Released in 1996,Independence Daymarked something of a crossroads in the evolution of summer movies.
Its taken 20 years for Emmerich to make anIndependence Daysequel, and much has changed in the intervening years.
It was something like 450 visual effects shots, and that was a lot for us then.
This time, we had nearly, like, 2000.
It would be good for them.
So he brought at least, I think it was 10 or so people over.
Because they were really good.
So what were the challenges this time?
Previously you used a lot of practical effects, but this time its a lot more digital.
Are there any practical elements left?
Theres very little practical.
Its amazing what they can do.
Do you see the influence of the firstIndependence Dayon films now?
Have you spotted it?
[Decisively] Yes.
And because of that….
I think, when people kept saying to me, Wow,Independence Dayholds up so well.
I think its exactly that.
Its like the elements felt very familiar to people.
How did you go about imagining some of the sequences we have in this film?
Because obviously, when you madeIndependence Day,it was quite new to see these landmarks being hit.
So you now have to come up with something else.
Because I think the size relationships of things are really what makes the music.
And still, in other films, they just dont quite understand what sizes really mean.
And everybody says, Where in the Atlantic Ocean?
And I say, All of it!
Sometimes, these very simple ideas lead to certain sequences and scenes.
Scales really important point, isnt it?
You get the large and the small.
And its one of these things.
All of these big spectacular images, theyre already in the first 25 or so drawings.
Its important, so that everybody says, Ah.
This is how it has to look.
Do you think of yourself as quite an iconoclastic film director?
I mean, in the sense that you enjoy playing around with iconic images.
Destroying the White House.
But also making Shakespeare into a buffoon inAnonymous.
Im very into images, lets say.
What I like is a classical kind of cinema.
I dont like it when its too fast-cut.
I always hate that, when movies are like, dak-dak-dak-dak-dak!
That just doesnt make sense to me.
The same thing inAnonymous.
I always saw a funeral march over a frozen Thames.
It becomes very cold and uncomfortable.
He becomes close to death.
That felt for me, it had to be cold.
I read somewhere that the Thames sometimes froze over and they held fairs there.
I said, Oh my God, thats great.
So have the funeral procession on the frozen Thames.
Thats what I have to have in my head, otherwise Im not interested in making the movie.
Thats why Im not a writer.
Well, Im a writer too but not really.
I like to be involved in my scripts but not totally.
So Im very visual that way.
How do you think Hollywoods changed?
Or at least, it has to be a famous youth novel or something like that.
Which is, like, the reason for that, I think.
I hope that original movies come back, because Im a fan of original movies.
Ive kept doing them over the last 15 years, but it gets harder and harder to do them.
Id say Independence Day was one of the last big high-concept movies of that period.
It seems that high-concept has been replaced by corporate branding, in a way.
Disney,Star Wars,Pixar.
Its like its never-ending.
So do you think Hollywoods become too corporate to ever go back to those high-concept key in movies?
You cant say theyre only lawyers.
Theyre very passionate people.
You have to be.
You want to see a new movie, you know?
Not a sequel of a sequel of a sequel.
Your films are always very self-aware anyway, but this ones very aware of its status as a sequel.
That everything has to be bigger.
[Chuckles] Yeah, sure.
The firstIndependence Day,I remember going to Dean Devlin, I know what we have to do next.
We have to do a big alien invasion movie.
And he said, What?
I said, Come here.
Look out the window.
You see the sky?
All of that will be the underbelly of a space ship.
And he immediately said, Oh, thats cool!
Its just a different way of seeing an alien invasion movie.
Again, its having a defined image in your head.
It was in the script, but then they said, Okay.
Whats going to be the first teaser?
And then Id pitched that as the part of the teaser.
They said, Its all great, but you canNOTblow up the White House in the teaser.
I said, Well, its in the movie.
They said, Yeah Roland, but youre not American.
You have to understand its a very touchy issue!
I said, Why dont we do it like this.
Well produce the whole teaser, one with the White House and one without the White House.
So I pulled the whole explosion of the White House forward very early in the schedule.
And I never, ever heard back from them about the White House!
[Laughs] I made it!
It was clear that the impact was much bigger.
Yeah, but there was resistance.
They were not sure.
They were not really sure what was going to happen.
And people said that they cheered when the White House exploded.
But that wasnt it they cheered when Boomer was saved.
You know, the dog was saved!
You know, three billion people died but a dog made it!
Thats when they cheered!
[Laughs] In the trailer, they cheered the trailer because it felt so unique at that time.
Also, it was a movie trailer where there was not one lead character in it.
I hadnt thought of that.
What did you make of the whole critical reaction at the time?
Because the funny thing was that audiences loved it.
I remember there was a quote somewhere… Its like all my movies.
Its kind of weird, you know?
If you went by the critics, I shouldnt make movies!
But I make them anyway.
At that time, the LA Times wrote, The Day The Script Stood Still.
Thats the quote I was trying to remember.
I was like, What is that supposed to mean?
They called it a throwback.
But it holds up pretty well, right?
And other films they didnt call throwbacks now feel pretty dated.
Its always, lets say, Time will tell.
I once talked to Ridley Scott about this.
I asked him aboutBlade Runner,because its one of my all-time favourites.
And I said, how did he see that?
He said [adopts quite funny dour Ridley Scott accent] Everybody hated it.
Didnt make no money and now its on everybodys 10-best list!
Thats just how it goes.
[Laughs]
I said, Okay!
I really see it like that.
I remember seeingBlade Runnerand Id just read the review in a big German newspaper.
It ripped it apart.
I went in to see this movie, and I was in an another world.
I forgot I was a film student and everything, I was just blown away by it.
I said to myself, What did this guy [the film critic] see?
Didnt he see what everybody else saw?
Because the reception was so bad forBlade Runner,nobody went to see it.
DidIndependence Dayhave a similar longevity for you?
It actually started with journalists film people, media people.
Theyd keep saying, When is the sequel coming?
And I said, There wont be a sequel.
Its a standalone film.
Yeah, this is your first.
Its my first, which maybe is good because its something new.
Its after 20 years, and itll be great.
People want to revisit that universe just make it bigger.
Maybe, if we want to, well do a third one.
Maybe I want to do a third one I dont know yet, but Im open to it.
Theres the sci-fi film,Singularity.
Youve been trying to make that for quite a while as well.
This one we have a little bit of a problem with.
Im one of the producers.
So do you know what youre going to make next if it isntIndependence Day 3?
Do you have a project lined up?
Its a very typical Roland Emmerich film.
Will it be an original film again?
[Nods] Mm-hmm!
Roland Emmerich, thank you very much.
Independence Day: Resurgenceis out in UK cinemas on the 23rd June.
