* Doubling as a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, Hiller opens the hatch to the cockpit of the alien ship he'd brought down by parachute-blindfold. The alien pilot lunges out, shrieking horribly... and he just punches it out with a growled "Welcome to [[MemeticMutation Earth]]!"

* The first line of the film, courtesy of the SETI director being awoken at Godknowswhat o'clock in the morning.

* When David goes to get him and his father out of NYC and to White House, Julius opens his front door while brandishing a shotgun. With David unfazed by this.

-->'''Julius:''' Tell me, you're so smart: how come you spent eight years at MIT to become a cable repairman? They have people who can handle this, David. If they want HBO they'll call you.

-->'''Marty:''' [[OhCrap Oh, my God!]] ''Oh, my God!'' I gotta call my brother! I gotta call my house keeper! I gotta call my lawyer!...[[AcceptableTargets Aw, forget my lawyer.]]

* Doubling as a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, Smith (as Steve Hiller) opens the hatch to the cockpit of the alien ship he'd brought down by parachute-blindfold. The alien pilot lunges out, shrieking horribly...and he just punches it out with a growled "Welcome to [[MemeticMutation Earth]]!"

** The entire sequence of David and Steve leaving the mother ship before it explodes. Absolutely amazing chemistry, and not just a few {{ShoutOut}}s:

* The president's bewildered expression when he finds out Area 51 is real. What makes it better is that David's father, Julius, was the one to bring it up simply on accident when he accuses the presidential staff that they should've known this was coming.
-->'''President''': Despite what you may have read in the tabloids, there's never been any spacecraft recovered by our government. There is not Area 51. There's no alien spaceship. There is no recovered space ship.
-->'''Nimziki''': Ah, excuse me Mr. President. That's not... entirely accurate.
-->''{{Beat}}''

--->''(Whitmore, Grey, and Nimziki turn and give him a "How much ''do'' you know?" look)''
** This is actually what the military does: ridiculously pad their expenses so that funds can be quietly transferred to secret projects.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls2CwZjQ9es The original ending of Independence Day]], which sees Russell, having been rejected from the final fight due to his alcoholism, stealing a nuclear missile, strapping it onto his biplane and flying ''that'' into the spaceship to destroy it. This ending was scrapped as Dean Devlin said that a biplane flying amongst - and keeping pace with - F/A-18s was "just not believable".

-->Aliens are just too stupid for words to express. An alien air traffic controller [[FailedASpotCheck can look at a fighter that has been human-modified for 20 minutes and is only 50 feet away and not notice the welded-on missile rack until the missle is fired through his work station.]]

-->'''Computer:''' [[WiperStart "Missile launch."]]
-->'''Russell:''' Oh, CRAP! Which one...which one...

--->When they took him up in the spaceship, the aliens ''abused'' him...''sexually''.

-->'''David''': You still have the Plymouth?
-->'''Julius''': You wanna borrow the car? David, you don't have a licence.
-->'''David''': You're driving.
-->'''Julius''': Yeah, I'm driv-! Wait, I'm driving?!

-->"So, you wanna ring the bell, or should I?"

-->"'All you need is love.' Music/JohnLennon. Smart man. Shot in the back. Very sad."

--> '''Hiller:''' [[QuipToBlack Now that's what I call a close encounter.]]

-->'''Hiller:''' You know, this was supposed to be my weekend off. But ''nooooooo''. Instead, you got me out here dragging your heavy ass through the burning desert, with your dreadlocks sticking out the back of my parachute. And you gotta come down here with an attitude, acting all big and bad. ''(pauses, looks around)'' AND WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SMELL?!
-->''(screams, kicks the alien repeatedly.)''
-->'''Hiller:''' I COULDA BEEN AT A ''BARBECUE!''
-->''(grabs his parachute and resumes dragging)''
-->'''Hiller:''' But I'm not mad. It's all right. That is all right.

-->'''First Lady:''' I didn't think you recognized me.
-->'''Jasmine:''' Well, I didn't want to say nothin'... and I voted for the other guy.

-->'''Steve''': Whooooo! Man, I have got to get me one of these!

-->'''David:''' Little shaky. Is it gonna do this the whole way?
-->'''Steve:''' Just make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their upright and locked positions.
-->'''David:''' Yeah. Is it?

-->'''David''': I was counting on this. They're pulling us in.
-->'''Steve''': When the hell were you gonna tell me?
-->'''David''': (''beat'') Oops.
-->'''Steve''': We have ''got'' to work on our communication.

-->"Hey! Alright, how you guys doin'? Take a look at the Earthlings! Good-''bye!''"

-->'''Steve''': PEACE! ''(cue nuke launch)''

-->'''Steve''': I ain't heard no fat lady!
-->'''David''': Forget the fat lady! You're obsessed with the fat lady! Drive us outta here!

-->'''David''': We're hit! We took a hit!
-->'''Steve''': We're not hit! We're not hit! Stop side-seat driving!
-->'''David''': No! No! Tunnel! Tunnel! Exit! Exit! LEFT!
-->'''Steve''': Where the hell do you think I'm going?!
-->'''David''': Uh, uh, OK. We're, we're, uh...
-->'''David''': No, they're closing it on us!
-->'''Steve''': Shut up, shut up, shut up!
-->'''David''': Faster, [[Film/JurassicPark must go faster, must go faster]]. GO GO GO GO!
-->'''Steve''': (''piloting the ship through just as the doors close'') AAAAAAAAHHH! ELVIS HAS '''LEFT THE BUILDING!'''
-->'''David''': (''Elvis impression'') Thank you, thank you very much. Oh, I love you, man.

-->'''Whitmore:''' I don't understand. Where does all this come from? How do you get funding for something like this?
-->'''Julius:''' You don't actually think they spend $20,000 on a hammer, $30,000 on a toilet seat, do you?
-->''(Whitmore, Grey, and Nimziki turn and give him a "How much ''do'' you know?" look)''

-->When they took him up in the spaceship, the aliens ''abused'' him...''sexually''.

-->[camera cuts to shot of window, three-quarters of which is engulfed by one of the scout crafts that's currently idling over the Los Angles skyline. Helicopter blades and sirens can be heard wailing in the foreground.]

--->'''David:''' See you tomorrow, Pop. (kisses his father and grabs his bike)
--->'''Julius:''' Just hold on, this is not checkmate! (beat) Ugh, checkmate!

-->'''Julius:''' Tell me, you're so smart: why did you go to MIT to become a cable repairman? They have people who can handle this, David. If they want HBO they'll call you.

-->'''President''': Take my word for it, there is no Area 51. There is no recovered space ship.
-->'''Nimziki''': Ah, Mr. President. That's not... entirely accurate.

--> '''Steve:''' [[WhatTheHellHero WHAT THE HELL'S WRONG WITH YOU!!?]]

* When Connie's aides are pressing her for updates, she says "Our official position is we ''have'' no official position!"

* After his father gives him the idea for the virus, David runs over and tells one of the scientists to call everyone down. The scientist pretends to work for about five seconds before he gives a very groggy "...what?"