.
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The Patriot
The 13th Floor
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Independence Day
Stargate
Universal Soldier
Event DVD's
Expanded
Universe
Devlin &
Emmerich
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About Dean Devlin
& Roland
Emmerich
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"Quotes"
"We make
pop-
corn movies. We
love popcorn
movies. When
you have that
kind of passion
for the films you
make, there's a
chance that that
passion may
become
infectious."
-- Dean Devlin
"...Emmerich
and
producing partner
Dean Devlin --
two guys who
know how to
crank out an
event movie..."
-- Entertainment
Weekly magazine
"Very
difficult.
Very difficult.
Never comes out
of his trailer.
Also, like, where
do you park his
trailer? I love
that problem."
-- Roland
Emmerich on the
problems with
accomodating a
giant lizard on
a movie set.
"He does
have
the biggest
trailer. I was
pretty upset by
that. But, you
know, who's
gonna go tell
him?"
-- Hank Azaria on
the jealousy of
the other actors
towards Godzilla
on the movie set.
event
DVD's
Check out cool
screen shots of
animated menus
from event movie
DVD's like the
above shots from
the Godzilla DVD.
You'll also find
reviews about
all of the extra
features that
can be found on
these discs.
Visit the Event
DVD's section
for more...
expanded
universe
Check out the
Event Movies
expanded
universe section.
You'll find info
and reviews about
the original-story
ID4 and Stargate
novels that
expand upon the
movies that
inspired them
to be written.
Currently, ID4:
War In The Desert
by Stephen
Molstad and
Stargate:
Rebellion by Bill
McCay have been
reviewed.
VOTE!
Vote for your
favourite Devlin/
Emmerich event
movie and see
which of these
flicks is the most
popular with the
fans. You'll find
the voting booth
just below the
Recent News &
Rumors area on
the Event Movies
home page...
LINKS
Devlin & Emmerich's
production company
Sci-fi movie news
Sci-fi movie news
from Cinescape
magazine
Ain't It Cool News
The official site
The official site
The official site
A DVD message
forum for
Canadians
Film Force
Cool movie news
FAN
LINKS
Outpost 247
(a Centropolis
fan website)
What's Next?
July, 2000:
Dean Devlin will be
making his debut as a
director for a movie
called "Cellular". The
plot centers around a
man who receives a
call on his cell phone
from a strange woman
who is being held
hostage. He has until
her phone battery runs
out to find her and
save her life. It's a
unique concept that
could translate into a
big box-office hit with
a relatively low budget.
April,
2000:
Cinescape Online
described this
"different" project that
Centropolis is going to
be involved in:
Centropolis
Entertainment is teaming
up with Village
Roadshow and Warner
Bros. for a giant
monster movie called
Arac Attack. The film,
which Centropolis had
been developing, will
have a budget of $30M.
According to Variety,
the eventual pic will tell
the story of a toxic waste spill that results
in the creation and
rampage of giant
spiders. Described as a
comedy thriller, the film
will be directed by Ellory
Elkayem (They Nest)
and will shoot on
location in Australia.
Production is scheduled
to start in September.
Dean Devlin and Roland
Emmerich will produce
the project. Centropolis
Effects will handle the
film's effects.
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/ 
W A R I N
T H E D E S E R T
A Novel by Stephen Molstad
 |
the
plot Picking up where the movie left off, the novel follows the prolonged battle against the alien city destroyer assigned to the Middle East. After Jerusalem is wiped off the map, a group of fighter pilots from several countries band together to fight their common enemy. In a global coordinated effort devised by the Americans, the city destroyer is downed in an all-out attack just moments before it was about to destroy the holy city of Mecca. Unbeknownst to the celebrating humans, thousands of aliens survived the crash of their monstrous ship and are plotting to continue their war to conquer Earth. What follows is a savage ground conflict that could lead to the extinction of the human race unless the pilots can once again put aside their petty differences and combine their efforts to save the day. the good |
Author: Stephen Molstad |
considering
the enormous success of the film and the high expectations that follow. He has added
many fresh ideas to those already established by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich which
made for a very interesting read. It would have been easy for Molstad to write a
carbon copy of the screenplay with different characters and a different setting. To
my pleasant surprise, the author deviated from this temptation, choosing to do this only
to a minimal extent for the purpose of a smooth transition from movie to novel. He
wasted few pages describing the arrival of the alien ships and the destruction of
Jerusalem. I smiled when he quoted directly from the movie the scene where the
pilots in the Middle East receive word of the proposed American plan of attack. This
was an effective tie-in to the film which also created a mood of familiarity for the
novel. One of the main aspects of the story which makes it unique is the type of
battles that are fought between the aliens and humans. Whereas the movie was almost
exclusively an air war, Molstad has strategized an ambitious ground conflict for the
novel. Not only does this open up countless doors to explore new alien battle
tactics, but it also allows the introduction of new weapons and new technologies that were
not seen in the movie. It was also fascinating to be taken inside the downed city
destroyer and to get more up close and personal with the aliens themselves. The
author describes both of these in wonderful detail, allowing the reader a broader glimpse
into the strange existence of the invading alien race. The characters of the novel
are equally rich and diverse, representing most of the countries of the Middle East.
This broad representation, which includes Arabs and Israelis, not only creates diversity
of character, but it also causes racial tension between the story's players. So not
only do the humans have to fight the aliens, but they have to contend with constant
bickering and mistrust within their own ranks. In addition to these obstacles, the
plot's protagonists are also strategically at odds with the self-proclaimed commander of
the Saudi Arabian armed forces, Faisal. Despite the fact that Faisal's goal of
destroying the aliens is the same as the band of pilots, his quest for personal glory has
severely warped his military judgement, thus making him as much of an antagonist as the
aliens. As a result, the Saudi commander is constantly interfering in their plans
for the sole purpose of ensuring that they do not interfere with his own plans. This
effectively adds an unknown factor to the overall outcome of the story due to the
unpredictable nature of Faisal's meddling. the bad the verdict |
excerpt from "Independence Day: War In The Desert"
Mammoth hatch doors were lowering to create a
mile-wide opening at the eye of the daisy design. A sparkling jade-green light
spilled from the interior of the ship and washed over Jerusalem, illuminating the city as
if it were some kind of magical kingdom. It was such a beautiful sight that, for a
moment, it was possible to believe the aliens had benign intentions after all. But
soon, the tip of a massive cone-shaped mechanism lowered through the opening.
"What in the world is that?" gasped Thomson.
Reg thought he knew. He clenched his teeth and fought against the
impulse to abandon the novice pilots to make a run at the jewel-like cone. His
fingers itched to unleash his Sidewinders at what he feared was some sort of weapon.
But he remained on course, even as a tightly focused beam of white light stabbed
downward from the tip of the cone and touched the golden cupola of the Dome of the Rock.
"Communications beam?" someone asked with withering hope.
Reg shook his head sadly. He did not say the words aloud, but
mouthed them behind his oxygen mask: targeting laser. A moment later, to his horror,
Reg saw that his instinct was right.
A blinding blast of light ripped out of the cone and smashed down on
the golden-domed mosque, shattering the building into a billion pieces from the inside
out. A dense pillar of fire began to build up over the blast site as the weapon
continued to fire, adding more and more energy. Then, all at once, it exploded
outward and began to rip through the city, a tidal wave of flame rolling across the
ground, utterly destroying everything in its path. It only seemed to gather momentum
as it moved. Spreading relentlessly from the epicenter, a fiery wall of destruction
several hundred feet high moved beyond the walls of the city and into the surrounding
hills and suburbs. With the speed and force of an atomic explosion, it scoured
Jerusalem from the face of the Earth, vaporizing in a handful of seconds what it had taken
humans two thousand years to build.
At length, the bright beam coming from the firing cone shut off.
But still the explosion rolled outward. With a momentum of its own, the blast shot
beyond the city limits, breaking apart the surrounding towns and villages. It threw
automobiles, buildings, and bridges hundreds of feet into the air before burying them
under a molten sea of flames.
Even after the flames themselves stopped moving outward, the residual
heat continued for another mile, killing everything it touched. Where one of the
most beloved cities of the world had stood scant seconds before, there was now only a
twenty-mile circle of scarred, scorched earth. Half a million human lives had been
extinguished.
None of the English pilots had spoken a word since the blast began.
Reg broke the silence with a terse command. "You men continue
south." Then he broke abruptly out of formation, turning to port for an attack
run against the giant city destroyer.
Have you read this novel?
If so, e-mail me your review so that I can post it on this page:
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