True. There's an allusion to F-4 Phantom IIs earlier in his backstory, I forget where, which to an aviation affecianado plays in because it's a much more complex aircraft. And, as someone has written, the Sierra Hotel Stearman doing that vertical climb vs. an F/A-18 that CAN stand on it's tail destroys the advantage of what was a much funnier scene. The avionics, the "Christmas tree" all lit up, etc. bugged me but the way it came out was a better ending all around. All that said, this was absolutely fascinating and fun to watch and think about. Thank you for sharing this.
....and the "all missles have been fired" line. If anyone out there understands missiles, a question: Could a system failure account for a missile reading as already having been fired, and therefore not releasing (again, according to its circuitry) an armed unit? That would remove the glitch....
Jeff Goldblum can figure out the alien language, then alien software programming, and somehow have a compiler ready for their processors within the two days that the movie takes place in.
@@toastedjoe1013 Because the aliens were smug enough to leave the "code" on how to do it , the signal that David found hidden in the satellites pretty much allowed human tech to work with alien tech , most likely doing some sort of code converting , all David had to do it was inverse that and test it , which he did on the crashed ship in Area 51
+SteelCity1981 you're right, prop airplanes are usually too heavy for the thrust of a propeller to allow them to climb vertically, with exception of maybe stunt planes engineered to be very powerful and very light. However, if your plane has kinetic energy you can trade it for altitude in the vertical, maneuvers such as the Immelmann date back to WWI. Basically you just have to pull out and level the plane before you lose so much speed your control surfaces become unable of turning the aircraft. If you're not planning on making it out alive, you can climb vertically until your speed becomes zero.
It's possible, though doubtful for so long while packing a maverick that a biplane probably wouldn't have the lifting capacity to carry in level flight to begin with.
After all this time I still think this was a stupid idea, so glad it was changed. The look on Casse's face in the F-18 cockpit when he realises what he has to do, and that line, "Do me a favour... Tell my children, I love them very much" still brings a tear to the eye 20 years on. Not his biggest role, but one of Randy Quaid's finest nonetheless.
@Sans Handlebars I didn't bring politics into this at all, I was responding to someone who implied this movie is "liberal" and had to point out that it obviously isn't
@Sans Handlebars What exactly is it you're being pissy about, the stupidity of blowing a 15 mile wide ship up directly over one's head, or my characterizing this movie as rah-rah militarism?
@@pts5217 they are very capable aircraft. It can and will accelerate in a vertical but if it's heavy it can only maintain it for about a minute before it would start to slow down and stall.
If GTA V characters were the main characters of the movie, Trevor would be Russell, Franklin would be Steve Hiller, Michael would be the president, and Lester would be David Levinson.
+Iatesk8 Making anti-virus software is pointless for a race where the other dude can just see into your head. lol. And since they likely never had to deal with asymmetrical warfare and cyber attacks before, a simple rootkit was probably enough to utterly wreck their systems. Compatibility is also a minor issue, since much of our advanced tech, since the Rosswell crash - is actually based upon the reverse engineered components of the wreck.
TheKain202 yea well when you observe a planet for decades they should at least know about how the computer works. Also something tells me they will install Norton when they come again in the next movie.
J declinetousename Well, in Ender's Game. All of the Bugs basically gave up once their Queen was killed, when they no longer received telepathic messages from her. So in a kind of way, Indepedence Day is a 'prequel' to Ender's Game.
Bi plane stolen alien nuke from the guy nobody believed? You are delusional the original was faaar better than the shit they put out. A snap suicide isn't more honorable than a mission undertaken with hours of time to reconsider. They made the crop duster less of a hero in the final take.
The ending they went with was better but this ending does do a couple of things: 1. It shows that Russell is a heck of a pilot - managing to fly that rusty, old biplane through heavy enemy cover and outmaneuver things that even the pilots in modern fighter planes may be having difficulty outmaneuvering - a triumph of skill and pure determination over technology (as in the story of John Henry). Some may say 'unrealistic' but I say it shows that. while piloting may be the one skill he has, he really is a great pilot - pretty much virtuoso level - which only adds to the tragedy that he was relegated to crop dusting when he could have been one of the top pilots in the world. 2. Right at the end, when Russell is saying, "Come on...come on...," it never made much sense in the original ending because the fighter plane was having no trouble performing the maneuver of flying up into the ship. In this scene it makes perfect sense because an old biplane would have a good chance of stalling out if that maneuver was attempted. Russell would have known that and was almost willing his old companion to make it long enough to get the job done.
I remember reading the book years ago and this was the scene in the book. I always thought it didnt fit in the movie with the dialogue and the like. Now I know.
I agree with this take. One thing I’d add is that it’s crazy enough that humans could take down a technologically-superior alien race. But to take down one of their ships with a crop duster? As unbelievable as it would be, that would really be rubbing it in the aliens’ faces. Plus that sounds like a feat only we humans could pull off
@@Melonist And slow. So it makes sense that he would not even register as a threat. They might not even detect him, much like some of the small drones being used over Ukraine today.
@@nunya3163 And, even if they did detect him, they'd likely think he was some idiot who somehow found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, finding him to be more of a source of amusement than anything. That is, until they saw where he was headed: the main laser generator of their ship. By then, it was too little, too late........
Also in the script with this, when he hears Migul over the intercom, he tells Migul to take good care of Alicia and Troy and adds, "You were always better at taking care of 'em than I was, anyway." Russell was Troy's father but he was Migul and Alicia's step-father which is why Migul always called him, "Russell" until he decides to do this.
I see how this ending would have made sense but the one in the final cut carried the tone of the film and gave it that unexpected dramatic ending it was meant to have.
Also, its kind of an irony: The man the aliens abducted to test and see what mans' weaknesses were was the man that was instrumental in discovering the alien crafts' major weakness!
What!!! Had no idea this version existed. 'Hello Boys.... im back is the best line ever". Damn though, you make a good point.vs Suicide mission vs making the decision... a very important difference.
In this version, Russell (somehow) knew EXACTLY what to do to take the alien ship down. He stole a missile and attached it to his biplane, and flew straight to the ship's primary weapon. All with a perfect timing. Or was he aware that they were running out of missiles and (somehow) joined the battle in a matter of seconds? I'm glad we can see this scene as an alternate one.
The part about him hounding the staff for medical help is in the extended cut of the film. Though the part about his missile being tampered with isn't. It sounds like the novel was written from an early draft of the script. Probably so it could be released at the same time as the movie or something.
@Upcycle Shoes If Russel had a jet to be tampered with, then why was he flying a biplane? Did he realize the release was malfunctioning and decide to swap planes?
+Shirley Pena For whatever reason it's not on any of the DVD's anymore. (There was a double disc edition that came out, it had a ton of extras on it, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere.)
+Bernard Gilbert Funny story about how I came to upload this video. We were watching this movie on July 3 with friends and I mentioned the alternate ending and they were like oh cool let's watch that right after the movie is over. So I go hunting for it and it's not on the Blu-Ray. And I had sold my DVD with all the extras when I got the Blu. So I'm like no problem I'll just pull it up on TH-cam. Can't find it. Googled it. Couldn't find it. At this point my friends start saying I'm full of shit and getting me all riled up. So I found the DVD on Amazon for $4 and got it shipped and uploaded it just so I could prove them all wrong.
Alex Damon If it came in a silver DVD case, it's probably the one I remember. I don't know why it had been taken out of circulation / stopped being sold. One theory was that some of the extras on the second disk had violated a copyright of some sort. I always hoped the distributors and the studios could work out whatever differences they had and that they could go back to selling it again.
+Shirley Pena Me too! It was on youtoob then was taken down, but it was the one without the commentary. I believe it was on the laser-disc edition! Nice one to +Alex Damon for finding it though!
I remember watching this at the cinema in 1996, and thinking it would have been better if he had turned up in his Bi plane. Thank you for this revelation 😊
Lol... Plenty of people around to help some guy go kill aliens. Gear is laying around unprotected. Seems feasible to me. This ending is the way the book went
Cheap A$$ Hacks How did he arm it? Agreed it's jarring. Buuuuuuut, we're watching a movie about aliens where a rag tag team of Americans figures out how to save the world. You have to ask, at what point does reality become an issue?
Randy Quaid's character has a proper arc in the film. He starts off as a drunken buffoon who gets chewed out by his own son but he ends the film as a war hero respected by his children. All that's lost with this alternate ending. His character gets no redemption, he just commits suicide like an idiot and by luck brings down the ship.
wrong. totally wrong. He did the right thing. stop putting your own failures on this film. He went in raw,in a bi plane up against technology. you spun
@@frickpoo6644 He's clearly right. He didn't do anythingh right. He never grew as a character. He started as a drunk and ended as a drunk, throwing his life away. Terrible ending and I'm truly happy you got the real ending, which must've made you upset.
I thought the back story was, he was in the military as a fighter pilot, but he was abducteed by the aliens, and probed. that gave him PTSD, and become drunkard, and kicked out of military because of that. so he became crop duster. that's why he was able to fly F-18.
SgtBaker16 Yes, it is. He was funny as hell as cousin Eddie on National Lampoon's Vacation series. “Every time Katherine would run the microwave, I’d piss my pants and forget who I was for a half-hour or so.”
+Trollsif Stalin "It ain't as strong so I don't know if I should go sailin down no hill with nothing between the ground and my brains but a piece of government plastic" lol
Totally explains the dialogue of him struggling to get the plane up vertically, vs with the F/A-18. Always wondered why it would struggle to turn straight up and climb...🤷♂️😂
Am I the only person who actually prefer the alternative ending? I think it is good in the sense that the military continues to be very prejudiced against him. As a result, he would go onto extreme length to "get a piece of aliens" and make his own contribution, knowing right from the start that his biplane must be sacraficed to fulfill his mission. Which makes him one hella of a characters. You can even see the guy who turned him down's face reaction was a total shock and disbelief when he heard Russell identifying himself. He must be thinking "I stopped that idiot from fighting and he still drove out in his biplane anyway and he will be the one to bring down the alien ship? I can't believe it". That shocked face is priceless.
The thing that made this a “stupid ass alternate ending” was flying a biplane through an air battle, what the heck! At least the sobering up part was good and kinda funny.
+Argiris “RetroAmateur” Papadopoulos Hey if people can buy into Will Smith & Jeff Goldblum piloting an alien spacecraft into outer space & docking with the mothership then uploading a PC virus to it's central computer causing their alien OS to become corrupted thus making their ships defenseless then why can't a biplane be used as a rectal probe on an alien ship... ; - ) This wouldn't even be up for discussion if the aliens had been using Mac's instead of Windows ( Less viruses ) Lol
I don't think the virus infection is as rediculous as people make it out to be. David manages to trace and understand their signal and thanks to the 50 years of research done to the alien tech in area 51 they could produce a virus that can infect the alien systems.
+Argiris “RetroAmateur” Papadopoulos but you didnt think how come aliens use same time measure as humans in that countdown? his decoding shows earth time. if he intercepted and decoded aliens countdown, no way it will match ours. so, fail in very beginning. :) on other hand, signal is one thing, operating system is something absolutely different.
@@zoki.to974 Their countdown signal was different from ours: It was a repeating pattern that removed sections of itself each iteration until it finally disappeared. David just calculated how long it would take for that to happen and set a timer.
Good thing this was cutted out. It looks so unrealistic that a biplane would be flying at that high altitude alongside with the F-18s. At least they remade small parts of this and replaced Russell's biplane with an F-18.
@@drafer100 so with that logic that "anything goes" they couldve had him flying the original wright brothers plane aswell? after all, its a movie with aliens, eh?
Finally someone posted the Independence Day alternate ending. I remember seeing this on the Fox DVD promo on most of my older dvd's but my version of the film didn't have the scene and no one ever posted it. Thank you very much for showing such a hard to find part of the film.
I never had the impression that the missile made any difference anyhow -- I assumed the explosion was due to something more like having an obstruction in a rifle barrel.
It's stupid that they wouldn't recruit him because he's an alcoholic. They're in a situation where they can't afford to be picky. They need ALL the help they can get right now. He's a pilot and has even served in the military as one.
If I remember correctly, the backstory of him serving in Vietnam was also inserted last minute to accommodate the new ending. So in this version, he has no training on the jets.
The C.T.K. 1000 Even so, he has flight experience. He knows the basics on how to fly a plane so that should be a plus for the recruitment. Like I said, at a time like this, they can't afford to be picky.
+Alexander Edward Pytko And that's the reason I really hate this ending and how they just turn him down. It would've ruined the movie had they kept it.
Gasoline85 Agreed. I mean, even if they had still had not used the Vietnam thing about him, the second ending with him getting recruited would've still worked. It'd be like he's always flown as a crop duster but now he's finally flying as one of the big boys in a jet fighter.
Alexander Edward Pytko Precisely. It doesn't even make sense. It's like "yeah, we're desperate for pilots, extinction of mankind and all, but not *that* desperate".
That must be how they felt just random et:"development in the distraction of our super death ship. It seems to of been destroyed by a very very old earth plane" Queen:"really really you idiots"
+morris m (The cat) 20 years later Queen:we're finally here get our super weapon ready mwhahahahah super computer superplanetdestroyer.exe download is at 1% estimated time 48 hours until completion Queen:WHO UNINSTALLED IT!?! Random et: I did to download games Queen throws the et out the ship
Thanks for sharing this. I still have this on VHS. Look forward to watching it again. My dad got a kick out of this. 68 433 Satan's Angels. My Dad worked Weps. Got Colonel Olds his second Ace. Chappy Is our Hero still...Robin he's cool. Seriously, Looky "up" Chappy James.... There is a movie.
Read this version inn the novelisation and wondered then how the hell a 1930s biplane would survive getting through an air battle fought between fast jets and flying saucers long enough to kill the city destroyer. Movie ending in the final version much better and the scene where Case makes the decision to do a kamikaze attack does have a lot of emotional wallop to it.
I forget if it was the Korean War or Vietnam, but the US used some Late WW2 prop planes for certain ground attack roles, and they were actually hard to shoot down with guns because modern Jet aircraft flew too quickly to get a bead on them. By the time you had finished aiming you had already overshot it.
Gaidin78 yeah but even so there is a massive difference in a late WW2 prop aircraft and the 30s crop duster he is using. In Korea they were still using prop aircraft in frontline combat roles and I think the Americans were using turbo prop in Vietnam. And I think the CIA were using C47s as modified gunships. In the novelisation of this film it briefly mentions that the fight back at the end were utilising aircraft from as far back as WW2 with a young civilian pilot being equipped with a P51.
While I agree that the final version was overall better, I think the biplane ending does perform an interesting homage to early invasion sci-fi, notably War of The Worlds where biplanes were the "high tech" for much of the story's heyday.
I kind of liked the alternate ending. It was kind of giving this humle idea that a hero can come from anywhere, and doesn't require the largest jet or super weapon to save the day, but the right mind set.
This is such a classic film!! One of my favorites and excellent choice to change it - Its a trillion times better anything put out these days even if you kept that silly bit in it
I have to say I prefer this alternate ending. I can see why it was omitted though. However I would like to point out that while it is unrealistic to see a bi-plane flying along side F18's, this is a movie about an alien invasion, with space ships and green lasers, in which an Apple Mac is used to communicate with an alien computer network and implant a software virus. I dont see the bi-plane scene as an issue ;)
Chris Winter Besides the biplane being stupid, it shows that Quaid's character went up on a drunken suicide mission. It removed any reason for his oldest son to be in the command center and it removed the emotional moment when Quaid's character decides to sacrifice his life and asks the president to "tell my children I love them very much." Add to that the bi-polar probably couldn't have made that climb. The original scene would have got a laugh. As it stands it brings emotions.
No. I get your point that the whole movie was unbelievable. I agree. However, part of the willing suspension of disbelief was that you accepted the invading aliens and their technology. The whole thing with the Mac and the virus was BS, but it was still more believable than the biplane. In any case, the technical believability of using a biplane wasn't my point either. My main point was that Quaid's character in the biplane came off as a drunken suicidal gesture that cost the movie the emotional impact of him CHOOSING to sacrifice his life IOT ensure that his kids would survive (along with the rest of humanity.) We would have also lost the apparent arc of his character going from a drunken has-been to a hero again (with the sleight of hand of him apparently failing...just before his blue steel hero moment.)
Fair and good point. You study film or something? Far too much effort for a TH-cam comment in reply to one that is now over a year old ;) But yes, great point.
It's a good thing the aliens came to Earth in the 1990s when we have fighter jets and stuff, because if they came in a much earlier time like the 1930s or something, then we'd all have to fight against them in bi-planes :P
there is an animated sequel to the war of the worlds where the red baron and other germans take down several martians flying machines on theirs triplanes.
The final version was infinitely better. It’s fascinating to see this version, but they made the right call. The final version still drives me to tears. This isn’t a moment to laugh. It’s a moment of heroism. The final film executed that well.
It's amazing to learn just how silly some of the most iconic and inspiring scenes in movies could have been. Kinda makes you wonder what emotion directors are going for with their films. The reaction may not have been the intended reaction, which fascinates me.
Fun fact, that missile strapped to the plane (the AGM-65 mock up) would be over 300kgs heavy, and should be twice as large were it the real thing. The biplane wouldn't even be able to lift it off the ground, let alone stay in the air.
Cannot fucking believe this was ever a thought. Thank God this was changed. This would've destroyed ID4 and all of the buildup. Nope, sorry this is a fucking comedy now... in the face of the audience.
Yes, thank God for God and the Military who served under God. The Military guys who reviewed ID4 probably objected on a lot of things. 1. The disrespect the Military gave to him. 2. He managed to stole a missile from the Military. 3. This scene poor taste of comedy.
"2. He managed to stole a missile from the Military" Dude they were in a state of emergency (it's shown multiple air forces of the world regrouping in improvised airfields) so of course that every single piece of ordnance wouldn't be accounted for.
First of all.. Thank you for showing this. Secondly.. FWIW he is not flying along with the f18's he is following them well behind. Also a modified bi-plane used in crop dusting can climb several thousands of feet vertically.. They do it all the time. Third.. The theatrical release never made any sense to how slow he was going nor to to the fact that no one knew who he was. Fourth.. The moral of the book was changed in changing the plane from his bi-plane and leaves out his lesson of sacrifice for his children and all the rest to see.. Overcoming alcoholism and doing what needed to be done for his children and his country. This ending shows this.. Even with some minor comic relief of how the bomb was attached, it shows that the drunkard was willing to give his own life in protecting his family. I can only hope more people can understand the significance of the original story ending.
This ending would have been fantastic for the final film. He knows he's not coming back. He's willing to give his life for the world and his family. Him throwing that bottle down is like a wake up call for him. Plus its a biplane in a alien battle and Randy Quaid is perfect for this ending. You could have shot a scene where He could have him made the decision back at the base when he looks at how helpless his family is while he was looking at that picture. I approve this ending.
It was obvious the Bi Plane would have a part in the end as he towed it behind his motor home and the camera linger on it when he drove by the camera. It was literately Checkov's Plane. Best solution would have been that he jury rigged the missile on to the bi plane like they did bombs and depth charges slung under the wings of cargo planes in WW2 and they were released with a length of bailing wire on a wooden toggle connected to connector pins that the pilot pulled from inside. If he had done something similar, the wire could have broke and he had to make the same heroic choice rather than a pre planed suicide
That awkward moment when his biplane lacks the horsepower to make it up to the ship....
+Captain Goomba Yeah it just wouldn't seem believable. I'm glad they went with him flying the F-18.
joshmg25 heh, me too
+Captain Goomba And then plummet to his death. He would've gotten an A for effort though!
Beast Warrior Heh yup. Another funny thing about this movie.... when those giant spaceships explode, what happens to the cities below them???
Captain Goomba
Oooo, that was probably a bad day for a lot of people.
I like the whole Randy Quaid being in an F-18 better.
True. There's an allusion to F-4 Phantom IIs earlier in his backstory, I forget where, which to an aviation affecianado plays in because it's a much more complex aircraft. And, as someone has written, the Sierra Hotel Stearman doing that vertical climb vs. an F/A-18 that CAN stand on it's tail destroys the advantage of what was a much funnier scene. The avionics, the "Christmas tree" all lit up, etc. bugged me but the way it came out was a better ending all around. All that said, this was absolutely fascinating and fun to watch and think about. Thank you for sharing this.
This end is very silly
@@KyleCowden would you say a crop duster has an upgraded engine that can outperform a stock biplane?
@@NwoDispatcher Idk I have seen a crop duster with a supercharged merlin
@@devintariel3769 badass don't know how they would solve the speed of sound in a prop engine
With this version, it at least makes more sense when the radar operators ask "who is that guy?"
....and the "all missles have been fired" line.
If anyone out there understands missiles, a question:
Could a system failure account for a missile reading as already having been fired, and therefore not releasing (again, according to its circuitry) an armed unit? That would remove the glitch....
@mandellorian thanks!
he would have been the size of an oil tanker on the radar display
@Spok curse you Red Baron!
@Ralph's Place Radar propably detected airmissle atached to this biplane.
The invaders had everything at their disposal, except Norton security antivirus software.
Jeff Goldblum can figure out the alien language, then alien software programming, and somehow have a compiler ready for their processors within the two days that the movie takes place in.
@@toastedjoe1013 Because the aliens were smug enough to leave the "code" on how to do it , the signal that David found hidden in the satellites pretty much allowed human tech to work with alien tech , most likely doing some sort of code converting , all David had to do it was inverse that and test it , which he did on the crashed ship in Area 51
Good point, also War of the worlds aliens had everything but ppe lol! 😂😂
@@toastedjoe1013 and he can fix your cable according to his dad😂
After that fiasco, the aliens fired their IT manager and replaced their OS with Linux.
i'm no airplane engineer, but i'd imagine that biplane would have ended up stalling out trying to attempt a long vertical climb like that.
+SteelCity1981 they can do it.
+SteelCity1981 you're right, prop airplanes are usually too heavy for the thrust of a propeller to allow them to climb vertically, with exception of maybe stunt planes engineered to be very powerful and very light.
However, if your plane has kinetic energy you can trade it for altitude in the vertical, maneuvers such as the Immelmann date back to WWI. Basically you just have to pull out and level the plane before you lose so much speed your control surfaces become unable of turning the aircraft. If you're not planning on making it out alive, you can climb vertically until your speed becomes zero.
It's possible, though doubtful for so long while packing a maverick that a biplane probably wouldn't have the lifting capacity to carry in level flight to begin with.
SteelCity1981 maybe the beam has a pulling effect too
Being a Stearman, it is very likely that it would have stalled out.
After all this time I still think this was a stupid idea, so glad it was changed. The look on Casse's face in the F-18 cockpit when he realises what he has to do, and that line, "Do me a favour... Tell my children, I love them very much" still brings a tear to the eye 20 years on. Not his biggest role, but one of Randy Quaid's finest nonetheless.
You nailed it, Stolen Eyes.
Amen sir x
"Shitters full!"
Agreed, whole heartedly.
True!
"It's 15 miles wide and is hovering directly over us and now it's exploding! Hooray, we're all saved!"
@Dan The Man uh you realize this movie is pure rah-rah-America blows up everything right-wing wankery
@F P There's literally a scene showing other countries sitting around waiting for America to tell them what to do.
@Sans Handlebars I didn't bring politics into this at all, I was responding to someone who implied this movie is "liberal" and had to point out that it obviously isn't
@Sans Handlebars What exactly is it you're being pissy about, the stupidity of blowing a 15 mile wide ship up directly over one's head, or my characterizing this movie as rah-rah militarism?
@@patrickflanagan3762 there's a problem with that? It took that kind of attitude to win back to back world wars with the help of our friends.
All these years I have wondered why they depicted Randy Quaid's F-18 climbing toward the ship's weapon so slowly. Now I know.
Lol! Actually I kinda wondered that too. Hahaha
Same, even seeing this in theaters when I was 11, I knew that jet was MUCH faster than that.
I don’t think F-18s can accelerate when climbing vertically
@@pts5217 they are very capable aircraft. It can and will accelerate in a vertical but if it's heavy it can only maintain it for about a minute before it would start to slow down and stall.
The energy beam was pushing him back /s
This is how it'd go down if it was GTA5 and Trevor was dealing with them!
And he wouldn't be sober either
pianodrew why does this not have more likes 😂
HAHA very true
If GTA V characters were the main characters of the movie, Trevor would be Russell, Franklin would be Steve Hiller, Michael would be the president, and Lester would be David Levinson.
Lol
For years I could not understand why he asks him to identify himself, because he's actually on their scope. I'm so glad I saw this. Thank you.
So all it took to take out an alien fleet was a 20 year old laptop and a...... BI-PLANE! Humanity F-yeah.
+GRIFAbyte101 the laptop was new at the time , the movie is 20 years old
Plane Was A Fake
In Signs, the aliens' weaknesses were Water, Wooden Doors, and Blunt Instruments!
In War of the Worlds, all it took was for the aliens/Martians to breath in our germs....Once that happened, they were *done* for!
@@19TheFallen in Mars Attacks it was yodeling.
Thank god they cut this out, it woulda KILLED the badassery.
Well it did just take only a Windows 95 virus to take out the mother ship
+Iatesk8
Making anti-virus software is pointless for a race where the other dude can just see into your head. lol.
And since they likely never had to deal with asymmetrical warfare and cyber attacks before, a simple rootkit was probably enough to utterly wreck their systems.
Compatibility is also a minor issue, since much of our advanced tech, since the Rosswell crash - is actually based upon the reverse engineered components of the wreck.
TheKain202 yea well when you observe a planet for decades they should at least know about how the computer works. Also something tells me they will install Norton when they come again in the next movie.
+Jean Paul Bigio Your Right - And I love that new word... Badassery!
J declinetousename Well, in Ender's Game. All of the Bugs basically gave up once their Queen was killed, when they no longer received telepathic messages from her. So in a kind of way, Indepedence Day is a 'prequel' to Ender's Game.
Wow glad they didn't go with that ending. It would have been terrible.
ya...awful
Awful but I woulda at least found it laughable. "Super high tech aliens vs a Crop Duster. Who would win?" 😂
Bi plane stolen alien nuke from the guy nobody believed? You are delusional the original was faaar better than the shit they put out. A snap suicide isn't more honorable than a mission undertaken with hours of time to reconsider. They made the crop duster less of a hero in the final take.
@@fascistswan3470 but it is far less unrealistic and ridiculous
I remember seeing this ending in theater. Am I from the test audience or an alternate universe? I seriously dont know
The ending they went with was better but this ending does do a couple of things:
1. It shows that Russell is a heck of a pilot - managing to fly that rusty, old biplane through heavy enemy cover and outmaneuver things that even the pilots in modern fighter planes may be having difficulty outmaneuvering - a triumph of skill and pure determination over technology (as in the story of John Henry). Some may say 'unrealistic' but I say it shows that. while piloting may be the one skill he has, he really is a great pilot - pretty much virtuoso level - which only adds to the tragedy that he was relegated to crop dusting when he could have been one of the top pilots in the world.
2. Right at the end, when Russell is saying, "Come on...come on...," it never made much sense in the original ending because the fighter plane was having no trouble performing the maneuver of flying up into the ship. In this scene it makes perfect sense because an old biplane would have a good chance of stalling out if that maneuver was attempted. Russell would have known that and was almost willing his old companion to make it long enough to get the job done.
It also helps that biplanes are absurdly mabeuverable
I remember reading the book years ago and this was the scene in the book. I always thought it didnt fit in the movie with the dialogue and the like. Now I know.
I agree with this take. One thing I’d add is that it’s crazy enough that humans could take down a technologically-superior alien race. But to take down one of their ships with a crop duster? As unbelievable as it would be, that would really be rubbing it in the aliens’ faces. Plus that sounds like a feat only we humans could pull off
@@Melonist And slow. So it makes sense that he would not even register as a threat. They might not even detect him, much like some of the small drones being used over Ukraine today.
@@nunya3163 And, even if they did detect him, they'd likely think he was some idiot who somehow found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, finding him to be more of a source of amusement than anything. That is, until they saw where he was headed: the main laser generator of their ship. By then, it was too little, too late........
Also in the script with this, when he hears Migul over the intercom, he tells Migul to take good care of Alicia and Troy and adds, "You were always better at taking care of 'em than I was, anyway." Russell was Troy's father but he was Migul and Alicia's step-father which is why Migul always called him, "Russell" until he decides to do this.
That was in the ID4 novel, too. That was actually how I discovered this ending. Didn't even realize it was actually filmed!
Miguel*
I see how this ending would have made sense but the one in the final cut carried the tone of the film and gave it that unexpected dramatic ending it was meant to have.
So a drunk with a crop duster, and missile with duct tape, defeated advanced species with advanced technology. Gotta love it.
Just remember what that Fairey Swordfish did to the Bismarck.
Sometimes slow is the way to go. 😊😊
AMERICA FUCK YEAH
I almost prefer that ending for that reason
Also, its kind of an irony: The man the aliens abducted to test and see what mans' weaknesses were was the man that was instrumental in discovering the alien crafts' major weakness!
Congrats on understanding the point 😂😂🤦🤦🤦
'We have tested the humans and found to be at best comically deluded.'
Later on- 'We forgot to test what happens when humans decide 'it's hero time!'
Also ironically, the aliens' weakness ended up being the equivalent of a starship anal probe.
The aliens abused him. Sexually.
What!!! Had no idea this version existed. 'Hello Boys.... im back is the best line ever". Damn though, you make a good point.vs Suicide mission vs making the decision... a very important difference.
In this version, Russell (somehow) knew EXACTLY what to do to take the alien ship down. He stole a missile and attached it to his biplane, and flew straight to the ship's primary weapon. All with a perfect timing. Or was he aware that they were running out of missiles and (somehow) joined the battle in a matter of seconds? I'm glad we can see this scene as an alternate one.
I'd hate to be doing community service and having to pick up a 15 mile long spaceship
See what you can pick up
I am going to go to lunch
You think they'd let the chain gang go anywhere near that?
This happened in the novel. It was kinda ok to read, but I'm glad they did not put this in the movie.
There's a novel?
@Upcycle Shoes wow
What a scumbag
The part about him hounding the staff for medical help is in the extended cut of the film. Though the part about his missile being tampered with isn't.
It sounds like the novel was written from an early draft of the script. Probably so it could be released at the same time as the movie or something.
@Upcycle Shoes If Russel had a jet to be tampered with, then why was he flying a biplane? Did he realize the release was malfunctioning and decide to swap planes?
@@rockerseven There's an extended cut?!
Love this movie. It's one of those I'll watch whenever it comes on. It doesn't matter where I come in at, I'll watch it till the end.
Same. Watching it now and remembered the alternate ending on a dvd
The other ending is admittedly best. I loved this movie. I can't tell you how many times I've watched that film.
THANK YOU!!! :)
I've been looking for this alternate ending for ages!
+Shirley Pena For whatever reason it's not on any of the DVD's anymore. (There was a double disc edition that came out, it had a ton of extras on it, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere.)
+Bernard Gilbert Funny story about how I came to upload this video. We were watching this movie on July 3 with friends and I mentioned the alternate ending and they were like oh cool let's watch that right after the movie is over. So I go hunting for it and it's not on the Blu-Ray. And I had sold my DVD with all the extras when I got the Blu. So I'm like no problem I'll just pull it up on TH-cam. Can't find it. Googled it. Couldn't find it. At this point my friends start saying I'm full of shit and getting me all riled up.
So I found the DVD on Amazon for $4 and got it shipped and uploaded it just so I could prove them all wrong.
Alex Damon If it came in a silver DVD case, it's probably the one I remember. I don't know why it had been taken out of circulation / stopped being sold. One theory was that some of the extras on the second disk had violated a copyright of some sort. I always hoped the distributors and the studios could work out whatever differences they had and that they could go back to selling it again.
+Alex Damon you made America proud son
+Shirley Pena Me too! It was on youtoob then was taken down, but it was the one without the commentary. I believe it was on the laser-disc edition! Nice one to +Alex Damon for finding it though!
This would have been so stupid, I glad they changed it!
That shot at 3:33 when the space explodes: The explosion is the Empire State Building upside down. (It's in the director's commentary I believe).
They were still using miniatures back then. Had to use up every shot. I love that.
I prefer this version because it captures the reliability of the old technology, that old duster dusted its last crop.
I remember watching this at the cinema in 1996, and thinking it would have been better if he had turned up in his Bi plane. Thank you for this revelation 😊
Tbh, we thought of this ending with my brothers too, but the F/A-18 Ending is definitely better for the pacing and drama of the scene.
I would have hated the movie instead of loving it, and owning it and playing it at least once a year on the 4th.
Who helped him strap a missile to the side of his prop plane? Who wrote this brilliant piece of work?
Thats why it was cut, dummy
Lol... Plenty of people around to help some guy go kill aliens. Gear is laying around unprotected.
Seems feasible to me. This ending is the way the book went
Cheap A$$ Hacks How did he arm it? Agreed it's jarring. Buuuuuuut, we're watching a movie about aliens where a rag tag team of Americans figures out how to save the world. You have to ask, at what point does reality become an issue?
It came with the plane..😁
Maybe JJ Abrams did.
Loved that movie! Thank you Roland and Dean for allowing me to be an extra in this film!! I had a great time!!
Damn this soundtrack is still perfection!
I remember this was the ending in the book. Made a better book ending than a movie ending for sure.
I like the one they used it has my favorite line in the whole film. "I picked a hell of a day to quit drinkin"
Randy Quaid's character has a proper arc in the film. He starts off as a drunken buffoon who gets chewed out by his own son but he ends the film as a war hero respected by his children.
All that's lost with this alternate ending. His character gets no redemption, he just commits suicide like an idiot and by luck brings down the ship.
wrong. totally wrong. He did the right thing. stop putting your own failures on this film. He went in raw,in a bi plane up against technology. you spun
Exactly man.
The alternate ending makes him look like a mad fool.
@@frickpoo6644 He's clearly right. He didn't do anythingh right. He never grew as a character. He started as a drunk and ended as a drunk, throwing his life away. Terrible ending and I'm truly happy you got the real ending, which must've made you upset.
I thought the back story was, he was in the military as a fighter pilot, but he was abducteed by the aliens, and probed.
that gave him PTSD, and become drunkard, and kicked out of military because of that.
so he became crop duster. that's why he was able to fly F-18.
Is Randy Quaid acting or just being Randy?
SgtBaker16 Yes, it is. He was funny as hell as cousin Eddie on National Lampoon's Vacation series. “Every time Katherine would run the microwave, I’d piss my pants and forget who I was for a half-hour or so.”
+Trollsif Stalin "It ain't as strong so I don't know if I should go sailin down no hill with nothing between the ground and my brains but a piece of government plastic" lol
Little bit o' both really.
He's actually an Oscar nominated actor
@@gersonlinares2307 The Last Detail.
Totally explains the dialogue of him struggling to get the plane up vertically, vs with the F/A-18. Always wondered why it would struggle to turn straight up and climb...🤷♂️😂
One of the best movies ever made
Thank you for sharing that scene! I found it on a Promo-Dvd in Germany ages ago and after losing it, I was looking for the scene for years.
I love that moment in both versions lol 😆. Russell Casse was a boss!
"Alright you alien assholes!"
*plane stalls*
*plane falls from sky*
*no one has any missiles left*
*everyone dies*
This is my favorite film of all time and even in 2021 youve made it better. Thank You!
I love this movie so damn much, thank you for this!
Am I the only person who actually prefer the alternative ending?
I think it is good in the sense that the military continues to be very prejudiced against him.
As a result, he would go onto extreme length to "get a piece of aliens" and make his own contribution, knowing right from the start that his biplane must be sacraficed to fulfill his mission.
Which makes him one hella of a characters.
You can even see the guy who turned him down's face reaction was a total shock and disbelief when he heard Russell identifying himself. He must be thinking "I stopped that idiot from fighting and he still drove out in his biplane anyway and he will be the one to bring down the alien ship? I can't believe it". That shocked face is priceless.
If he had added “I got 12 hundred hours in the F4 Phantom”, he might have gotten a different response.
One of the best decisions ever made in film.
Thanks for uploading this. I heard of this ending but this is the first time I'm ever seeing it.
No lie. That was funny as hell! Destruction by biplane!
And the missile
Thank god they didn't go with this stupid ass alternate ending
they said this was the original ending, the one that is baked into the actual movie is alternate
The thing that made this a “stupid ass alternate ending” was flying a biplane through an air battle, what the heck! At least the sobering up part was good and kinda funny.
@@patrickwilson1459 and the way it is goes vertical lmao
WOW I cant believe they even thought of using this. Hilarious!
I'm so glad they cut this. What they went with was SO MUCH BETTER.
T'be honest I found this....kinda awesome. I really don't mind the believability issues, I mean there is a giant saucer right there.
+Argiris “RetroAmateur” Papadopoulos Hey if people can buy into Will Smith & Jeff Goldblum piloting an alien spacecraft into outer space & docking with the mothership then uploading a PC virus to it's central computer causing their alien OS to become corrupted thus making their ships defenseless then why can't a biplane be used as a rectal probe on an alien ship... ; - ) This wouldn't even be up for discussion if the aliens had been using Mac's instead of Windows ( Less viruses ) Lol
I don't think the virus infection is as rediculous as people make it out to be. David manages to trace and understand their signal and thanks to the 50 years of research done to the alien tech in area 51 they could produce a virus that can infect the alien systems.
+Argiris “RetroAmateur” Papadopoulos
but you didnt think how come aliens use same time measure as humans in that countdown? his decoding shows earth time. if he intercepted and decoded aliens countdown, no way it will match ours. so, fail in very beginning. :)
on other hand, signal is one thing, operating system is something absolutely different.
@@zoki.to974 Their countdown signal was different from ours: It was a repeating pattern that removed sections of itself each iteration until it finally disappeared. David just calculated how long it would take for that to happen and set a timer.
Should have put him in an F-4 Phantom, like he would have flown in Vietnam.
There were no Phantoms in Area 51.
Good thing this was cutted out. It looks so unrealistic that a biplane would be flying at that high altitude alongside with the F-18s. At least they remade small parts of this and replaced Russell's biplane with an F-18.
because a giant alien ship is more realistic
That wasn't that high.
@@shawnc1016 Is 500 feet high?
@@CB3474 Yes, if you don't have a plane. No, if you do.
@@drafer100 so with that logic that "anything goes" they couldve had him flying the original wright brothers plane aswell? after all, its a movie with aliens, eh?
Finally someone posted the Independence Day alternate ending. I remember seeing this on the Fox DVD promo on most of my older dvd's but my version of the film didn't have the scene and no one ever posted it. Thank you very much for showing such a hard to find part of the film.
You’re welcome
Prefer the "REAL" ending but kudos for showing and Independence day was and STILL IS amazing!
I never had the impression that the missile made any difference anyhow -- I assumed the explosion was due to something more like having an obstruction in a rifle barrel.
Thanks! One of my Favorite Movies EVER! Good to know.....
very interesting because, exactly: have wondered how and or why certain editing decisions are made in movies..one of my favorite films!
It's stupid that they wouldn't recruit him because he's an alcoholic. They're in a situation where they can't afford to be picky. They need ALL the help they can get right now. He's a pilot and has even served in the military as one.
If I remember correctly, the backstory of him serving in Vietnam was also inserted last minute to accommodate the new ending. So in this version, he has no training on the jets.
The C.T.K. 1000 Even so, he has flight experience. He knows the basics on how to fly a plane so that should be a plus for the recruitment. Like I said, at a time like this, they can't afford to be picky.
+Alexander Edward Pytko And that's the reason I really hate this ending and how they just turn him down. It would've ruined the movie had they kept it.
Gasoline85 Agreed. I mean, even if they had still had not used the Vietnam thing about him, the second ending with him getting recruited would've still worked. It'd be like he's always flown as a crop duster but now he's finally flying as one of the big boys in a jet fighter.
Alexander Edward Pytko Precisely. It doesn't even make sense. It's like "yeah, we're desperate for pilots, extinction of mankind and all, but not *that* desperate".
"Did not want to take away from the drama" Yet they approved Will Smith knocking out an alien with a punch.
"Welcome to Earf"
That was in the beginning of the movie, not at the climax, silly.
@@sciencecompliance235 Was that the climax? I thought Data being groped was.
This is great! I love both versions, though I still prefer the version they ended up going with in the final cut. Much more epic.
i never knew this. thank you for sharing this, it was awesome!
e.t. queen : how could you fail
e.t. well i got got down by a earth bi plane
queen : idiots
That must be how they felt just random et:"development in the distraction of our super death ship. It seems to of been destroyed by a very very old earth plane"
Queen:"really really you idiots"
+Greg Strother et queen :if i want a job done i have to do it my self
+morris m (The cat) random et:"should I prepare the super death destroyer mothership thing my queen?"
Queen:"YES"
+Greg Strother queen : i will show you fools how it done
+morris m (The cat) 20 years later
Queen:we're finally here get our super weapon ready mwhahahahah
super computer superplanetdestroyer.exe download is at 1% estimated time 48 hours until completion
Queen:WHO UNINSTALLED IT!?!
Random et: I did to download games
Queen throws the et out the ship
I’m glad they went with the final version. Much more believable and realistic.
THAT's WHY they make the BIG $$$$....and the CRITICS DON'T.
I have a newfound appreciation for this movie. saw it came out. cheers Alex
Thanks for sharing this. I still have this on VHS. Look forward to watching it again.
My dad got a kick out of this. 68 433 Satan's Angels.
My Dad worked Weps. Got Colonel Olds his second Ace.
Chappy Is our Hero still...Robin he's cool.
Seriously, Looky "up" Chappy James....
There is a movie.
Read this version inn the novelisation and wondered then how the hell a 1930s biplane would survive getting through an air battle fought between fast jets and flying saucers long enough to kill the city destroyer. Movie ending in the final version much better and the scene where Case makes the decision to do a kamikaze attack does have a lot of emotional wallop to it.
I forget if it was the Korean War or Vietnam, but the US used some Late WW2 prop planes for certain ground attack roles, and they were actually hard to shoot down with guns because modern Jet aircraft flew too quickly to get a bead on them. By the time you had finished aiming you had already overshot it.
Gaidin78 yeah but even so there is a massive difference in a late WW2 prop aircraft and the 30s crop duster he is using. In Korea they were still using prop aircraft in frontline combat roles and I think the Americans were using turbo prop in Vietnam. And I think the CIA were using C47s as modified gunships. In the novelisation of this film it briefly mentions that the fight back at the end were utilising aircraft from as far back as WW2 with a young civilian pilot being equipped with a P51.
While I agree that the final version was overall better, I think the biplane ending does perform an interesting homage to early invasion sci-fi, notably War of The Worlds where biplanes were the "high tech" for much of the story's heyday.
wow that scene would have been a disaster
yeaaa
ah this is class, was looking for this..... CANT WAIT FOR THE NEW ONE.
I kind of liked the alternate ending. It was kind of giving this humle idea that a hero can come from anywhere, and doesn't require the largest jet or super weapon to save the day, but the right mind set.
“This is much more heroic, the alien ship was destroyed by a primitive technology”
Well to them , the fighter jets would have been primitive as well.
Man Tears on the original ending! admit it guys
And the speech, " we will not go gently into the night"
This is such a classic film!! One of my favorites and excellent choice to change it -
Its a trillion times better anything put out these days even if you kept that silly bit in it
It’s Independence Day 2022 🎉Thank you Mr. Casse
Omg this was hilarious lol
I have to say I prefer this alternate ending. I can see why it was omitted though. However I would like to point out that while it is unrealistic to see a bi-plane flying along side F18's, this is a movie about an alien invasion, with space ships and green lasers, in which an Apple Mac is used to communicate with an alien computer network and implant a software virus. I dont see the bi-plane scene as an issue ;)
Chris Winter
Besides the biplane being stupid, it shows that Quaid's character went up on a drunken suicide mission. It removed any reason for his oldest son to be in the command center and it removed the emotional moment when Quaid's character decides to sacrifice his life and asks the president to "tell my children I love them very much." Add to that the bi-polar probably couldn't have made that climb.
The original scene would have got a laugh. As it stands it brings emotions.
pjamese3 haha i think you missed the point of my post perhaps ;)
No. I get your point that the whole movie was unbelievable. I agree. However, part of the willing suspension of disbelief was that you accepted the invading aliens and their technology. The whole thing with the Mac and the virus was BS, but it was still more believable than the biplane.
In any case, the technical believability of using a biplane wasn't my point either. My main point was that Quaid's character in the biplane came off as a drunken suicidal gesture that cost the movie the emotional impact of him CHOOSING to sacrifice his life IOT ensure that his kids would survive (along with the rest of humanity.) We would have also lost the apparent arc of his character going from a drunken has-been to a hero again (with the sleight of hand of him apparently failing...just before his blue steel hero moment.)
Fair and good point. You study film or something? Far too much effort for a TH-cam comment in reply to one that is now over a year old ;) But yes, great point.
Thank you! That was great!
This was Awesome to see. I'm a huge fan of Independence Day. Thanks for sharing...Okayyyy!!!🤗
It's a good thing the aliens came to Earth in the 1990s when we have fighter jets and stuff, because if they came in a much earlier time like the 1930s or something, then we'd all have to fight against them in bi-planes :P
Today we would use drones . Totally would kill the line " tell my kids I love them " .
There's an alternative history series done by the author Harry Turtledove that has an alien invasion during 1942.
there is an animated sequel to the war of the worlds where the red baron and other germans take down several martians flying machines on theirs triplanes.
Or Zeppelins
At 3:51 when Bill Pullman says"he did it , son of a bitch did it" then starts to bank right is so awesome, and is it Dean Devlin the producer talking?
FASCINATING! Thanks for the insider sharing!
Don’t Mention It
The final version was infinitely better.
It’s fascinating to see this version, but they made the right call. The final version still drives me to tears.
This isn’t a moment to laugh. It’s a moment of heroism. The final film executed that well.
In the new movie they will defeat the aliens by making them listen to Justin Bieber's songs.
Mars Attack Resurgence 😂😂😂
I think that this ought to be a top comment.
Should have kept the original in the bi-plane, would have been awesome
I thought this was going to be a fake edit. Kinda surprised, pleasantly. Thanks for uploading.
When you watch a film a million times but 24 years later you realise you didn't see the whole thing
Who's watching this on 4th July 2020 1:56 AM
It's amazing to learn just how silly some of the most iconic and inspiring scenes in movies could have been. Kinda makes you wonder what emotion directors are going for with their films. The reaction may not have been the intended reaction, which fascinates me.
Fun fact, that missile strapped to the plane (the AGM-65 mock up) would be over 300kgs heavy, and should be twice as large were it the real thing. The biplane wouldn't even be able to lift it off the ground, let alone stay in the air.
Fascinating! Thanks for the insight!
Cannot fucking believe this was ever a thought. Thank God this was changed. This would've destroyed ID4 and all of the buildup. Nope, sorry this is a fucking comedy now... in the face of the audience.
lol that woulda been funnny
Yes, thank God for God and the Military who served under God.
The Military guys who reviewed ID4 probably objected on a lot of things. 1. The disrespect the Military gave to him. 2. He managed to stole a missile from the Military. 3. This scene poor taste of comedy.
Thank god for god? What? The military doesnt serve god mate.
Yeah the ending with the biplane was bullshit
"2. He managed to stole a missile from the Military"
Dude they were in a state of emergency (it's shown multiple air forces of the world regrouping in improvised airfields) so of course that every single piece of ordnance wouldn't be accounted for.
They made the right call to pick the movie ending, this shot although funny, kinda doesn’t fit properly with the action.
That biplane would be struggling to carry that missile in level flight let alone in a vertical climb.
First of all.. Thank you for showing this.
Secondly.. FWIW he is not flying along with the f18's he is following them well behind. Also a modified bi-plane used in crop dusting can climb several thousands of feet vertically.. They do it all the time.
Third.. The theatrical release never made any sense to how slow he was going nor to to the fact that no one knew who he was.
Fourth.. The moral of the book was changed in changing the plane from his bi-plane and leaves out his lesson of sacrifice for his children and all the rest to see.. Overcoming alcoholism and doing what needed to be done for his children and his country.
This ending shows this.. Even with some minor comic relief of how the bomb was attached, it shows that the drunkard was willing to give his own life in protecting his family.
I can only hope more people can understand the significance of the original story ending.
There are merits to both endings. I can think of a few instances where the low tech approach has actually worked in real life.
The actual one is far superior than this. You make it sound like they are equally good.
This ending would have been fantastic for the final film. He knows he's not coming back. He's willing to give his life for the world and his family. Him throwing that bottle down is like a wake up call for him. Plus its a biplane in a alien battle and Randy Quaid is perfect for this ending. You could have shot a scene where He could have him made the decision back at the base when he looks at how helpless his family is while he was looking at that picture. I approve this ending.
It was obvious the Bi Plane would have a part in the end as he towed it behind his motor home and the camera linger on it when he drove by the camera. It was literately Checkov's Plane.
Best solution would have been that he jury rigged the missile on to the bi plane like they did bombs and depth charges slung under the wings of cargo planes in WW2 and they were released with a length of bailing wire on a wooden toggle connected to connector pins that the pilot pulled from inside.
If he had done something similar, the wire could have broke and he had to make the same heroic choice rather than a pre planed suicide
The reaction to him destroying the ship that's some of the best acting you will see. It's such a raw reaction that's hard to capture
I've watched this movie 30 or so times. On my birthday.