Emmerich is back with another ‘man vs aliens’ duel
Print Edition
GERMAN director Roland Emmerich is revisiting his 1996 science fiction disaster hit “Independence Day” with a sequel “Independence Day: Resurgence.”
The film had its China release in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D yesterday.
The timeline in the sequel is 20 years after the events of the first film. The aliens make another large-scale and more powerful strike to earth — this time threatening the entire humanity.
“The movie describes a world which is united, because we know the aliens are coming back,” Emmerich said at the film’s premiere in Beijing on Wednesday.
In the film, China and the US take the lead in fighting the aliens. Chinese actress Angelababy plays the role of a pilot deployed to save the earth.
“I like my movies to be more international than just American because I come from Germany,” Emmerich said. “I know I created a world which is united, but if you look at the existing world, China and America are clearly the two biggest economic powers. So it was absolutely clear that it had to have a Chinese element.”
The German is among the highest-grossing directors of all time with blockbusters that include “The Day After Tomorrow,” “2012,” “White House Down” as well as the 1998 production “Godzilla.”
He is also a big science-fiction fan. In film school, Emmerich was inspired by two movies — “Star Wars” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
He made his film debut in 1984 with “The Noah’s Ark Principle,” which was part of his university thesis. Since then, he has mastered the craft of disaster films.
“I’m a very skeptical person, but I believe there are some aliens out there, some other lives besides us,” he said.
“Independence Day” made US$817.4 million and was the highest-grossing film in 1996. The director said the reason why he delayed the sequel for 20 years was because after doing the film “2012” in 2009 with a digital camera and completing the visual effects on computer, new technologies opened up a new world to him.
“That was the first time I thought what we could do with the new ‘Independence Day.’ I did not know how to create new images and the new technologies had yet to catch my imagination,” said Emmerich.
His mastery of technology and special effects give the audience a visually striking man-vs-alien war on the big screen. The IMAX experience exceeds expectations with the flying sequences and fighting scenes quite friendly to the eyes without causing any disorientation.
Emmerich said he was able to create images in the film that had not been seen before. His biggest goal as a filmmaker, he said, was to create images that are “impossible to create.”
“Movies are meant to be pure entertainment for two hours,” he said.
The story follows the same formula of Hollywood disaster films in which the heroes save the human race in the last minute. But this time, Emmerich has added his own sense of humor in the film to ease the tensions.
“I’m Germany’s oldest teenager, and I can relate to young people,” he said with a laugh.
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