bill Simmons
Should Margaret Colin's character have ended up with Pullman rather than Goldblum and his weird dad? — Bill Simmons
Did this movie invent computer viruses? Probably not; popularized them, maybe. — Bill Simmons
Did Randy Quaid become the character in real life, with method acting making something snap? The performance is floated as the trigger. — Bill Simmons
No other unanswerable questions are offered. — Bill Simmons
The idea came while Emmerich promoted Stargate: asked about aliens, he imagined waking to a 15-mile-wide spaceship and told Devlin it was their next movie. — Bill Simmons
The U.S. military was originally involved and bowed out, apparently over Area 51. — Bill Simmons
There were 3,000-plus effects shots, with models such as a 10-by-5-foot White House blown up; the White House interior set was reused from The American President and Nixon. — Bill Simmons
In a game naming the six Oscar nominees in the cast, Will Smith and Pullman are named first. — Shea Serrano
Robert Loggia was told to watch Airplane instead of Airport, thought they were secretly making a spoof and refused to leave his trailer. — Bill Simmons
Bad rip-offs; Randy Quaid's real-life weirdness; the sequel without Will Smith; Super Bowl blockbuster ads; the Miguel character; the Quaid kids subplot
Bad Independence Day rip-offs such as Volcano, and its influence on culture has probably not been positive; care is urged because Shea likes these movies, down to Lake Placid and Anaconda. — Bill Simmons
A run of blow-up movies followed, including Godzilla. — Bill Simmons
Independence Day 2 without Will Smith has no acceptable explanation; they recast Pullman's daughter instead of using the original actress and should have waited Smith out after his $50 million ask and conflicts with Suicide Squad and After Earth.
The sequel is compared to a Duncan-era Spurs sequel without Duncan. — Bill Simmons
The movie is blamed for the trend of Super Bowl blockbuster ads, starting with a $1.3 million spot in Super Bowl 30, part of a $30 million campaign with product placement, toys, an Apple deal, strong trailers and an early limited release. — Bill Simmons
Miguel, played by James Duval, is a bad Keanu Reeves rip-off; the Randy Quaid kid material, such as the car-sick scene and the disappearing daughter, would be cut, keeping only the scene where he is mocked. — Bill Simmons
Better Miguels exist, including in Kobra Kai. — Bill Simmons
Area 51 and UFOs; the alien drag; the sky-staring gag; the loaded cast; the 'better be good' official; 1990s effects; Nimziki; the first-to-know character; Goldblum-Smith improv; the title
Margaret Colin's career did not happen the way it should have; she was on Chicago Hope, which lost the medical-drama race to ER, and she is good here and in Unfaithful. — Bill Simmons
The film perfected the aggrieved official who says "this better be good" after being woken up, such as a submarine captain whose job is to solve crises. — Bill Simmons
1990s special effects are listed again. — Chris Ryan
Nimziki is a needed subtle villain for most of the movie, second-guessing Pullman and pushing to nuke Houston, compared to working in fantasy. — Chris Ryan
The character who recognizes the danger before everyone else and has to explain it is a favorite trope; Paul Giamatti in San Andreas is the one time the explanation felt right. — Shea Serrano
Goldblum and Smith are clearly improvising for the second half, which makes the heady spaceship-and-virus plot work. — Chris Ryan
