Don't bother watching even one minute of this trash. It is a horrid attempt at sci-fi, using the lowest-calibre actors, a bad script, abysmal cinematography... even the music is bad and inappropriate (and far too loud). To put the movie out using this title is criminal, imho. Any association with the classic "Independence Day" is thoroughly lamentable. The producers should be ashamed of themselves. The hand-held camera technique is shown here at its worst, much like home movies of the 50s and 60s. Thank goodness I didn't pay to watch this crud: the movie was on TV Christmas Eve.

Decent special effects and acting can't save the dopey tediousness of this made-for-TV sci-fi actioner that's ultimately done in by a clumsy plot and the worst title ever given a film, ever, ever.Despite the obvious comparison to the big-budget "Independence Day" of more than a decade prior, the only similarity between that blockbuster and this DTV nonsense is the alien-invasion story and the ridiculously convenient and inane deus ex machina plot devices that let our heroes save the day.Otherwise, this one is about aliens who decide to terraform the earth, using giant, robotic phalluses that burst out of the ground, and flying, spherical drones that protect a mother ship that emerges – suddenly! – from behind the moon.That's all we get.A ragtag group of nerds, teenagers and the president of the United States (!), team up to save the world. And it's a good thing they do, because this is one of those movies in which the only people who exist in the world are those with speaking parts. It's like the filmmakers spend so much money on special effects, they can't afford to pay an extra or two to stand in the background to at least make the town that's getting destroyed by alien robot drones look somewhat populated.Tom Everett Scott from "That Thing You Do," the only player of note in this drivel, has matured into a handsome and confident actor who needs to fire his agent, and hire one who can talk him out of idiotic films like this one, "Santa Paws 2" and "Mars Needs Moms." Seriously, dude's got some chops. There's gotta be a "Law & Order" or "CSI" franchise for this guy somewhere.Most of the other actors in this movie, surprisingly, give it all they've got. I mean, once their agent sent them a script that said "Independence Daysaster" on the cover, they should have been expected to phone it in. But these little nobodies act their little nobody hearts out, and it's so charming.Not charming enough, however, to make this a good movie, or one worth recommending you spend 90 minutes of your life with. Despite everyone's good intentions, "Independence Daysaster" is a disaster.

While the average viewer should never get anywhere near them, I have a soft spot for low-budget genre flicks of the kind they produce for the SyFy Channel, and within those confines, this one's a real gem. Rather than take The Asylum's cynical but amusing formula of knocking off the title but little else of a current blockbuster, Daysaster goes the opposite route and has the chutzpah to rip off a beloved hit that's almost 20 years old in a fair amount of detail. Roland Emmerich's Independence Day is one of my favorite movies, and if you take the brazen plot point and dialog nods to it in W.D. Hogan's pic as loving homage rather than shameless theft, you'll probably have a blast. I know I did.The level of acting is pretty good for one of these flicks, where you're shooting for an underdog quality that will make you root for the low budget trappings rather than sneer at them. Tom Everett Scott is the star name here, and he makes an effective President, particularly when mixed with the goofy computer hackers (Emily Holmes and Iain Belcher are delightfully awkward interacting with the Leader of the Free World) he finds himself with for most of the movie. Meanwhile, Garwin Sanford is fun as his weasel of a VP and Ryan Merriman is a solid hero as the President's firefighter brother.While many of the plot points are lifts from the Emmerich flick (it's fun to watch the movie shouting out the ID4 lines it references as it references them... or maybe that was just me) and its big-budget knockoff Battle Los Angeles, there are a few clever new ideas in the way the nature of the alien threat provides openings for a small, plucky group of random citizens to fight back. The special effects aren't so bad that it's a distraction, and you can't argue that the design of the alien vehicles doesn't stand out.If you could imagine yourself watching a movie called Independence Daysaster for anything but derisive laughs, give it a try. This is one of the good ones.

This a good movie for the SyFy channel. It actually has a viable plot and decent acting. The a-hole playing the vice president does a good job as a subordinate who all of a sudden gets ultimate power and abuses it. The president manages to survive the initial alien attacks and surprise, surprise hooks up with not only his brother and son but the only cyber geeks that can help the USA and of course the world in general. The movie is watchable and I found it entertaining enough to watch to the end, not always an option with me and SyFy channel movies. You have the SETI scientist who has the answer to the alien invasion but she also gives her self up for the good of earth. There is the end of the movie that shows a lot of alien ships moving in on the earth so I guess they are hoping for a sequel. Unless it occurs decades in the future I do not think it is viable. I mean the USA used up most if not all their ICBM's and the jet fighters were pretty much wiped out. So not much in the way of defense for at least the USA.