In the near future, you may be able to pick up a dictionary, look up the word "derivative" and find this reference: "See the motion picture `Independence Day.' "

Whether you call it "homage" or "rip-off," "Independence Day" could not exist without a wide array of predecessors - "War of the Worlds," "Star Wars," "Alien," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Star Trek," "The X-Files," "The Stand," "V" . . . well, you get the idea.

Each of these seminal science-fiction efforts is specifically invoked by a scene or plot device, and many others ("Planet of the Apes," "E.T.," "2001," "Dr. Strangelove") are referenced in verbal or visual moments that sci-fi fans will immediately recognize.

Consider this the Reader's Digest condensed compilation of sci-fi epics!

But what's truly amazing about "Independence Day" is that it moves so quickly, has such a huge "Wow!" factor in terms of special effects and is loaded with so much humor and so many amusing characters that even purists won't complain.

This is the first movie so far this summer to live up to its promise - and considering the hype and buzz preceding its release, that was no easy task.

The stage is set as threatening alien spaceships appear over Earth's major cities. Meanwhile, we are introduced to a number of characters from around the country who will gradually come together for the final standoff.

Several spacecraft, each 15 miles in width, have left a "mother ship," and when they get to Earth's major cities, casting shadows over recognizable monuments, they simply hover in ominous silence.

The U.S. president (Bill Pullman) tries to quell panic by staying in the White House, even as his advisers hit the road. But a quirky computer genius (Jeff Goldblum) inadvertently cracks the aliens' code and discovers it is a countdown. Yikes!

So the president packs his bags after all, and, as you've seen in the ads a dozen or more times already, the White House is blown to smithereens. It's a spectacular moment - and many more will follow.

Meanwhile, a cocky young Air Force pilot (Will Smith) is among the first to go one-on-one with a spaceship, resulting in a crash-landing and a tangle with an alien on Utah's Salt Flats. (Part of the film was shot near Wendover, which provides a stunning visual moment as a cadre of motor homes is seen advancing across the Salt Flats.)

Without giving away any plot twists - and there are plenty - suffice it to say the main characters eventually gather in the desert as they put aside their differences and try to find a weakness in the aliens'annihilation plans - or at least in their ships.

Smith and Goldblum are both very funny, especially when they become an unlikely Luke Skywalker-Han Solo team. And as a bonus, there are colorful supporting characters galore - including a wacky scientist played by Brent Spiner, best known as Data on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (Spiner also has an amusing cameo in "Phenomenon," which also opened Wednesday); Judd Hirsch, as Goldblum's sensible, down-to-Earth father; Randy Quaid's drunken cropduster, who insists he was kidnapped by aliens 10 years earlier; etc.

Director Roland Emmerich and his co-writer/producer Dean Devlin (the "Stargate" team) could have left out some of the sentimental goop, but thankfully their casting makes up for it. Just when a soft-and-gooey moment seems too much, the actors give it a knowing, comic spin.

No question, "Independence Day" is the film to beat this summer - you will be going back to this one again.

It's rated PG-13 for violence and mayhem (though the deaths are not graphically portrayed), as well as a few profanities and vulgar comments.