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Roland Emmerich (Germany, 1955) debuted with
Das Arche Noah Prinzip/ The Noah's Ark Principle (1984) and
Joey/ Making Contact (1985), and then turned to English-language movies
with
Hollywood-Monster/ Ghost Chase (1987) and
Moon 44 (1990).
After moving to the USA, he directed
Universal Soldier (1992) and
Stargate (1994).
Independence Day (1996)
ha la profondita` di un videogame. La trama e` patetica, piena di
artifici improbabili. Rigurgita di stereotipi.
Il 2 luglio sulla Luna appare l'ombra di una gigantesca astronave. Un
osservatorio del New Mexico riceve il suo segnale e emette l'allarme.
Il giovane presidente degli USA viene avvertito che qualcosa si sta
avvicinando alla Terra. David si reca al laboratorio e viene avvisato
del segnale radio. Nel deserto un aviatore ubriaco, che da anni sostiene di
essere stato rapito dagli alieni, atterra su una strada.
I suoi tre figli vivono in un camper. Il presidente viene avvisato che
l'astronave arrivera` sulla Terra in pochi minuti. Nubi di fuoco appaiono
all'improvviso in tutto il mondo. Alcuni vengono presi dal panico, altri
dall'entusiasmo. L'elite del governo americano viene evacuata, ma il
presidente decide di rimanere. Grandi astronavi oscurano il cielo delle
maggiori citta` del mondo. David e` l'unico a mantenere la calma: esamina
il messaggio e capisce che le varie astronavi di stanno sincronizzando per
scatenare un attacco simultaneo in tutto il mondo. Tenta di avvertire il
presidente tramite la ex moglie, sua portavoce, ma lei non gli da` retta
e a lui non resta che farsi portare dal padre in auto fino a Washington.
Un aviatore nero, Steve, lascia la sua ragazza, Jasmine, e il figlio da lei
avuto con un altro, per rientrare alla base. David e` una vecchia conoscenza del
presidente: i due non si sono mai amati. David lo convince pero` della sua
teoria. Appena in tempo: le astronavi attaccano distruggendo le citta`.
La donna di Steve rimane intrappolata in un tunnel e si salva miracolosamente.
Trova un autocarro, carica altri sopravvissuti e si mette in marcia verso
la base di Steve.
E` il tre luglio. L'aviatore e i suoi figli sono in fuga nel deserto sul
loro camper. Il nero fa parte del primo squadrone che attacca un'astronave,
ed e` anche l'unico a sopravvivere e ad abbattere un aereo degli alieni.
Il capo della CIA confessa al presidente che anni addietro un aereo degli alieni
cadde nel deserto li` vicino ma la notizia venne tenuta segreta. Tutti si recano
nel laboratorio segreto, dove uno scienziato un po' folle mostra l'aereo e
i cadaveri degli alieni. L'aereo alieno e` stato riparato.
Steve cattura l'alieno e lo porta a piedi attraverso il deserto finche' incontra
l'aviatore pazzo che gli da` un passaggio sul camper fino alla base dove
si trovano il presidente e David. L'alieno si risveglia mentre lo scienziato
lo sta esaminando, uccide tutti quelli che gli sono vicini e tenta di uccidere
il presidente per via telepatica. Il presidente capisce che questi esseri
razziano planeti, uno dopo l'altro, senza lasciar nulla dietro di se`.
Steve intanto ruba un elicottero per andare a cercare la sua bella. La trova
e la porta in salvo nella base. Jasmine ha trovato la moglie del presidente,
ferita, che riabbraccia finalmente il marito.
IL 4 luglio David ubriaco ha l'idea di usare un computer virus per rendere
inefficace lo scudo delle astronavi e poi lanciare un attacco massiccio.
Lui e Steve devono volare dentro l'astronave madre con l'aereo alieno,
disattivare il computer centrale, poi scappare. Le aviazioni di tutto il
mondo si preparano a sferrare l'attacco non appena lo scudo sara` disattivato.
Anche il presidente in persona e l'aviatore pazzo si mettono al comando di
un caccia. Steve e Jasmine si sposano prima della missione, David e la
ex moglie di riconciliano. Steve e David ce la fanno, il mondo attacca,
le astronavi esplodono. E` l'ubriacone a penetrare nel cuore dell'astronave
madre e a sferrare il colpo decisivo sacrificando la sua vita.
Then came
Godzilla (1998), the 1,000th movie about the Japanese monster,
and
The Patriot (2000).
He became a specialist of science fiction disaster films starting with
The Day After Tomorrow (2004), based on Art Bell's and Whitley Strieber's book "The Coming Global Superstorm" (1999).
10,000 BC (2008) is set in prehistory among mammoth hunters.
The sci-fi disaster movie
2012 (2009) is wildly overlong and implausible, but the effort is truly herculean.
It's a colossal 3-hour apocalyptic sci-fi movie that mixes family comedy with spectacular visual effects and international acrobatic adventure.
The film spans American suburbia, the White House, Tibet, Yellowstone, Los Angeles, Mount Everest and the Cape of Good Hope.
A Russian billionaire is the villain (and ends up dead).
The Maya's prophecy of the end of the world turns out to be true.
The everyman hero triumphs, and his family survives.
The US president turns out to be a honorable man who doesn't abandon his people (unlike leaders of other nations).
All the other politicians are selfish bastards.
And so the film embodies all the possible good values of Hollywood movies even in the context of a quasi-annihilation of the human race.
A geologist from the USA, Adrian, learns from an Indian astrophysicist, Satnam Tsurutani, that a particle originating from a solar flare is heating the Earth's core. When he is back in
Washington, he informs the White House.
One year later 46 nations are building nine arks in the mountains of Tibet
while selecting and collecting precious artifacts to be preserved.
Among the Tibetans who are removed from the land is
Buddhist monk Nima while his
brother Tenzin gets a job to work on an ark.
It turns out that, in secret, the powers are also
selling ark tickets to tycoons for huge amounts.
Therefore the only ones who will survive the catastrophe will be the politicians and the rich.
The film jumps to two
years later when chaffeur Jackson is driving
Russian billionaire Yuri around
Los Angeles.
Jackson aims to become a sci-fi writer. His wife
Kate divorced him and now lives with
a wealthy plastic surgeon, Gordon. Jackson's children
Noah and Lilly live with Kate and Gordon.
Jackson takes his children on a camping trip to Yellowstone National Park.
They happen to hike where a lake used to be, which is now a top-secret
zone controlled by the military where geologist Adrian is conducting his
research. Soldiers arrest Jackson and his children, but Adrian releases them.
As they leave, Jackson runs into a madman who lives in a camper and is spying
the top-secret operations. He is Charlie, who runs a radio program devoted to
conspiracy theories. Charlies believes in the prophecy of the Maya calendar,
that soon a catastrophe will destroy the planet, and believes that the governments of the world are aware of it and keep it secret from the people in order to buy time for themselves. Charlie mentions a mysterious map.
Jackson realizes that Charlie is not mad when he drives Yuri's obnoxious children to the airport and they mention the coming apocalypse.
Jackson rents a small plane and flies to the town where Kate lives.
The apocalypse begins with a destructive earthquake. Jackson manages to convince Kate to escape with him. Jackson, Kate, Gordon and the children fly away just in time.
Jackson flies to Yellowstone and gets Charlie's map while Charlie broadcasts
live the eruption of a volcano and is killed by the explosion.
Jackson opens the map and reads the location of the ark: Tibet, which cannot be reached with their small plane.
He decides to head to Las Vegas airport and steal a big passenger plane.
Adrian and others are already boarding the presidential plane for Tibet, but the president decides heroically to remain in Washington and address the people of the USA, after convincing his daughter to board the plane.
People around the country watch his apocalyptic goodbye until the broadcast is interrupted by explosions.
Arriving in Las Vegas,
Jackson's group finds Yuri's group (Yuri, his young girlfriend Tamara and his spoiled obnoxious children).
Yuri reveals that he is one of the tycoons who bought tickets for the ark.
Yuri has a big plane but the workers who are supposed
to help him are abandoning their jobs in panic. Jackson offers Gordon as the
copilot and they all take off in Yuri's giant plane, which is full of expensive cars while hundreds of workers are left behind to die.
The world is experiencing giant catastrophes.
Since the president of the USA has been left behind to die and every other Washington politician is either dead or missing, the politician who is traveling with Adrian appoints himself commander-in-chief.
Meanwhile, Adrian has said goodbye to his father, a humble musician on a cruise ship, and the ship is soon sunk by giant waves.
Meanwhile, Jackson's plane runs out of fuel but the Earth has shifted and luckily for them the plane crashes right in Tibet and they all survive except Yuri's pilot.
The Chinese find them but rescue only Yuri and his children, who have paid tickets for the ark, leaving behind even Yuri's Russian girlfriend Tamara.
Jackson's family and Tamara are abandoned in the middle of nowhere but
they are found by
Nima's family, who are traveling towards the ark to be secretly smuggled inside by
Nima's brother Tenzin. Tenzin is initially reluctant to help Jackson's group
because it's too big but then his granma convinces him.
Adrian and the VIPs are on board of their ark, and other arks are being prepared. Yuri's ark is defective and the
politician orders that the functioning arks take off, leaving behind the hundreds of panicking people of the defective ark.
Tamara, who has followed Nima and Jackson, gives the middle finger to Yuri,
stranded on the ground.
But Adrian stops the ark and gives a speech demanding from the politician that their mission starts with compassion. Eventually the politician relents and all the stranded passengers are allowed on the ark.
However, in the chaotic situation that ensues Yuri dies to save his children, and Gordon dies too, crushed in the giant mechanism as the gates open.
Tamara dies too, Tenzin is wounded.
The gates now malfunction and the engines cannot be activated. The typhoon
drags the ark towards a giant cliff which turns out to be Mt Everest.
With minutes to go, Jackson heroically dives and finds a way to shut the
gates, thus allowing the engines to start and to avoid that the ark crashes
into the mountain.
with Adrian and Jackson's family
Days later, when the waters finally recede, the arks can head for Africa, the
continent that has been spared.
Jackson and Kate can restart a life there.
Then came:
Anonymous (2011),
White House Down (2013),
Stonewall (2015),
Independence Day - Resurgence (2016),
Midway (2019),
Moonfall (2022),
etc.
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