Ed’s letter
It’s been two decades since Roland emmerich blew up the white house (well, yes, he also blew it up in White House Down rather a lot, but there’s always something special about the first time, right?). and it was quite something to see back in 1996 in Independence Day. since then, the world has changed immeasurably. I’m not talking hover boards and robots ruling the world, but threats we never foresaw, and a climate in which a man like donald trump is a real, no-we’re-not-kidding contender for the house we previously mentioned. and the world of film has changed in step. From subject matter, to filmmaking techniques and the possibilities of VFX, movies have never been more full of potential — and, yes, potential challenges.
how a director like emmerich responds to and uses this when crafting follow-up Independence Day: Resurgence is fascinating, and we got our first peek at the results when we went on set with the man himself. Read about it on p.62 as we bring you every single thing you will ever need to know about the film.
but this is only the start of our sci-fi-bonanza: the Empire team and I locked ourselves in a bunker to draw up the 50 greatest sci-fi moments in film and television. It was lively, to say the least, and one person who shall remain nameless almost ended up in a parallel universe. but we did it. now it’s your turn: violently disagree? then what are you doing reading this?! tell us, on our Facebook page, or tweet us @empiremagazine.
and we’re still not done: as a treat, we invited emmerich to guest-edit our website for five days, a first for empireonline.com. Go to our homepage from June 13 to see the results.
It’s not all spaceships and interplanetary warfare this issue, though. steven spielberg invited us to spend time discussing one of his most challenging films to date, The BFG; we bring you the first look at michael Fassbender in Assassin’s Creed, and we pay tribute to Prince with a look at the frankly bonkers making of Purple Rain. a true artist believes they’re capable of anything and Prince, well, they don’t come much more true than him.
see you next month!