Roland Emmerich

Birthday: Nov 10, 1955

Bio: A director/writer/producer with a flair for special effects-driven action, German Roland Emmerich made himself at home in blockbuster-hungry 1990s Hollywood. Born and educated in West Germany, Emmerich studied production design as well as direction at the Munich Film and Television School. After his student film, The Noah's Ark Principle, debuted at the 1984 Berlin… More Bio: A director/writer/producer with a flair for special effects-driven action, German Roland Emmerich made himself at home in blockbuster-hungry 1990s Hollywood. Born and educated in West Germany, Emmerich studied production design as well as direction at the Munich Film and Television School. After his student film, The Noah's Ark Principle, debuted at the 1984 Berlin Film Festival, Emmerich formed his production company Centropolis and directed supernatural fantasies Making Contact (1986) and Ghost Chase (1987), and the straight-to-video action film Moon 44 (1990). On the latter, he met actor Dean Devlin who subsequently switched jobs to become Emmerich's writing and producing partner once Emmerich set up shop in Hollywood.After making his solo Hollywood debut directing Jean-Claude Van Damme in the cyborg action fest Universal Soldier (1992), Emmerich and Devlin revealed a talent for conjuring A-level action spectacles out of B-movie scenarios with their first film together, Stargate (1994). A space odyssey mixing ancient Egyptiana and high-tech wizardry, Stargate became an unexpected hit. Emmerich hit his blockbuster stride with his next film, Independence Day (1996). With its eye-popping destruction of major cities and climactic annihilation of a spacecraft via portable computer, Independence Day blew away its summer movie competition on the strength of its visual flash. Geared to repeat with the endlessly- and creatively-hyped version of Godzilla (1998), Emmerich instead faced the conundrum of directing a $100 million grossing film that did not live up to box office expectations. Emmerich and Devlin next turned their epic visions to the decidedly lower-tech (but still CGI-enhanced) action of the American Revolution in the Mel Gibson summer vehicle The Patriot (2000). ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Most Popular

The Patriot

Independence Day

Stargate

Anonymous

Filmography

White House Down (2013)
- Director
Fantastic Voyage (2012)
- Director
Der Bernd (2012)
- Actor
Anonymous (2011)
- Director
- 47%
Hell (2011)
- Producer
2012 (2009)
- Screenwriter, Director, Producer
- 39%
10,000 B.C. (2008)
- Director, Producer, Screenwriter
- 8%
Trade (2007)
- Producer
- 29%
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
- Producer, Screenwriter, Director
- 45%
The Patriot (2000)
- Director
- 62%
Godzilla (1998)
- Director
- 25%
High Crusade (1997)
- Producer
Independence Day (1996)
- Director, Screenwriter
- 61%
Stargate (1994)
- Director, Screenwriter
- 48%
Universal Soldier (1992)
- Director
- 20%
Moon 44 (Intruder) (1990)
- Director
Hollywood-Monster (Ghost Chase) (1987)
- Director
Joey (Making Contact) (1985)
- Director
Das Arche Noah Prinzip (The Noah's Ark Principle) (1984)
- Director
See all 19 films

Roland Emmerich Videos
                        
Independence Day2 minutes 26 seconds

Anonymous2 minutes 59 seconds

Godzilla2 minutes 44 seconds

The Patriot (Extended Cut)2 minutes 33 seconds

Stargate2 minutes 52 seconds

Universal Soldier1 minutes 2 seconds

White House Down3 minutes 37 seconds

Moon 442 minutes 45 seconds

Ghost Chase2 minutes 38 seconds

Making Contact1 minutes 22 seconds

                        See more (10)