There are many in the film criticism world who cringe at the name Roland Emmerich (greatest work to date: Independence Day). At the mere mention they’re heads are flooded with overdone and overblown images from Godzilla (1998), The Thirteenth Floor (1999) and The Day After Tomorrow (2004), a laundry list of very ill received films by audiences and critics alike. But, that rush of images keeps us from remembering his previous hits, such as Universal Soldier (1992), Independence Day (1996) and The Patriot (2000). In my mind, Independence Day still rests as the best of the War of the Worlds remakes, that’s right Spielberg, it’s leaps and bounds more enjoyable than yours. So, for me, the name dropping of Roland Emmerich doesn’t instill instant fear or any cringe worthy responses, just a slight sense of curiosity with tempered excitement. With those feelings in place, I casually walked into 10,000 BC after hearing weeks of people tear it apart. I had to see whether it was that bad and maybe, just maybe, find that it was bad enough to turn the tide and be good. Continue reading →