Borrowing heavily from the WAR OF THE WORLDS concept of a full-blown alien attack, this advanced civillisation, which is capable of telepathy, wants Earth for itself and wasn't about to tip-toe around in trying to claim it. Like the aliens from television series V, they deploy ships to every major city on the planet and then set about destroying them in the most spectacular fashion.

Everything is going to plan for the unnamed extra-terrestrials, with every single human being still left alive - including the President of the United States, Thomas Whitmore (BILL PULLMAN) - well and truly on the run. That is until JEFF GOLDBLUM's David Levinson and WILL SMITH's Captain Steven Hiller unleash a computer virus on the aliens' mothership in space. Despite all their advanced technology, the aliens failed to up-date their damn anti-virus program.

From writers DEAN DEVLIN and ROLAND EMMERICH, who also directed, the film was an overwhelming box-office success and won a Best Visual Effects Oscar. Production designer PATRICK TATOPOULOS presented Emmerich with two concepts for the aliens and liked both so much he came up with the idea to use one design as the actual alien and the other to be a bio-mechanical suit the aliens could wear.

Devlin and Emmerich have long discussed the possibility of making a sequel, possibly even two. Apparently after September 11, Devlin began outlining a script with Emmerich, but in May 2004, Emmerich said he and Devlin had attempted to "figure out a way how to continue the story", but that this ultimately did not work, and the pair abandoned the idea. However in October 2009, while promoting 2012 (2009), Emmerich said he once again had plans for a sequel, and has since considered the idea of making a trilogy.

"... I saw its thoughts. I saw what they're planning to do. They're like locusts. They're moving from planet to planet... their whole civilization. After they've consumed every natural resource they move on... and we're next. Nuke 'em. Let's nuke the bastards - President Whitmore.