Independence Day is a 1996 American epic science-fiction film. Directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich, it's considered a significant turning point in the history of the Hollywood blockbuster. The film focuses on disparate groups of people who converge in the Nevada desert in the aftermath of a calamitous attack by a powerful extraterrestrial race from an unknown origin. They launch a last-ditch counterattack on July 4, Independence Day in the United States. 2016's sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence, is set 20 years after the events of the first film, as the aliens return to attack Earth.