Iconic Independence Day Line Is a Nod to Jurassic Park
Independence Day writer Dean Devlin states that Jeff Goldblum's "must go faster" line is a reference to another of the actor's films: Jurassic Park.
According to Independence Day writer Dean Devlin and star Jeff Goldblum, one of the movie's iconic lines came from another of the actor's films: Jurassic Park.
The production of Independence Day offered some leeway in terms of improvisation, which led to some of the film's most famous lines. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Devlin mentioned how he would sometimes ask the cast to say certain things. "Whenever they would improv, I would sometimes come in and suggest a word to throw in," Devlin said. "So I just ran in and said, 'We'll probably cut it later, but you [Goldblum] got to give me the 'must go faster' line from Jurassic Park.'"
Goldblum was a little more apprehensive about the usage of the line in the film. "I was loath to appropriate from some other character [Goldblum's Dr. Ian Malcolm], and I hoped Mr. Spielberg wouldn't be unhappy that we'd used it. I think it all worked out." The line ended up staying in the movie, taking place near the end of the film as Goldblum and Will Smith's characters are flying out of the alien spaceship after planting the explosives that would save the day. The scene also saw another famous improvised Goldblum line, "The fat lady. You're obsessed with the fat lady," stated shortly before saying "Must go faster."
In Jurassic Park, the line occurs in a similarly tense escape moment, as Goldblum's character and others are attempting to outrun the movie's infamous T. Rex. The Jurassic Park line itself was improvised by the movie's director, Steven Spielberg, during the filming of the scene. When it came to Independence Day, Goldblum said improvisation was for the sake of entertainment. "We improvised, we were fooling around, having a good time."
The cast and crew mentioned several other famous improvised lines and scenes, such as Smith's attempt attempt at steering the UFO. Director Ronald Emmerich created a sticker for the scene that led to Smith reversing the ship before Goldblum turns the sticker around, suggesting "You go that way."
David Brenner, the film's editor, had no issue with keeping the improvised lines. "I just felt free to put in stuff I thought was fun and cool," he said. "Even if it sometimes was going to make a scene longer, you want to get this stuff in because you are not sure at the end how much comedy plays." Ultimately, some of the movie's most iconic lines were the product of improvisation, and according to the Independence Day crew, were for the sake of having fun.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter / www.cbr.com/