The character arcs in Independence Day are satisfying to watch.
David Levingston, played by Jeff Goldblum, is a brilliant but low ambition MIT graduate who is working as a "cable repairman" - some sort of IT guy at a New York television network station. He is the only person to find the hidden signal that the alien invaders put in Earth's satellite communication system and is able to alert President Whitmore, played by Bill Pullman, before the aliens destroy the White House.
Meanwhile, Whitmore is a former combat pilot elected on the basis that he would be a tough fighter for America, but it turns out that he's an indecisive whimp.
In the end, Levingston ends up taking an active role in figuring out a method of defeating the aliens, not just applying his knowledge and intellect towards something that actually benefits humanity, but he even flies in to space along side Will Smith's character. And he reconciles with his ex-wife who left him to become Whitmore's press secretary because Levingston wasn't personally ambitious enough for her.
The President, meanwhile, after everything that's happened,
, and a close call with the alien hive mind, ends up finding the confidence to make the decision to go with Levingston's plan. But not only that, he takes up his role as a combat pilot to take to the skies in the climactic battle to determine the fate of HUMANITY! (ahem- got a bit carried away there.)
But the best arc belongs to Randy Quaid's character, a washed up alcoholic Vietnam war vet who claims to have been kidnapped by aliens. In the wake of the alien invasion, of course, it turns out he was right. He lives in a trailer as a single father with his kids who hate him and fails to make a living as a crop duster.
I don't want to spoil the ending for the four people who haven't seen this movie, but suffice it to say he gets his revenge.
Han Solo has an enjoyable character arc. He goes from petty loner and general selfish scumbag to deux ex machina hero, dependable brosef, learns to love someone other than himself, and becomes a major figurehead and general to the rebellion. This is a guy who starts out with his own needs being his only concern, to pretty much putting the entire galaxy - his friends well being and the rebellion's cause - before himself.
