The Day After Tomorrow

The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Also known as "Tomorrow"

Where will you be?

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum, Dash Mihok, Jay O. Sanders, Sela Ward, Austin Nichols, Arjay Smith, Tamlyn Tomita, Sasha Roiz, Ian Holm

Director: Roland Emmerich

Running Time: 124 minutes

Certificate: 12A

Action, Drama, Science Fiction, Thriller

In director Roland Emmerich's 'Independence Day' (1996), a boffin eventually defeats the space aliens that have wrought explosive havoc all over America (and incidentally the rest of the world) - without provocation. In 'Godzilla' (1998), a boffin eventually defeats the giant iguana that has rampaged through New York City's highrise - but the fact that the lizard's mutation was a product of exposure to Pacific nuclear testing hinted that humankind was just reaping what it (or at least what the French) had sown. And now in 'The Day After Tomorrow', there is yet more disaster and destruction on a truly massive scale all over America (and incidentally the rest of the world), only this time the enemy is global warming, the starring boffin is unable to do anything to defeat it, and the blame is placed squarely on the shoulders of Western consumerism and blinkered US governance. In other words, Emmerich's delight in sublime catastrophe may be consistent to the point of repetitivene ss, but at least the man is maturing politically.

A sequence of extreme weather conditions (snow in New Delhi, bucket-sized hailstones in Tokyo, spectacular tornadoes in downtown LA) leads palaeoclimatologist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) to realise that a new ice age is coming. His son Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal) becomes trapped in New York's Public Library when a tidal wave strikes the city, and is forced to fight rapidly dropping temperatures - and a pack of hungry wolves escaped from the zoo - while Jack and two colleagues attempt the perilous journey from Washington to find him.

'The Day After Tomorrow' has everything you expect from a disaster movie: personal dramas set against apocalyptic mayhem; lots of scenes set in control rooms (with no-one in control); recognisable public monuments being torn apart/flooded/buried under snow/snapfrozen; and episodes so preposterously daft that you just have to love them, as when Jack feels the need to explain the relationship between the North Atlantic current and the world's climate to a room full of meteorological experts, or when Sam and his friends outrun a towering wall of water (and later a fast-moving coldsnap). Silliest of all is the realisation that Jack has undertaken his journey not to save the good burghers of New York, nor even just to save his own son, but rather simply to prove that he can for once keep an appointment - making the final scenes of this film hilariously anticlimactic, as our hero is left with literally nothing to do except grin.

While Emmerich is really only going over visual effects already well covered by films like 'Sudden Impact', 'Twister' or even 'Meteor', he comes into his own in battering his viewers with total sensory overload to convey the sheer, overwhelming scale of the devastation. The bass rumble which accompanies the wave rolling through New York is quite simply the most ear-splitting sound ever heard in a cinema, and if the film's cataclysmic, but occasionally ropey, CGI fails to humble you, the soundtrack might just succeed.

It is for its politics, however, that this film is most audacious, as it represents a direct attack on the refusal of the current US administration to reduce greenhouse emissions. Even if it is somewhat simplistic, 'The Day After Tomorrow' may have more impact on Bush's stance on the environment than any serious science could, as it terrifies its American viewers into doing something that the British have always enjoyed - talking about the weather.

It's Got: Widespread demolition of American cities beyond al Qaida's wildest dreams; fun environmentalist Bush-baiting; neat satirical scenes in which floods of US nationals are forced to cross the Mexican border as illegals; and weather conditions as cold as a brass monkey's proverbials (still, mustn't grumble).


Badass movie, go see it.. Pwn

Ima go see it tomorrow.

D3V, you're the only person I've heard say something good about the movie. I've heard so many horrible things >.<

It's a crock of shit. Global warming is a bunch of fucking balonie. Whoever watches this movie, keep that in mind.

The movie is fucking awesome. I really liked it. Pwn.

Badboy, ... bah. How can you say global warming is a bunch of balongie... Theres been tons and tons and tons of informatino from scientists around the world warning us of this, ... Yeah. nevermind.

I like it, the effects were tight, the story wasnt bad and well over all I just liked it

Like I said, I'm going to see it for the special effects. Based on that alone, I think I'll end up enjoying the hell out of it.

This movie was pretty cool visually. The acting was pretty bad, and I've seen alot of the ideas in this movie too many times in other movies. I.E. tidal wave on new york (deep impact), that guy cutting his rope to save the other members of his group(I don't know name of movie, but its about them climbing k2). I am also confused about that wolly mamoth that was in the museum that they said froze instantly.

What's confusing about it? It's a preview as to what will happen.

Also, I'm getting tired of people saying the movie was bad because it was or was not realistic. Did anyone see Shrek? Reality check: It's not fucking realistic! That doesn't make it a bad movie. These types of movies have something that makes them immune to the requirement of realistic developments. It's called FICTION.

Also, wtf was bad about the acting? I didn't find any major flaws in the portrayal of any character. If you didn't like how the story was written, then say that. Don't say that the actors did a bad job unless you have a good reason to.

I didn't think the acting was so bad. I just think that they exposed the use of awesome visual effects to make the movie better than it actually was. If the movie was rated on acting, I probably wouldn't recommend it, but the visual effects make the movie.