Roland Emmerich's action flick was a huge success when it was released in 1996 and it still has a lot of fans, even today. Will Smith finally became a huge star and the special effects were fantastic (for a film released in 1996). Critics make fun of it because of its stupid, Americanized patriotism and pathos, but if you're able to ignore that the President of the United Staates gets into a jet to kick some alien butts and who can also ignore some abstrusities in the plot, you will enjoy two hrs. of finest Hollywood entertainment. Even today Roland Emmerich creates scenarios where the world is doomed or at least parts of it (The Day After Tomorrow, 2012), and the idea of a second Independence Day still exists. But nobody knows if part 2 will be released before doomsday or not.

The Theatrical Version runs more than 2 hrs. Nevertheless there's also an Extended Version which contains more than 8 min. of new footage. Those scenes are only plot scenes for a deeper characterization or to make the story itself more logical. Some of the scenes are quite interesting, some just redundant, but fans can purchase the Extended Version without seconds thoughts.


15 differences, devided in

1 scene with alternate footage
2 extended scenes with alternate footage
5 additional scenes
7 extended scenes

The Extended Version (EV) is 505.04 sec or approx. 8 minutes 25 seconds longer than the Theatrical Cut (TC).

Compared are the Theatrical Cut (PG-13) and the Extended Version (PG-13) (both released by 20th Century Fox).

Extended scene
0:06:33: The conversation between Connie and Whitmore goes on in the EV.

Whitmore: "It's a fine line between standing behind a principle and hiding behind one. You can tolerate a little compromise if you are actually managing to get something accomplished."
Connie: "Well, The Orange County Dispatch has voted you one of the 10 sexiest men of the year."
Whitmore: "That's .. that's accomplishing something."
25.8 sec extended

Additional scene
0:13:23: One more sentence of the President in the White House. Whitmore also says: "Take us to Defcon Three!"

Now we've got a completely new scene. David is in his office, he gets some soup out of the microwave. Marty steps in his office.

Marty: "Please tell me we're getting somewhere!"
David: "Oh, there's good news, and there's bad news."
Marty: "All right, what's the bad news?"
David: "The bad news is that you're in meal penalty for disturbing my lunch."
Marty: "And the good news is that you're not gonna charge me."
David: "No. The good news is that I've found the problem. It's not our equipment. There's some kind of weird signal embedded in the satellite feed."
Marty: "And that is the good news?"
David: "Yeah, 'cause this signal has a definite sequential pattern, so as soon as I find the exact binary sequence then I can calculate the phase reversal with that analyzer I built you for your birthday and apply it, we should be able to block it out completely."
Marty: "And then we'll be the only guys in town with a clear picture? Yes! Yes! Yes! Ok, David, that's why I love you!" (Marty kisses David on the mouth)
David: "I know. That's unnecessary. You're too kind."
54.92 sec

Extended scene
0:33:55: Extended conversation of Russell and his sons.

Miguel: "We're leaving - without you. We're going to live with Uncle Hector in Tucson."
Russell: "Hector? Like hell you are. I'm still your father!"
Miguel: "No, you're not. You're just the man who married my mother. You're nothing to me."
Russell: "Oh....oh. Well, what about Troy?"
Miguel: "Troy?"
Russell: "Yeah."
Miguel: "For once in your life why don't you thing about what's best for him? Just who in the hell has to beg for money to buy him medicine when you screw up? Who? Who?"
Troy: (drops his medicine on the floor) "You stop it right now! I'm not a baby anymore! And I don't want your stupid medicine, 'cause I'm so sick of medicine!"
Miguel: "Do you know what this stuff costs? Do you want to get sick again? Do you?"
55.48 sec

Extended scene
0:37:35: Extended conversation of Jasmine and Tiffany.

Tiffany: "Oh, like the real bad feeling you got when I went to Las Vegas?"
Jasmine: "Yeah, and I was right. You didn't get the job, and you lost all your money gambling."
Tiffany: "Yeah, but I wasn't in L.A. for the earthquake."
Jasmine: "Tiff, I really don't want you to go up there."
13.76 sec

Extended scene
37:57: Jasmine enters another room, her boss Mario arrives.

Jasmine: "Hey, there's my angel. Come on!"
Mario: "Hey! Come on, talk to your boyfriend later! Hey, what the hell is the kid doin' here?"
Jasmine: "You try finding a sitter today."
Mario: "Hey, where do you think you are going? You leave, you're fired!"
Jasmine: "Nice workin' with ya, Mario. Come on, Boomer!"
23.36 sec

Extended scene
0:38:48: Extended scene of David looking for Connie's phone number. Other cars approach in front of them and Julius has to avoid a collision.

David: "Sometimes it's just her first initial. Sometimes it's her nickname. Sometime it's just her .."
Julius: "Oh my God!"
David: "Hey, hey, hey, slow it down!"
Julius: "Tell them!"
32 sec

Extended scene
0:39:25: Moments later an extended conversation between David and his father.

Julius: "Well .. So not listed?"
David: "No, no, I just haven't found it yet. I tried C. Spano and Connie Spano, Spunky Spano ..."
Julius: "Spunky!?"
David: "College nickname."
Julius: "Ah, ...cute. You tried Levinson?"
David: "No, she didn't take my name when we were married. Why would she .. What are you talking about?"
Julius: "Try it!"
David: "It isn't here, look!" [the name really pops up on the screen]
Julius: "So what do I know, hm?"
24.68 sec

Additional scene
0:42:26: Julius is impressed about being in the oval office, he starts philosophizing about it.

Julius: "This I like. Look at this. You know what famous people have been here, hm?"
David: "Yeah Dad."
Julius: "Politicians, actors, baseball players, singers, and now me."
David: "Imagine that. Look, a poor immigrant like me. It's a dream!"
Julius: "Shh, shh, David, please!"
21.52 sec

Extended scene
1:04:39: Extended shot of Russell on the bed of his son Troy, he tells him more.

Russell: "You're just like your mother, you know that? She was stubborn too. Had to twist her arm to get her to take her medicine. You're gonna be alright."
Alicia: "You're gonna be alright."
14.48 sec

Extended scene with alternate footage
1:04:57: Miguel says one more sentence in the EV. Furthermore the order of the images is slightly different in both versions.

Miguel: "I couldn't find anything."

After that a boy arrives at the trailor. He says: "Penicillin. At least it'll help keep his fever down."
Alicia: "Oh, thank you! It's really nice of you to help us!"
Boy: "I wish I could do more, but we're moving out."
Alicia: "I'm going with you! Well, I mean that we're going too."
Boy: "Cool!"
Russell: "Tell that punk to shut the door. We're outta here. Go sniff around somewhere else!"
Alicia: "Bye."
Boy: "Bye."
26.04 sec

Additional scene
1:08:49: New scene which shows a religious man shouting on a dumping ground.

Man: "The end hath come! He spaketh his word, and the end hath come!"
Jasmine: "Hop on! We're heading out to El Toro."
Man: "You cannot defy what hath come. It is the end!"

The man keeps on browsing the bible while Jasmine is still driving with the other survivors. The man shouts "El Toro?!"
26.36 sec

Additional scene
1:18:00: Dr. Okun shows David the inside of the spaceship and explains some devices to him. David seems to know how to handle the mysterious ones.

Okun: "Come on down. Watch your step."
David: "Yes."
Okun: "Watch out!
David: "Okay."
Okun: "Well, obviously, this cockpit was designed to seat three, though how they sat on that, I don't know. You see this gizmo flashing?"
David: "Yeah."
Okun: "We've been working around the clock trying to get a fix on all this crap. Some stuff we figured out right away. This, we're pretty sure, is the life support system for the cabin, and, this doohickey is connected to... Well, it was connected to the engine. Here. Take that, will ya? These configurations .. well to be honest, we don't know what the hell this crap is. But this is clearly what they use to guide and navigate their craft. Neat, ha?"
David: "That's very good. Somebody grab my laptop there? Dr. Isaacs, can I just have the computer inside there?"
Okun: "What for?"
David: "See these patterns here? They're repeating sequentially, just like their countdown signal. They're using that frequency for computer communications. See? That's how they're coordinating their ships."
Okun: "You know, you're really starting to make us look bad."

One of Okun's assistants arrives and shouts: "They got one! They got one alive!"
In the spaceship, another of his assistants brings the message: "They got one alive!"
Okun: "Jesus! Look, will you be Ok by yourself, Dave?"
David: "Fine, Dr. Okun."
Okun: "Don't touch anything." [Okun leaves the spaceship]
David: "Why is he always telling me not to touch anything?" [David touches the screen and has sth. sticky on his hand]
David: "Oh, that's why."

After that, the second new scene appears. The convoy with Steve and the unconscious alien stops at Area 51. Some doctors arrive with a stretcher and one of them says: "Right here. We got her in the back of the pickup."
111.44 sec

Extended scene with alternate footage
1:19:51: The beginning of the following scene is equal in both versions (Okun's fast arrival), but different takes are used and one dialog is edited. After that, a scene with Steve pops up in the EV.

Steve: "How you doin', Sir. Captain Steven Hiller, United States Marine Corps. Guess who's coming to dinner."
Russell leaves his trailer und shouts: "I need a doctor! I need a doctor!"

Theatrical Cut:

Okun: "Oh boy!"
[Okun runs towards the others]
Okun: "How long has he been unconcious?"
Steve: "About three hours."
Okun: "Let's get him in containment."

Extended Version:

Okun: "How long has it been unconcious?"
Steve: "About three hours."
Okun: "Let's get him into containment, stat."
Russell: "My son, he's very sick! He needs immediate attention!"
Okun: "He's drying out. I want him sprayed down with saline."
Russell: "He has a problem with his adrenal cortex. Please! If you don't do something about it right now, my son will die!" [Russell grabs a doc]
Okun: "Ok, just help him!"
Arzt: "Ok. O'Haver, Miller, you come with us. You take us to him, Ok? Let's go!"
Okun: "Ok. Move it! Move it! Move it!" [Okun opens the door of the elevator, the others put the alien in it]
The Extended Version is 36.88 sec longer

Alternate footage
1:40:26: Sleepy Jim also asks "What" in the EV but the EV doesn't contain real new footage. The only difference is a cut to the hangar in the TC, which is replaced by other images that make more sense. But in the end, that's so unimportant that it's unillustrated.
The Theatrical Cut is 1 frame (0.04 sec) longer

Additional scene
2:05:46: Unimportant extension: Troy and Alicia at Area 51.

Troy: "God! Where are they?" [he looks at Alicia and the boy from the camping ground]
Alicia: "This could be our last night on earth. I don't want to die a virgin!"
Boy: "If we do, we'll both die virgins. But at least we'll be together."
38.36 sec