Hollywood Immortal

[Chapter 388: Explosive Audience Feedback, Terrible Reviews]

"The destruction of New York, Washington, and Los Angeles was spectacular -- the blazing fires, collapsing skyscrapers, overturned vehicles; the whole world was crushed in a sea of explosions, especially when the White House and the Empire State Building were blown to bits. It felt like the sky was falling."

An employee from the third-party research firm Cieasre was collecting firsthand feedback from late-night audiences at theaters across the country.

"The relentless alien invasion, the epic Earth counterattack -- it was an unprecedented, fantastic sci-fi blockbuster!"

"When the president personally flew a plane into the battlefield, I felt so proud to be American. I'm signing up for the military next month."

"The pacing was tight, the scale immense, and the special effects were so realistic. The concept of an energy shield was incredible -- nuclear bombs couldn't break through it. Using a computer virus to cripple the alien mothership was pure genius."

...

Almost all on-site feedback was positive. Audiences gave the film high marks, especially praising the numerous massive explosions and the final showdown, which became the talk of countless movie fans.

Though a few mentioned that the plot was "too simple" or that "besides the special effects, there weren't many highlights," those comments accounted for less than 3% of the feedback.

Overall ratings were nearly all A or A+, with only a tiny fraction of B- scores and almost no other ratings.

---

While the research company was busily compiling survey results from across the U.S., many viewers who had just seen the midnight screenings were still buzzing with excitement.

Hamill from uptown New York had just come out of the theater with friends and immediately rushed to the box office to buy tickets for the next night's showing of Independence Day. He was far from alone.

Charles in San Francisco had just said goodbye to his movie buddies and returned to his bachelor pad. Even after showering and lying in bed, sleep eluded him.

Images of the ruined Empire State Building and the obliterated White House flashed unbidden through his mind. The adrenaline rush from the theater was reignited.

At the moment humanity faced annihilation, America and its leader courageously stepped up, taking on the responsibility a superpower should bear and ultimately leading the world to victory. Especially Linton's portrayal of the Air Force colonel was absolutely incredible.

"No way, I'm enlisting too..."

Camilla in Los Angeles left the theater with friends, feeling the night was still young. They headed straight to a bar, sipping cold beers while discussing the movie's thrilling moments. Their animated conversations caught the attention of many nearby patrons.

After hearing Camilla's detailed take, numerous people pledged to visit the theater the next day to see the explosive blockbuster Independence Day, starring superstar Linton, with the president himself leading the fight against the aliens.

---

At 3 a.m., Linton had just finished a wonderful play session with Madonna, Cristiana, Nicole Kidman, and Catherine.

That's when a call came from the distribution department's Clinsman: "Boss, great news."

"Is the midnight box office for Independence Day in?"

"Yes, it was huge -- $6.37 million at midnight. We broke records, beating last month's $5.71 million from the new Batman movie. This sets a new North American midnight box office record."

...

Just after Linton hung up, Cristiana and Nicole, who had been eavesdropping nearby, rushed over.

"Darling, is Independence Day a huge hit?"

"Babe, $6.37 million. We set a new North American midnight box office record."

"Amazing! Should we celebrate properly?" Cristiana and Nicole exchanged passionate glances, unspoken but clear -- they each knew their roles as they moved to challenge Linton from different directions...

A new game began again...

---

In the sprawling Los Angeles metro area, Kenneth Turan sat in his home study, furiously finishing up a scathing movie review.

He wasn't in a good mood. After watching the movie, he was bombarded by fans with crude insults, and his prestige as a film critic meant nothing. Somehow, word had leaked, and four or five paparazzi showed up, humiliating him in public.

Had he not apologized to Independence Day and its fans, who knows how bad things could have gotten.

His bottled-up resentment and frustration naturally poured into his harsh critique of the movie.

He wasn't alone. Roger Ebert, David Denby, Todd McCarthy, Claude Hank -- along with over 200 critics nationwide -- were all penning the sharpest, most biting reviews of Independence Day.

---

The darkness lifted, and the sun rose anew. The Fourth of July holiday weekend marked the release of the summer's biggest blockbuster, Independence Day.

Though midnight screenings had already started for die-hard fans of superstars and special effects, for regular audiences, the real premieres began on the holiday day itself.

As the sun rose, fresh survey results from Cieasre were in.

At midnight, the company had surveyed audiences in 90 theaters across 30 cities.

Out of 5,013 viewers surveyed, 4,308 gave the film an A+ rating, 597 gave it an A, and only 62 rated it below B-. The midnight audience's A-level positive rating exceeded 96%, an exceptional performance.

The combined evaluations and midnight box office numbers quickly made their way to the film companies, then circulated among many interested parties.

Just as Universal and Linton Films were celebrating and preparing to arrange a promotional tour with director Michael Bay, Linton, Cristiana, Nicole Kidman, Bill Pullman, and Jeff Goldblum heading to major cities nationwide,

a tidal wave of critical reviews hit the newspapers.

"Is Michael Bay just an explosion maniac?" asked Roger Ebert in a review published by the Chicago Sun-Times. "Last night at the theater I saw Independence Day. It's a film that utterly tests the limits of human endurance -- mediocre plot, full of holes, wildly illogical. It's a total disaster."

Roger Ebert harshly trashed Independence Day, giving it two thumbs down -- the ultimate symbol of a bad movie -- and a punishing 1-star rating.

"Michael Bay is a standard explosion maniac who has destroyed my fondest memories of cinema. His films have nothing but explosions. In Independence Day humans saved Earth but couldn't save this awful movie."

David Denby of The New Yorker was equally harsh and sarcastic, also giving the film a pathetic 1-star rating.

"Before you watch Independence Day, take some motion sickness pills. The movie is filled with boring explosions and noise. No basic logic. Simple plot, hollow dialogue, and wooden acting. Watching it is worse than swallowing a fly. Only fools could endure it."

Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times, still furious from his theater experience, wrote an especially venomous review, breaking records with an abysmal 0.5-star score.

Similarly, critics across the media didn't hold back.

"I have never seen such a silly alien or such a lousy Independence Day before. The aliens are hopelessly dumb; the movie is irredeemably bad."

"Which is the worst movie this summer? The answer's obvious -- Independence Day."

"What about the movie's logic? Everyone knows Microsoft computer viruses don't work on Apple devices. Yet hilariously, the alien computers got destroyed by a Microsoft virus. Are the aliens using Microsoft Windows or what?"

...

*****

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