ROLAND EMMERICH

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BB.  USA, 1996.  Twentieth Century Fox, Centropolis Film Productions.  Screenplay by Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich.  Cinematography by Karl Walter Lindenlaub.  Produced by Dean Devlin. Music by David Arnold.  Production Design by Oliver Scholl, Patrick Tatopoulos.  Costume Design by Joseph A. Porro.  Film Editing by David Brenner.  Academy Awards 1996.  

Trite and dull science-fiction disaster film. President Bill Pullman has to pull together his best resources when it is discovered that aliens are on their way to attack Earth and destroy all of humanity. A giant host of characters, led mainly by action hero Will Smith, band together to kill the evil extra-terrestrials, but not before the bad guys destroy every important landmark in the world and wipe out most of humanity. Director Roland Emmerich is no James Cameron, so the giant tapestry of characters is awkwardly set against the many well-designed action scenes (visual effects are definitely a plus here).