On the one hand, I love the special effects used in this pretty dated movie. Not my first time to watch it (I think I watched it years ago when Netflix was still mailing out DVDs) and it was still very good...as far as the effects go. I'm not a fan of the preachy type of environmental-type movies so I had some beef with that aspect…but in all fairness, the "preachy" part was fairly minimal, basically woven into a sort of undertone, and then thrown in your face with the closing scenes. We're all gonna die because there's too much hair spray in the first world. Sure. For those (including myself) who are familiar with the Bible and the end of days as foretold in scripture, don't let this film disappoint you: no, the world doesn't end with another ice age (quite the opposite, in fact) but the supposed science and everything in the storyline is a fun way to wonder _"What if..."_ and start you thinking about "Could this really happen?" So balancing everything out - the special effects vs the tree-hugger agenda, the reality vs the fun of just watching a cool movie - this rates up there. It was fun (both times I've watched it) and even 20 years later, I'm still amazed at what they managed to portray through the special effects here. Very young Jake Gyllenhaal here that pulled his part off really well. I would recommend this for pretty much anyone that enjoys the "end of days" or environmental-type films. Sit back, disengage your brain, and just enjoy this one.

As with most blockbuster disaster movies, there isn’t a lot of scientific accuracy in _The Day After Tomorrow_. It’s much happier placing an emphasis on hand-wringing anticipation and large-scale destruction than minding the boring constraints of reality. I think audiences are happier that way, too. Let’s just get it out of the way, then: this is really dumb, its core message is pre-school simple and it’s not going to make sense when we poke and prod at the weirder bits. There. Now I can exhale.

What this leaves behind is a straightforward, ice-themed survival adventure on two fronts. We’ve got a group of teens, on a field trip to Manhattan, who get stranded in the public library during a deadly freeze. And then there’s a determined dad (coincidentally, also the only scientist on the planet who saw this coming) who bundles up tight and sets off on an expedition to bring the kids home safely. Hundreds of thousands die, shopping malls are buried under snow drifts, ocean liners run aground in Times Square and a pack of wolves escapes from the Central Park Zoo. All factor into their own obvious, self-explanatory set pieces. Well, maybe not the mass fatalities. Those just play as extra background color.

Honestly, as the genre goes, this isn’t such a bad example. It crams in all the expected CG shots (the New York tsunami and Los Angeles supertornado are especially memorable) and there’s a lot of stupid, manufactured suspense, but it knows when to show restraint and the character work is actually pretty strong. Four years removed from _Donnie Darko_, Jake Gyllenhaal was way too good for this kind of flick, but he doesn’t let that knowledge color his performance as the brainy, brooding young adult who’s accidentally shut in with his teen crush for the winter.

Not a good movie, not even close, but a decent enough spectacle and that’s all it intends to be. This might not be one of Roland Emmerich’s best, but it’s also a far, far cry from his worst.

It threatened and promised to be a politically (wooly) mammoth disaster picture.

Jack Hall is certain that another ice age is imminent due to the effects of global warming, but the government just will not listen to him. Sure enough the climate changes and the world is at threat from perilous frozen weather, worse still for Jack is that his son is trapped in New York City!

Roland Emmerich was the perfect choice to direct this particular piece. There is no denying that he has no little panache when it comes to destroying and blowing things up, think Independence Day, Stargate, Universal Soldier and Godzilla. What runs true through an Emmerich picture is that he is great on the CGI money shots and knows how to whet an appetite for destruction. Sadly, what is also true is that his second halves rarely deliver on their promise, so shall it be with The Day After Tomorrow. Even allowing for the expected mawkishness that comes with disaster/survival pictures, this picture relies too much on its contrivances, thus completely losing sight of its eco-conscious heart, something that I'm sure the politically aware Emmerich set out to deliver at the start.

Packing his picture with solid and professional performers (led by the always watchable Dennis Quaid as Jack Hall), Emmerich is all too aware that his money shots are what the popcorn masses have chiefly paid to see. Tornados, floods and the subsequent freeze are all excellent moments in the piece, but now, some years later the film has to be called out for being the shallow showcase that it is, in fact the CGI looks unintentionally artificial. It's a missed opportunity to make a blockbuster with an intelligent heart, and sadly Emmerich, either through boredom or ignorance? failed to seal the deal and craft one of the better genre entries.

Just about average for the destruction sequences, but very little else to recommend here I'm afraid. 5/10

42%

Positives:
Dennis Quaid was about the only thing that saved this movie from being one of the worst. If Dennis wasn't in the movie I believe the movie would be around a 20%. I felt the idea for the main plot was somewhat interesting. One thing I did like though was that the movie was mindless fun and I enjoyed some of the bad acting but not all of it.

Negatives:
Where do I start. The acting in this movie was absolutely horrendous. I felt absolutely no emotional connection to this movie from the start. I didn't care about the people and could care less about who dies. I could count about 6 or 7 different plots throughout the movie. The movie had absolutely no direction and obviously the director was confused on where he wanted this movie to go. I realize that this movie was made in 2004 but man the CGI doesn't hold up, especially for the wolves.

Overall:
This film is bad...really really bad. But I also recognize that there are a lot worse films out there and I enjoyed the mindless fun so that's why I couldn't put the film any lower than a 42%. I enjoyed Dennis Quaid and while it's by far not his best work, he is by far the best character in the film.

**The Day After Tomorrow ends the world better than most natural disaster films, with an experienced disaster director and a grounded premise.**

Roland Emmerich, the master of disaster, created one of the quintessential apocalyptic natural disaster films with The Day After Tomorrow. Floods, tsunamis, hail, suddenly dropping temperatures, and more all make their way into the perils of this film. The movie follows Dennis Quaid's climatologist as he warns the world of a quickly returning ice age. Once the global freeze catches humanity unprepared, survivors struggle against the impossible temperatures to find shelter and hope. The film sets itself apart with its cinematography featuring the expansive frozen wastelands and iconic monuments captured in ice. Performances are solid with a cast like Quaid, Gyllenhaal, and Rossum. The story is simple, which works for a disaster survival flick. The Day After Tomorrow is special compared to other big-budget catastrophe events because it is a little more grounded compared to some of the more outrageous films of Emmerich's more recent filmography, like Moonfall or 2012 but still benefits from a director that excels at destroying historic landmarks on the big screen.