Special Features:
Disc One: The Feature
Includes both the Special Edition, with 9 minutes of restored footage, PLUS the original theatrical version.

Anamorphic Widescreen(Aspect ratio 2.35:1) for both versions.

Scene specific commentary by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin

Commentary by Oscar Wining Special Effects Supervisors Volker Engel and Doug Smith

Sound: English 5.1 Digital Surround, English Dolby Surround, French Dolby Surround

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Disc Two: Supplemental
"Creating Reality" 30-minute documentary on the making of ID4

"ID4 Invasion" 22-minute alien invasion mock-umentary

"HBO First Look: Independence Day" 33-minute feature hosted by Jeff Goldblum

Original biplane ending sequence

Storyboards, original artwork, production stills

DVD-Rom game "Get Off My Planet"

Theatrical Trailers and TV Spots

Hidden Features:

Enter the Alien Ship:
On the Supplemental disc, go to the "Data Console". There, highlight "Main Menu" and then press the right arrow button on your remote control and hit enter; this will start up the crap Mac and display the message "Access: 7-4-Enter" on the computer monitor. In the background you will also notice that the space ship in the is now floating.

Now return to the main menu. Use your remote control to enter the numbers 7 and 4 and then press the Enter key and you will enter the space ship. Here you will find an entirely new, alien menu.

Inside the ship, via the new menu, you will have access to a few new sections. First off is the production credits of the DVD. Next is the "Combat Review", an amazingly inane section in which you will get to see randomly picked explosion scenes from the movie. This part really sucks cock as they are not played in their entirety, plus you can just skip to the full scene on the DVD. The "Newscast Broadcasts" section is actually pretty good. You get to see one of 22 randomly picked broadcast segments that were created for the movie; like the text of the next secret menu(see below) states, some are really amusing. The last section, called "Sound Layer", is horribly dull and let's you watch a 10-minute segment of the movie with isolated audio tracks. I guess if you're REALLY bored, and have the option of either taking a dump or watching this...you could go for it...(I would rather take a dump in my pants than watch it again though)...

Finally, there are two more secret menus once you are in the ship. Punch in 7-3-Enter to get access to all of the "Combat" scenes(so you don't have to go through them randomly anymore) or punch in 7-2-Enter to access all of the various news broadcasts(again, so you don't have to go through them at random).

Price Watch Countdown:
I have a general rule I follow when buying DVD's: NO DVD is worth more than $19.99. ID4 was no different. At a msrp of $24.95(and marked higher at most places), I just couldn't do it, I could not make myself pay it. Well, a few weeks ago Best Buy dropped the price of the ID4 SE to $14.99 to make room for the one disc, sized down regular edition(which, btw, will be the ONLY version you will be able to find in a few months): Of course I went for it. This DVD single handedly makes me believe that SOME DVD's may be worth a bit more than $19.99...

"Gotta go, gotta go!"
First off, the discs are simply...amazing. All of the menus are taken from scenes directly out of the movie, and are put together with an impressive combination of 2D bitmaps and full motion video. Some of the most impressive menus include the opening menu of disc one, with a space ship floating over the White House(don't choose anything at first, let it time out, it's great) and the chapter menu for "Creating Reality"(with Brent Spiner's Dr. Okun slammed up against the glass, in the alien's voice: "Pick a chapter..."). The DVD also comes with a 10 page booklet with transcripts of interviews with various stars of the film as well as extensive information on the making of and special effects that went into it.

Watchable Content!?
Yes, as hard as it is to believe, you will actually WANT to sit through the hours of extra features contained on the Supplemental disc. All of the content is really entertaining, and pretty interesting at the same time. Some sections give you a detailed look at the ultra-cool ships, and a good, long look at the aliens that the movie refused to do. Jeff Goldblum's "Area ID4" segment is hilarious, the ID4 Mock-umentary is pretty cool as it blends pieces of the movie, from a different view, into them and finally the fake newscasts are a riot! A solid use of the extreme amount of space the DVD format provides.

A few last comments to wrap it up: The sound in this movie whips ass, even with just 2.0 Surround you will be blown back out of your chair! Also, in true Roland Emmerich style, the movie contains the SE version of the film with 9 minutes of restored footage(just like StarGate). Though the general majority of the new scenes aren't nearly as important or contributing to the story as they were in StarGate's, some of the scenes do manage to add a lot in terms of the characters(mainly Randy Quaid's "Russle Casse"). All in all, even if you can't get it at $19 or below, I can honestly say that this may be the ONE DVD in the entire lot that is truly worth the $25+ most places will jack your ass for.