Happy 65th Birthday, Roland Emmerich! Born today in 1955, this German screenwriter, producer and film director is internationally renowned for his visually intense science fiction blockbuster disaster films.
With a flair for special effects-driven action, he had certainly made himself at home in blockbuster-hungry 1990s Hollywood.
Though he was raised on a steady diet of independent-minded German filmmakers like Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Wim Wenders, Emmerich aspired early in his career to make blockbuster Hollywood movies.
Born and educated in West Germany, Emmerich began his career in his native Germany. In his youth, he pursued painting and sculpting.
He later enrolled and studied production design as well as direction at the University of Television and Film in Munich. He had studied there from 1977 to 1981.
Before fame, Emmerich originally wanted to be a production designer, but decided to be a director, after watching George Lucas' 'Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope' (1977).
While there, Emmerich wrote and directed his student film. This was the 1984 West German science fiction film 'Das Arche Noah Prinzip' ('The Noah's Ark Principle'). It later went on to open the 34th Berlin Film Festival in February of that same year.
The film has since been the highest budgeted film-school examination film (DEM 1,000,000) in Germany.
After 'The Noah's Ark Principle', Emmerich formed his production company, Centropolis Entertainment, and began directed supernatural fantasies.
It was after Emmerich directed his straight-to-video 1990 German sci-fi/action film 'Moon 44' where he met American screenwriter, producer, television and film director and then-actor Dean Devlin.
Devlin had subsequently switched jobs to become Emmerich's writing and producing partner once Emmerich had set up shop in Hollywood.
After making his solo Hollywood debut directing Jean-Claude Van Damme in the 1882 American military science fiction actionfest Universal Soldier', Emmerich and Devlin revealed a talent for conjuring A-level action spectacles out of B-movie scenarios.
Two years later, they made their first film together. This was the 1994 American sci-fi/adventue film 'Stargate'.
A space odyssey mixing ancient Egyptians and high-tech wizardry, the film became an unexpected hit. On a budget of $55 million, 'Stargate' grossed $196.6 million at the box office.
The film had a mixed initial critical reception, earning both praise and criticism for its atmosphere, story, characters, and graphic content. Nevertheless, 'Stargate' became a commercial success worldwide.
Two years later, Emmerich co-wrote (along with Devlin, of whom also produced) and directed the film of which he is best known. This was the epic 1996 American sci-fi/action film 'Independence Day'.
While promoting 'Stargate' in Europe, Emmerich came up with the idea for 'Independence Day' while answering a question about his own belief in the existence of alien life.
He and Devlin decided to incorporate a large-scale attack having noticed that aliens in most invasion films travel long distances in outer space only to remain hidden when reaching Earth.
Shooting began in July 1995 in New York City, New York, and the film was officially completed on June 20, 1996.
Hitting his blockbuster stride, with eye-popping destruction of major cities and climactic annihilation of a spacecraft via portable computer, 'Independence Day (or 'ID4') blew away its summer movie competition on the strength of its visual flash.
Roger Ebert wrote of the film: "Still, "Independence Day” is in the tradition of silly summer fun, and on that level I kind of liked it, as, indeed, I kind of like any movie with the courage to use the line, “It's the end of the world as we know it.”
Now considered a significant turning point in the history of the Hollywood blockbuster, 'Independence Day' was at the forefront of the large-scale disaster film and sci-fi resurgence of the mid-late 1990s.
The feature was released worldwide on July 3, 1996, but began showing on July 2 (the same day the film's story begins) in limited release as a result of a high level of anticipation among moviegoers.
Upon release, the film received mixed to positive reviews. On a budget of $75 million, the film grossed $817.4 million at the box office. It became the highest-grossing film of 1996 by surpassing 'Twister' and 'Mission: Impossible'.
The film also became the second-highest-grossing film ever at the time, behind 'Jurassic Park' (1993).
The following year, 'Independence Day' was nominated an Oscar for Best Sound. However, it won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects. This occurred at the 69th Academy Awards I'm late March 1997.
According to his favorite films, Emmerich had listed 'The Poseidon Adventure' (1972), 'The Towering Inferno' (1974), and 'Earthquake' (1974) (disaster movies).
In the early 2000s, Emmerich was originally considered to direct 'Spider-Man' (2002). However, the position went to Sam Raimi ('The Evil Dead').
Later that same year, Emmerich turned down the offer to direct 'Die Another Day' (2002). However, the position went to New Zealand filmmaker Lee Tamahori.
In 2005, Emmerich served as President of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 55th Berlin International Film Festival in February of that same year.
Two years later, Emmerich was interested into directing Transformers (2007). However, DreamWorks wanted Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay over him.
Though Emmerich directed the 2016 American sci-fi/action film 'Independence Day: Resurgence' two decades after th first, it had failed to live up to its predecessor as an explosion extravaganza.
Regarding the original, English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer Kim Newman stated in his Empire review: "Taking Hollywood ridiculousness to unscaled heights, this may very well be the biggest guilty pleasure of all time, but what a guilty pleasure it is."
Emmerich is nickname of "Das Spielbergle aus Sindelfingen" (translated as "lil' Spielberg of Sindelfingen"). This sounds flattering, but was actually bestowed upon him in the 1980s by the German media as an insult.
Despite this, Emmerich made his films in English and in the style of the latter part of the "New Hollywood" era.
However, this did not sit well with German film critics who still preferred the conventional styles that were influenced by the French New Wave and the New German Cinema.
The trademarks in Emmerich's films included featuring an object crashing into the camera, an insert or close-up shot of a villain's eyes widening just before the villain dies, and having several of his major features contain a silhouetted couple kissing in front of a luminous background.
Other trademarks include frequently featuring a scene with rain, uses extreme telephoto lenses with very deep focus in his shots so that all elements are in sharp focus, and often using father/son themes.
Emmerich also often features the number "44" somewhere in his films. This is in reference to 'Moon 44'.
According to his personal life, Emmerich is openly gay and a campaigner for the LGBTQ community.
Among his credits, Emmerich is also known for directing 'Godzilla' (1998), 'The Patriot' (2000), 'The Day After Tomorrow' (2004), '10,000 BC' (2008), '2012' (2009), 'Anonymous' (2011), and 'White House Down' (2013).
Today, Emmerich is by far one of the few directors capable of consistently making critically-derided movies that nonetheless make enormous amounts of money.
Emmerich has been active from 1979–present.
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