Independence Day (also known by its promotional abbreviation ID4) is a 1996 science fiction film about a hostile alien invasion of Earth, focusing on a disparate group of individuals and families as they coincidentally converge in the Nevada desert and, along with the rest of the human population, participate in a last-chance retaliation effort on July 4. It was directed by Roland Emmerich, who co-wrote the script with producer Dean Devlin.

Emmerich came up with the idea for the film when he was promoting the film Stargate in Europe. Devlin decided to incorporate a large-scale attack into the film after questioning why aliens would travel long distances in space to Earth just to keep hidden. The film's script was written during a month-long vacation in Mexico, and principal photography for the film began in July 1995 in New York City. The film was officially completed on June 20, 1996.