Alien spaceships make brief appearance in LV

Art Nadler

Thursday, April 18, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Nothing spoils a disaster film more than predictability.

That's why writer/producer Dean Devlin has tossed in a whole chunk of twisty subplots and what's-gonna'-happen-to-who-next characters in his upcoming sci-fi flick "Independence Day."

Just imagine if alien space creatures were descending on Earth in 15-mile-wide spaceships, targeting 30 of the world's major cities for destruction? What would the human race do?

It's this "what if" that Devlin and director Roland Emmerich, who last teamed up in the ancient Egyptian/futuristic film "Stargate," hope will keep moviegoers intrigued enough to hang on to their seats for what they hope will be a roller-coaster Adrenaline rush.

"In the '70s, you didn't know who was going to survive in a disaster film," Devlin said Wednesday night during a preview party at Planet Hollywood. "Look at 'The Poseidon Adventure' (1972). You never knew what was going to happen to Shelley Winters. In the '80s, all the movies became predictable."

What makes "Independence Day" especially interesting for Nevadans is that the film references Area 51, the top-secret military base near Rachel. When the military refused to be an advisor on the project after producers insisted on writing Area 51 into the plot, Devlin and Emmerich opted to re-create the base near Wendover, Utah. The town of 5,000 people, two hours from Salt Lake City, shares the border with Nevada.

The production company made use of an abandoned World War II hanger in Wendover, which was the home for the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The nearby eerie Bonneville Salt Flats provided a convenient surrealistic backdrop for 150 Winnebagos and mobile homes on the run.

"The scale of 'Independence Day' is much more than 'Stargate,' Devlin said. "You know that 5 after midnight, a disaster is going to happen. 'Stargate' was more a fantasy. This movie stays true to what people are familiar with."

"Independence Day," scheduled for release July 3, rings in at a little more than the $60 million "Stargate" cost, Devlin said. Most of the cost is due to the more than 400 visual effects, which were edited down from 6,000 filmed. "Stargate," in comparison, only had 260 visual effects, Devlin said.

Besides the massive alien spaceships that literally cast shadows over our nation's icons -- the Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial, White House and New York City skyscrapers -- there's the dastardly method in which the aliens annihilate cities.

A massive rolling curtain of fire descends from the sky and sweeps everything in its path away in twister-like infernal carnage.

In conjunction with the 20th Century Fox release of "Independence Day," the cast and crew, including Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Robert Loggia and Brent Spiner, are taking part today in ceremonies at Rachel to officially dedicate the main road there as "The Extraterrestrial Highway."

Gov. Bob Miller, Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren and several UFO buffs were to be on hand for the all-day event.