Marina Bay, Singapore

 
Twenty years after aliens attacked Earth in Independence Day, the film received a sequel in 2016, INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE. Once again danger is lurking from outer space, but after the establishment of the Earth Space Defense by the United Nations, countries are better prepared for a new invasion.

Independence Day: Resurgence, 1:39:42

Warning: the text may give away details of the plot. The original movie was set entirely in the United States. In this sequel, the moon, planet Mars, and Rhea, one of Saturn's moons, are colonized. The aliens are now also targeting Asia: after Dubai, Singapore is completely destroyed in less than a minute. It is not clear to me if filming took place in this city. Most of the shots seem to consist of models and computer animations.

This was probably the main reason to have the attack set in the evening. Although some buildings are recognizable, the surroundings do not match.

Seeing buildings collapsing and cars flying in the sky, people run in panic from their cars that are stuck in traffic. The ArtScience Museum can be seen on the left. The shape of the building, designed by Israeli architect Moshe Safdie, is inspired by a lotus flower. As can be seen in the photo, the museum, which opened in 2011, is not located next to a road but on Marina Bay.

Independence Day: Resurgence, 0:41:14

ArtScience Museum, Singapore, 27 December 2019

One of the skyscrapers that collapses has the Hitachi sign, but this company does not own any highrise buildings in Singapore. For comparison, I added a photo of the city skyline as seen from the observation deck of the Marina Bay Sands hotel.

Independence Day: Resurgence, 0:41:20

Singapore, 27 December 2019

The luxurious Marina Bay Sands hotel is seen for a moment before collapsing. On the far left one of the three towers, connected at the top by a roof construction, is visible.

Independence Day: Resurgence, 0:41:26

Marina Bay, Singapore, 27 December 2019

The hotel is better seen on one of the four different movie posters. For more information on Marina Bay Sands and Singapore, see the blog post Marina Bay, Singapore that I wrote last year about the film Crazy Rich Asians.

Movie poster Independence Day:
Resurgence

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore,
27 December 2019

Screenshots and movie poster © 20th Century Fox/TSG Entertainment