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"Every time they come to me I say: 'Oh no!' " the German-born director of blockbusters such as Universal Soldier, StarGate and Independence Day said about being asked by studios to participate in feature-length commentaries. Tomorrow's DVD release of Independence Day includes a commentary by Emmerich and his producing partner Dean Devlin that is hilarious -- and informative.
"I'm so bad," he protests, insisting that it would have been disastrous without Devlin. "Dean is actually very good at it. If I would not have Dean, I would sit there like a cold fish and freeze up and go: 'Oh my God, look at the effects shot! How could I ever let that go through?' "
Still, the movie-loving Emmerich loves the DVD phenomenon. "They're pretty cool, eh? They're expensive, too, but I keep buying them. I can't help myself. I have the same thing with books. It's terrifying."
The DVD versions of his own movies make the editing process less painful, Emmerich says, because he knows cuts can be restored on the DVD. Nine minutes of excised scenes, plus the original ending, were put back into ID4.
"It's definitely cooler for the filmmaker." As for worries that audiences are getting too much information and losing touch with the magic of movies, Emmerich shrugs it off.
"If you don't want to know how it's done, simply don't click the extras on. It's optional and you can just watch the movie. In the age of computers, I think people are used to the interactive experience."