--- title: 'Independence Day: Resurgence' and How Sci-Fi Is Cyclical description: When the first Independence Day hit the silver screen in the summer of 1996, TIME reported on yet another summer of sci-fi canonical: https://time.com/4377916/sci-fi-history-ndependence-day-resurgence/ author: Emma Ockerman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-23T13:30:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:45:55.606Z article:section: History og:title: How Sci-Fi History Is Repeating Itself With 'Independence Day: Resurgence' og:description: When the first Independence Day hit the silver screen in the summer of 1996, TIME reported on yet another summer of sci-fi og:url: https://time.com/4377916/sci-fi-history-ndependence-day-resurgence/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4831b862e47e6ad/698898f95f570fff1cb2170b/id2-2.jpg?branch=production&width=889&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 889 og:image:height: 500 og:image:alt: INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Sci-Fi History Is Repeating Itself With 'Independence Day: Resurgence' twitter:description: When the first Independence Day hit the silver screen in the summer of 1996, TIME reported on yet another summer of sci-fi twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4831b862e47e6ad/698898f95f570fff1cb2170b/id2-2.jpg?branch=production&width=889&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Sci-Fi History Is Repeating Itself With _Independence Day: Resurgence_ by [Emma Ockerman](https://time.com/author/emma-ockerman/) ## Emma Ockerman Jun 23, 2016 1:30 PM UTC  An alien attack has devastating effects on a major world capital in a scene from 'Independence Day: Resurgence' An alien attack has devastating effects on a major world capital in a scene from 'Independence Day: Resurgence'Twentieth Century Fox by [Emma Ockerman](https://time.com/author/emma-ockerman/) ## Emma Ockerman Jun 23, 2016 1:30 PM UTC The most savvy entertainment seekers would probably agree that part of the attraction lies in the attempt to escape reality—whether that be [through virtual reality headsets](http://time.com/4273868/oculus-rift-movies/?iid=sr-link2) or other, more traditional means. And when it comes to summer movies, “traditional” often translates to [“science fiction.”](http://time.com/3051693/zoe-saldana-guardians-of-the-galaxy-space/?iid=sr-link5) Cue the arrival this summer of [_Ghostbusters_](http://www.ghostbusters.com/), [_Star Trek Beyond_](http://www.startrekmovie.com/) and, of course, [_Independence Day: Resurgence_](http://time.com/4147092/independence-day-resurgence-trailer/?iid=sr-link3), which hits theaters on Friday. Sure, _Independence Day_’s reality may not be the one you want to experience first-hand—one where the planet is once again under attack from extraterrestrials—but this won’t be the first time its subject matter reaches audiences in the midst of a wave of genre movies. When the first [_Independence Day_ ](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116629/)hit the silver screen in the summer of 1996, TIME reported on yet another summer of sci-fi action, with flicks such as [_The Arrival_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115571/?ref%5F=fn%5Fal%5Ftt%5F1)_,_ [_Phenomenon_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117333/?ref%5F=nv%5Fsr%5F1)_,_ and[_Mission Impossible_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117060/?ref%5F=nv%5Fsr%5F5). [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter) With all the momentum for that summer’s genre movies—and the appeal of the original _ID4_, which Richard Corliss called a “vigorous, retro-’70s disaster movie”—Steven Spielberg told TIME he wouldn’t be surprised if _Independence Day_ earned [up to $300 million in the box office](http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1819466,00.html). It earned almost exactly that domestically. But what was behind the trend? TIME [explained](http://time.com/vault/issue/1996-07-08/page/64/): --- > “” --- The theory is that, as the late sci-fi editor David Hartwell told TIME in 1996, the “alien represents metaphorically, what’s in the real world.” The same idea holds true today. Today, says [Istvan Csicsery-Ronay](http://dpuadweb.depauw.edu/icronay%5Fweb/), English professor at DePauw University and co-editor of _Science Fiction Studies_, some of the same themes from the original _Independence Day_—the fear of the outside invader, the craving for a dependable government—are mirrored in _Resurgence._ The sequel also wraps in technological advances in warfare that have taken place in the last 20 years. But, he says, though sci-fi “can be used to justify, psychologically, things that are politically harder to justify,” these days the genre sometimes drifts away from its power to expose political or social matters, and more into the realm of pure “adrenaline-pumping” fun. But that doesn’t mean that _Independence Day: Resurgence_ doesn’t offer a window into fear in American society today. After all, as Csicsery-Ronay says, in the sequel “the mothership is apparently even bigger.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4377916/sci-fi-history-ndependence-day-resurgence/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4377916/sci-fi-history-ndependence-day-resurgence/"},"headline":"How Sci-Fi History Is Repeating Itself With Independence Day: Resurgence","datePublished":"2016-06-23T13:30:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:45:55.606Z","description":"When the first Independence Day hit the silver screen in the summer of 1996, TIME reported on yet another summer of sci-fi","url":"https://time.com/4377916/sci-fi-history-ndependence-day-resurgence/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4831b862e47e6ad/698898f95f570fff1cb2170b/id2-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Emma Ockerman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/emma-ockerman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4831b862e47e6ad/698898f95f570fff1cb2170b/id2-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE","caption":"INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE","creditText":"Twentieth Century Fox","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4377916/sci-fi-history-ndependence-day-resurgence/","name":"How Sci-Fi History Is Repeating Itself With Independence Day: Resurgence"}}]}] ```