Roland Emmerich from apocalypse to gay rights drama
Philipp Jedicke / kbmSeptember 25, 2015
From the "Independence Day" to "White House Down," Roland Emmerich is known for patriotic epics. But can he draw movie-goers with "Stonewall," his new drama about the gay movement in the 60s? Here are his hits and flops.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/E. Laurent
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Roland Emmerich returns with 'Moonfall'
Known for films bursting with visual effects, the master of the disaster genre now has the moon thrown out of its orbit, wreaking havoc on earth.
Image: Lionsgate/ZUMA Press/imago images
When the moon goes rogue
"We're saving the moon and with it the earth," says astronaut Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) in the trailer for "Moonfall." On their space trip, Harper and his two comrades-in-arms — former astronaut Jo Fowler (Halle Berry) and conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman (John Bradley) — realize how pressed for time they are. More so since the moon is not what people have always thought it to be.
Image: Lionsgate/ZUMA Press/imago images
'Master of Disaster'
With "Moonfall," Emmerich, who was born in Stuttgart on November 10, 1955, once again lives up to his nickname, coined for his penchant for disaster scenarios. On Emmerich's 65th birthday in 2020, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid tribute to him, saying "You have thrilled an audience of millions and set the standard for the use of special effects."
Image: Charlie Steffens/Zuma/imago images
A knack for end-of-time films
The Swabian-born director came to the attention of Hollywood early on, where blockbusters such as "Independence Day," "The Day After Tomorrow" and "The Patriot" made him world famous. Emmerich actually wanted to become a production designer, but after seeing "Star Wars" in theaters, he switched to directing.
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Homemade in Swabia
Emmerich's career began in the Swabian town of Maichingen, where he shot his first directorial feature, "The Noah's Ark Principle," in a disused washing machine factory. In the science-fiction thriller, two astronauts are abused by the US military for a secret war mission. With each subsequent film, Emmerich became an expert in action and disaster films in the years that followed.
Image: Gunnar Köhne
Breakthrough in the dream factory
After several German productions, Emmerich came to the attention of film critics as a shrewd emulator of Hollywood style — and would finally crash into Hollywood himself in 1992 with "Universal Soldier," starring Jean-Claude Van Damme at the peak of his powers. The wowing special effects established the director's reputation as the action director to watch.
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Aiming for the stars
Together with his longtime screenwriter Dean Devlin, Emmerich penned the screenplay for the sci-fi film "Stargate" in 1994, which itself led to a number of spin-offs. Three TV series and an animated adaptation later, the "Stargate" saga continues to dazzle, with further related projects being developed.
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Act of independence
It took a patriotic disaster movie for Emmerich to truly conquer the collective heart and soul of America. "Independence Day," starring Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman — three of the then-most popular actors in the country — had it all, with alien invasions and epic battles of civilizations. The film was naturally an epic success as well, and a sequel followed in 2016.
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Monster reloaded
There are few cult classics quite like the Japanese epic "Godzilla." And who else to bring the film into the future than Emmerich, who transposed the cantankerous lizard to New York…with oodles of special effects to boot. The film grossed nearly $380 million worldwide (€340 million) and, while widely panned by critics, certified Emmerich as the go-to guy for special-effects blockbusters.
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Re-making history
At the dawn of the new millennium, Emmerich for the first time turned his attention to history: the Revolutionary War. In "The Patriot" Mel Gibson plays a widowed plantation owner in South Carolina forced to defend his children against the British army, who goes on to become one of the leading resistance fighters and heroes. The patriotic classic garnered three Oscar nominations.
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Tales tall and true
In "The Day after Tomorrow" Emmerich painted a bleak picture of the future: a world devastated by melting polar icecaps, a freezing Atlantic and the descent of the Earth into a super ice age. Thanks to its visual and technical prowess and its pertinent themes, the 2004 film won the hearts of the critics as well as the fans.
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Set in stone
Emmerich had been brewing on a prehistoric epic since the late 1990s, but it was only after "The Day after Tomorrow" that he dared to take on his 2008 Stone Age epic "10,000 BC." In the film, a young warrior sets out to free his beloved from the clutches of slave traders. The re-imagined flora and fauna add to this film's fascination and success.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Warner Bros.
The big crash
At the peak of his fame, Emmerich released "White House Down" in 2013 — a film that proved to be one of his greatest flops, despite its stellar cast. In the thriller, a cop (Channing Tatum) saves the US president (Jamie Foxx) from the hands of blackmailers and prevents the imminent threat of World War III. The film never recouped the immense cost of production totaling $150 million.
Image: Getty Images/Sony Pictures Entertainment
A new beginning
With "Stonewall" in 2015, Emmerich found himself in unfamiliar territory — a film about the Stonewall Riots in New York, which kicked off the gay rights movement. The historic battle is remembered each year in Germany with the Christopher Street Day parade.
In 2019, Emmerich released "Midway," which portrays a decisive naval battle in the Pacific during World War II, known as the Battle of Midway. The special effects were once again all there, but critics felt the story wasn't quite ready for the win.
Roland Emmerich began his career at a time in the late 70s when German mainstream cinema was madly trying to mimic Hollywood. It wasn't great German filmmakers like Werner Herzog or Rainer Werner Fassbinder who impacted Emmerich the most: it was "Star Wars."
George Lucas' sci-fi epic fascinated him so much, that he switched his studies from set building to directing. His graduation film project "The Noah's Ark Principle" was record-breaking. With a budget of one million D-Mark, it was the most expensive German film ever made by a student and earned him his image as a director who likes to think big.
In "the Noah's Ark Principle," young actor Richy Müller plays one of the two leads in the movie that was shot in an abandoned washing machine factory in the small southern German village of Sindelfingen.
Emmerich chided for copying Spielberg
Over the next few years, Emmerich made "Making Contact," "Ghost Chase" and "Moon 44," which were all closely based on Hollywood models - walking a fine line between homage and plagiarism. In Germany, film critics jeeringly referred to him as "Spielbergle from Sindelfingen" - adding le in the southern German dialect can be cute and endearing, or in this case belittling.
Emmerich, however, wasn't deterred. And neither was Hollywood. He caught the eye of the big league and moved to California in 1990, where he made his debut with "Universal Soldier."
The action flick starring Jean-Claude van Damme was a box office hit. Emmerich had realized his dream of a US career. He followed up his success shortly thereafter with "Stargate," co-authored by Dean Devlin and starring Kurt Russell. The story was inspired by ancient Egypt - a theme that had fascinated Emmerich since his youth and that turns up again and again in his work.
By the mid-1990s, Emmerich had reached the zenith of his success. His action hit "Independence Day" featuring big shots Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman pulled out all the stops. In the first week after its release, it raked in $110 million at the box office, surpassing the record previously set by Steven Spielberg with "Jurassic Park."
Emmerich not as 'patriotic' as it seems
Many view the film, in which the US president saves the world, as a patriotic work. But Emmerich has repeatedly rejected this interpretation and in a 2010 interview with the "Süddeutsche Zeitung," he clearly expressed his discontent with George Bush's presidency. He even said he was considering leaving the US, should Bush be re-elected instead of Barack Obama.
International film critics admitted that "Independence Day" had achieved technical perfection, but his screenplays were largely deemed naive and even illogical. But with his dark climate thriller "The Day After Tomorrow" (2004), in which he developed a new and emancipated use of images, Emmerich regained the respect of his critics.
With films like "The Patriot," "10,000 BC" and "Anonymous," Emmerich proved over the years that he was also capable of telling stories that have nothing to do with catastrophes or apocalypses.
'Stonewall' premieres in Toronto
Since the turn of the millennium, Emmerich has been enjoying success while freeing himself from classical genres. Nevertheless, one of his biggest flops - "White House Down," starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx - came in 2013 and cast production giant Sony Pictures Entertainment into a financial crisis.
After the disappointment with "White House Down," Emmerich has entered new territory with his upcoming contribution, "Stonewall." It deals with a violent conflict between homosexuals and the New York police in 1969. The Stonewall Riots, which took place at the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay meeting place, went down in history and are remembered each year with Gay Pride events in various cities around the world.
Initial critics of the film haven't been kind, however, complaining that "Stonewall" features too few transsexual and African-American characters. But a bit of criticism certainly can't shake a filmmaker as established as Emmerich.
The film is released in the US on September 25, 2015.
