Daily Dialogue — December 3, 2016

HILLER: Sonofabitch. Haaaa! Just wait! Just wait! Get off. Get off of me!. That’s what you’ll get! Ha, ha! Look at you! Ship all banged up. Who’s the man? Huh? Who’s the man? Wait ’til I get another plane. I’m linin’ all your friends out right right beside you. Where you at, huh? Huh? Where you at?

Opens the hatch and is confronted by the alien pilot, which he sucker punches.

HILLER: Welcome to earth. (Lights cigar.) That’s what I call a close encounter.

— Independence Day (1996), written by Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich

The Daily Dialogue theme for this week: Alien Invasion, suggested by Michael Waters. Today’s suggestion by Will King.

Trivia: The character of President Whitmore was originally intended to be a Richard Nixon-like figure. The role was originally written for Kevin Spacey, co-writer Dean Devlin’s friend from high school. An executive at Fox refused to cast Spacey, insisting he didn’t have the potential to be a big star. The part was re-written and Bill Pullman was then cast in the role. Kevin would later be cast as an alien in K-PAX (2001)

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Will: “After a desperate attempt to escape his alien pursuer, Hiller is still in an excited state as he unwraps himself from his ejection seat. This is a good example of how to write excited dialogue filled with bravado using very short sentences and repetition. And it ends with a moment of comedy that pays homage to another alien invasion classic.”