This Independence Day weekend will be considerably more muted than those in the past, and for many will be a quiet chance to stay in and watch Hamilton. But another holiday classic is getting some buzz thanks to a Twitter account reporting the events of 1996 Will Smith classic Independence Day.
The movie isn’t really about the Fourth of July as much as it is a framework for a stirring speech by a president near a bunch of fighter jets, but the movie does take place on the days that surround the national holiday. Which is why one enterprising Twitter account is cruising through the movie’s plot and tweeting it out in real time.
ID4 in Real Time joined Twitter in 2019 with the purpose of “tweeting the sights, sounds, and news from 1996’s historic alien attack and subsequent global military response in real time.” This year, however, it’s gotten considerably more buzz this year as thousands of folks online have signed up to watch the account matter-of-factly tweet the plot of the movie like it were reporting news actually happening in real time. The account did the bit in 2019 and had occasionally tweeted things unrelated to the movie in the months in between, but on June 28 unceremoniously started with the movie’s opening movements.
Los Angeles Times: Hollywood looking forward to First Lady Whitmore’s visit this week.
— ID4 in Real Time (@1996ID4) June 28, 2020
The tweets have no descriptions of actors, just “factual” information from the movie and how the plot evolves as it introduces characters from the film who have important roles in saving humanity from alien invaders.
There's some buzz that the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence Institute in New Mexico discovered a radio signal from another world earlier this evening or morning – whatever you want to call it. Take it with a grain of salt, we've had plenty of false alarms before.
— ID4 in Real Time (@1996ID4) July 2, 2020
BREAKING NEWS!!!! A source inside the White House says that NORAD has confirmed that the unidentified object pass by the moon is indeed a spacecraft not from this planet.
— ID4 in Real Time (@1996ID4) July 2, 2020
There are, however, some photos reported like images that might get shared on social media, just of alien ships hovering over New York, which if you’ve seen the movie mean disaster is coming.
A photo taken just moments ago by NYC resident Lucky Lopez. A picture is worth a thousand words. (Or at least $300.) pic.twitter.com/CatdEHQLGk
— ID4 in Real Time (@1996ID4) July 2, 2020
As of Friday evening, the movie was just getting good.
According to sources close to the situation, Captain Hiller approached the crashed alien craft he had been combating and engaged the alien pilot in hand to hand combat before subduing it with his parachute.
— ID4 in Real Time (@1996ID4) July 3, 2020
The Twitter page’s icon when that was tweeted was of Will Smith dragging an alien through the desert on his parachute, which was a nice touch. It might serve as a good distraction from all the real bad news on your Twitter account if you’re spending more time inside this weekend. Or you could always, you know, break out the ID4 VHS and watch the whole thing for yourself.
