Independence Day Wiki
Register
No edit summary
Line 20: Line 20:
 
| siblings =
 
| siblings =
 
| marital = Widowed
 
| marital = Widowed
| spouse =
+
| spouse = Sarah Levinson<ref>''[[How I Saved the World]]''</ref>
 
| children = [[David Levinson]]
 
| children = [[David Levinson]]
 
| sigothers =
 
| sigothers =

Revision as of 04:37, 25 July 2018

Julius Levinson was a Jewish rabbi and the father of David Levinson.

History

Background

Julius is a practicing rabbi living in New York City until he stopped practicing his faith after the death of his wife. It was a fact he never told to David until years later during the War of 1996.

War of 1996

During the arrival of the City Destroyers, Julius' neighborhood was in a state of panic and he was forced to arm himself. David went to Julius in requesting his help in driving him to Washington, D.C. to warn President Thomas Whitmore of the aliens' intentions. He and his son evacuated Washington on Air Force One before the city was destroyed.

When an argument ensues between David, Whitmore and his staff over launching a nuclear attack on the invaders, Julius quickly came to his son's defense and derides the officials that they did nothing to prevent the attacks. Julius further rants that the government had always knew about alien life by referring to the Roswell incident and Area 51 - in which Secretary of Defense Albert Nimziki, as the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, then chose the inopportune time to reluctantly revealed Area 51's existence to everyone present. The group arrived at Area 51, where Julius' theories were proven true.

After the failed nuclear strike against the aliens, Julius later found David in a drunken stupor. He consoled his son, telling him about how everyone loses faith at some point while revealing that he himself stopped being a rabbi after his wife died, and that there is always something to appreciate. After consoling David, Julius inadvertently gave him the idea on how to defeat the invaders: using a computer virus to infect the alien mothership to temporarily disabled the force fields of the City Destroyers akin to "catching a cold." When David volunteered to infiltrate the mothership, Julius gave his last two cigars to his son and Captain Steven Hiller. His son in return gave his father a Hebrew Bible and kippah.

During the aliens' attack on Area 51, Julius was conducting a Torah reading with some refugees, including the recently fired SecDef Albert Nimziki. Following Earth's victory against the invaders, Julius reunited with David after his son's and Captain Hiller's mission that destroyed the mothership.

Post-War

After the War of 1996, Julius published an auto-biography entitled How I Saved the World (much to David's embarrassment).[2] The book became an instant sensation.[3]

In 2013, Julius once again consoled David following the loss of Constance in a car accident four years prior. He invited David on his book tour to spend time together to shed away his son's grief, and as well trying to find him a new wife.[3]

War of 2016

By July 2016, Julius lived in retirement in Florida after sales of his book waned. On the 20th anniversary of the War of 1996, Julius was out fishing off the Floridian coast when he saw the arrival of the Harvester mothership. Julius attempted to escape from the mothership's landing but was swept up by the wave. Fortunately, he survived and was founded by the Blackwell family, who consists of only children after their parents are separated and believed to be dead. Julius suddenly became a surrogate guardian for the children and helped to take them to Area 51.

Julius and the Blackwells later came across a group of camp scouts, who were left abandoned by their bus driver. Julius decided to take the scouts and used their bus to continue on the journey. As Julius and the children arrived at the salt flats outside Area 51, the aliens have began their assault on the base. By happenstance, Julius is reunited with David, who was preparing to set up a trap to kill the Harvester Queen.

After the trap succeeded in destroying the Queen's vessel, it did not killed the Queen. Julius, the children, and David quickly fled on the bus as the Harvester Queen started to chase after them until it was lured away to Area 51. Julius and the children survived the battle and witnessing humanity's second victory against the aliens. Soon afterwards, Julius was properly introduced to David's correspondent Catherine Marceaux and promised to look after the Blackwell children.

Gallery

Independence Day

Independence Day: Resurgence

Memorable Quotes

Independence Day

"So why are you waiting? Hmm? My Social Security will expire, you'll still be sitting there.

- Julius playing chess with David."

―{{{2}}}
"It's the White House, for crying out loud. You can't just go up and ring the doorbell.

- Julius commenting David on how they will meet President Whitmore."

―{{{2}}}
"If you're so smart, tell me something, how come you go to M.I.T. for 8 years to become a cable repairman?

- Julius complaining to David."

―{{{2}}}
"Everyone's trying to get out of Washington, and we're the only schmucks trying to get in."
―{{{2}}}
"If I had known I was gonna meet the president, I would've worn a tie. I mean, look at me. I look like a schlemiel (an awkward/unlucky person)."
―{{{2}}}
"It's Air Force One, for crying out loud, and still he gets sick!

- Julius commenting on David's air sickness."

―{{{2}}}
"All you need is love. John Lennon. Smart man. Shot in the back, very sad.

- Julius to Constance."

―{{{2}}}
"You don't actually think they spend $20,000 on a hammer, $30,000 on a toilet seat, do you?

- Julius commenting on Area 51's black budget."

―{{{2}}}
"Listen, everyone loses faith at some point. Take me, for example. I haven't spoken to God since your mother died. But sometimes you have to stop and remember all the things you do have. You've got to be thankful.

- Julius consoling David."

―{{{2}}}
"I don't want you catching a cold.

- Julius, unwittingly, inspiring David."

―{{{2}}}

Independence Day: Resurgence

"In our darkest moment, when all hope was lost. That's when I said, 'Never give up. You have to have faith!' And in that moment, it came to me, 'pow!'... like a thunderbolt. And that's when I came up with the idea that saved the world.

- Julius quoting a passage from How I Saved the World."

―{{{2}}}
"Why did I buy this boat.

- Julius before being swept up by the wave."

―{{{2}}}

Behind the Scenes

  • Julius was based on one of producer Dean Devlin's uncles.[4]
  • Like Julius, Judd Hirsch is Jewish and was born and raise in New York City.
  • In the original script of Independence Day, Julius was originally named "Moishe". His and David's last name was also originally "Martinsburg" before it was changed to "Levinson".
  • Although Judd Hirsch shares the same "sixty-ish" age as his character Julius, Hirsch looked younger than his character was supposed to look. As a result, he had spent several hours a day in the makeup chair to look the part.
  • In some cinemas in the Middle East, all scenes including Judd Hirsch were removed due to his character Julius being Jewish.

References