Film: The Day After Tomorrow

[Banquo]

A popcorn eating good time.

This movie was a lot of fun. It successfully uses just about every blockbuster cliche in the book, but does it with a bit more skill than most summer flicks do. There were only a couple of audible gasps at cheesy dialogue from the audience when I saw it, and some of the over-the-top moments in the film turn out to be extremely entertaining (like the wolves aboard the cargo ship).

The special effects are fantastic and the movie's pacing, thankfully, does not leave a lot of time for the viewer to stop and think about the plot. There are also a couple of clever tongue-in-cheek moments about U.S. foreign policy that I won't ruin here. Viewers of this movie should also note the VP's physical and ideological resemblance to Dick Cheney.

 

[Mysticalis]

I thought the film was entertaining... but not a great film in any sense.

I liked that Jake Gyllenhaal had a big role (one of my favorite actors), but I really hated Emmy Rossum (played the girl Jake liked) had such a big role.. she's really freakin annoying.

Pretty much sums up how I felt about the movie. Great special effects. Great entertainment value if you enjoy watching Mother Nature's wrath on a massive scale. Other than that, it's a bit too "over the top" in its delivery, though I must admit that the concept of superstorms (massive hurricane-like formations that can cover an entire continent in snow and ice) is really damn cool.

Btw, my favorite scene was watching Los Angeles getting utterly destroyed by a herd of wild tornadoes. This is enjoyed moreso by the fact that towards the latter half of the film, you get a global view of the USA and you'll notice right away that Florida is completely UNTOUCHED by the superstorms. Proof positive that even the heavens favor Florida over Cali!

 

[rewiiired]

There were some really good parts in this movie. I did like the whole idea of people from America running into Mexico -- that made me laugh. I also liked the guy who, at first, argued that they couldn't burn a book by nietzsche, and later on went on to deny them the right to burn a bible after announcing his atheism because it was an original print. And how the rich kids got to learn something from a vagrant. And the Donnie Darko guy's fear of planes as well as his compulsive altruism was interesting, keeping the Donnie Darko film in mind.

All in all, though, the movie wasn't as great as I had hoped it would be.
They built up some interesting characters in the movie, but didn't seem to resolve all that much by the end. I walked out of the movie theater feeling as if it hadn't really gotten anywhere. The underlying message of, `when it comes down to it, we are all truly equal in worth and we need to stick together in order to survive' was great, but the movie still seemed incomplete. I don't know.

nah, its wayyyy to extremist. nothing that drastic will ever happen. the world, at many points in its history, was much much hotter...the poles were mild and temperate and the rest of the world was tropical. not even the greenhouse effect can change the world fast enough to cause the types of events seen in this movie. its 100% hollywood

I have a hard time believing the scenario as well, but it would help to explain the mammoth who froze before he had time to digest his food -- because that part wasn't fictional.

 

[mariacallas]

HAHAHAH!@!!!! you just ruined it for me dammit! i have yet to see this. mammoth? Oh well im sure ill love this mammoth no -brainer 100% entertainment hollywood movie!

 

[Frosty da snowman]

nah, its wayyyy to extremist. nothing that drastic will ever happen. the world, at many points in its history, was much much hotter...the poles were mild and temperate and the rest of the world was tropical. not even the greenhouse effect can change the world fast enough to cause the types of events seen in this movie. its 100% hollywood

By polar shift I think they meant magnetic poles switching places. I haven't see the movie yet, but I do know that magnetic north and south have switched places a few times during the worlds history with some guessed nasty weather effects accompining them.

 

[beanergrl]

nah, its wayyyy to extremist. nothing that drastic will ever happen. the world, at many points in its history, was much much hotter...the poles were mild and temperate and the rest of the world was tropical. not even the greenhouse effect can change the world fast enough to cause the types of events seen in this movie. its 100% hollywood

well, i believe it. in fact i moved out of florida because the plates are way too low there and sinking. it's a goner.

 

[day_for_night]

i've had lengthy discussions with phds about this...i was an earth and atmospherics major for 3.5 years, i'd like to think i learned a bit, but there is two sides to every argument.

yes, costal areas will loose land, but it wont just happen in some enormous wave, it'll occur slowly year by year (many areas of the earth have lost 30cm to 2 meters of coastline in the last 50 years). the polar ice caps arent gonna melt entirely in a short amount of time, however the melting will accelerate. and yes they'll be an increase in violent weather with more energy being trapped in the atmosphere. but NOTHING like they portray in the film, there is alot of dramatic license being taken, trust me.

about the magnetic poles reversing....yes it happens, actually pretty often (in geological terms). its happened about 170 times in the last 100 million years. NOW....if this was such a catastrophic event, we would have seen mass extinctions on a global scale for each and every time the poles flipped. has this happened? far far from it. the only major extinction event in the last 100 million years was almost certainly caused by a meteor hitting the earth near what is now the yucatan peninsula of mexico, not a polar reversal. i'd be alot more worried about something hitting the earth than i would about the poles flipping.

i could blab alot more...even though i didnt want to do it as a career, i still love this stuff.

 

[randycaver]

^^ that's quite interesting, i love that sort of stuff myself

its a relief to hear info like that though i must say.. even tho what hollywood portrays seems exciting- I still don't want it to happen :D

 

[Infinite Jest]

nah, its wayyyy to extremist. nothing that drastic will ever happen. the world, at many points in its history, was much much hotter...the poles were mild and temperate and the rest of the world was tropical. not even the greenhouse effect can change the world fast enough to cause the types of events seen in this movie. its 100% hollywood

There's a school of thought that says the Greenhouse effect could cause such rapid changes - not in a couple of days, but within a year. And the idea of the Gulf Stream cooling is definitely legitimate science (not saying it *will* happen, but might). I saw a TV interview with a geology researcher who works down in Antarctica, researching this very issue (my former roommate was actually his research assistant, they were working with the British Antarctic Survey out of Cambridge), and he said that the science was plausible - it's unknown whether polar melting will take place over 50-100 years, as previously thought, or if it will take place suddenly, over say 1 year.

[edit] I just read the rest of the thread where you talked about your background, so you obviously know your stuff. But my info comes from good sources.

 

[FunkyAlfonzo]

The underlying message of, `when it comes down to it, we are all truly equal in worth and we need to stick together in order to survive' was great, but the movie still seemed incomplete. I don't know.

Did you not think that the underlying message of the movie was 'don't fuck up the environment' ?

 

[day_for_night]

There's a school of thought that says the Greenhouse effect could cause such rapid changes - not in a couple of days, but within a year. And the idea of the Gulf Stream cooling is definitely legitimate science (not saying it *will* happen, but might). I saw a TV interview with a geology researcher who works down in Antarctica, researching this very issue (my former roommate was actually his research assistant, they were working with the British Antarctic Survey out of Cambridge), and he said that the science was plausible - it's unknown whether polar melting will take place over 50-100 years, as previously thought, or if it will take place suddenly, over say 1 year.

[edit] I just read the rest of the thread where you talked about your background, so you obviously know your stuff. But my info comes from good sources.

the amount of energy required to melt all the ice in the poles is far more than the earth receives in a single year. the heat enthalpy of melting is huge, it takes alot to melt ice, let alone kilometer thick sheets of it.

 

[Shimmer.Fade]

^^..the only disagreement I have with you is that geologists who study the strata of the earth say that the earth is almost always in an ice age (lasts approx 500,000 years) and has brief (10-30,000 year) interglacial periods. I don't think the earth has ever really been entirely thawed (temperate poles and tropical rest). We are currently in an interglacial period that is due to change in the next few thousands years. There is no telling what effect global warming will have on the earth. Personaly, I think that it is interesting that all of the earth's deserts are growing. I really enjoyed the movie. I loved the special effects and I never got bored. I also hope that this movie makes a few more people realize that we cannot sustain our current level consumption/production without bad environmental consequences.

 

[sexyanon]

This movie was bo-gus to the max. Worst part was ending when magically groups of 20 people randomly appearing ontop of the buildings.

Too much focus on the individuals rather than the overall. One thumb down.

 

[alasdairm]

i saw this on saturday. it was no more or no less what i expected. average acting, bad script, predictable plot and timeline. i give it a solid 5/10

alasdair

 

[Infinite Jest]

the amount of energy required to melt all the ice in the poles is far more than the earth receives in a single year. the heat enthalpy of melting is huge, it takes alot to melt ice, let alone kilometer thick sheets of it.

Well, I don't have any expertise in this area myself, that's just what I've heard from people who are studying it themselves.

 

[KemicalBurn]

nah, its wayyyy to extremist. nothing that drastic will ever happen. the world, at many points in its history, was much much hotter...the poles were mild and temperate and the rest of the world was tropical. not even the greenhouse effect can change the world fast enough to cause the types of events seen in this movie. its 100% hollywood

just a geek POV for the film, our poles are changing. there are reports of a new magnetic pole forming around South America..scientists are reserved as to whther the change will be sudden or slow...the effects could be drastic...

i havent seen the film so i'll shut up now

 

[Charlie Brown]

This movie was pretty shit...I thought movies such as Alive, Vertical Limit etc was better. Okay in some parts but overall not a blockbuster!!! 5/10

 

[MynameisnotDeja]

I saw this tonight.

I would give it a C+.

I sort of enjoyed it..the special effects for all the disasters were amazing.

The storyline was ok. I thought the main actors did a good job.

But to me, this movie was just missing a certain element. I am not sure exactly what..

One thing I thought was they should have showed MORE. More panic in the streets. There was some..but it seemed a little underdone IMO..I thought it could have been a little harsher too..maybe I am sick but I would have liked to see more dead bodies floating in the water, more blood etc. I mean, in a situation like this, things would be GRAPHIC and HORRIBLE. I think they should have shown a little more horror.

The ending was just like...uhhh..okay what now? Everyone goes to mexico and lives happily ever after or what?

Overall..I left the theater feeling sorta empty and a little agitated..but I would still say the movie was worth my money.

 

[Charlie Brown]

^^ I agree
Especially at the end when all the chumps climbed out to be surivors didnt make the original survivors special !!! its like everyone survived too.... I would watch it again on DVD though..might have a better appreciation second time round

 

[AstridAsteroid]

I HATED IT.

It was almost as bad as Troy. *shudder*