Movie Review – The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

What if the world was to suddenly have a radical climate shift, one that would wreck havoc on life as we know it?

On top of that, what if this climate change was something that we could have prevented?

That’s basically the premise for The Day After Tomorrow, a 2004 science-fiction doomsday film.  In The Day After Tomorrow we see what planet Earth could be like should there be a sudden and radical shift in the climate, a shift caused by man-made global warming.  Coastal areas are flooded by a sudden rise in sea level, ocean currents are disrupted, and ferocious weather systems blast frigid weather across North America, creating a new Ice Age.

Directed by Roland Emmerich, The Day After Tomorrow stars Dennis Quaid as paleoclimatologist Jack Hall.  Co-starring in the film is Jake Gyllenhaal in the role of Sam Hall, Jack’s son.  Other actors in the movie include Ian Holm as Professor Terry Rapson, Kenneth Welsh as Vice President Raymond Becker, and Emmy Rossum as Laura Chapman.

The Day After Tomorrow begins in Antarctica as paleoclimatologist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) and his team are drilling for ice-core samples on the Larsen Ice Shelf.  Suddenly there’s a fracture in the ice that crates a deep crevice.  Hall’s team barely escapes falling to their doom.

Later, at a United Nations conference in New Delhi, India, Jack presents his findings on global warming and how it’s significantly worse than anybody had expected.  Unfortunately, his research fails to convince the diplomats or Vice President Raymond Becker (Kenneth Welsh).  They’re set on maintaining their current ways when it comes to using fossil fuels and the Earth’s natural resources as they see fit, rather than considering its effects on the environment.

Jack’s briefing does attract the attention of Professor Terry Rapson (Ian Holm) of the Highland Climate Research Centre in Scotland.  He believes Jack’s theory about global warming and the melting of the polar ice caps.  When ocean buoys in the northern Atlantic Ocean suddenly indicate a massive drop in ocean temperatures, it’s believed that melting polar ice is the cause of the temperature drop.  Rapson contacts Jack and has him work with his team to create a new forecast model showing how the cooler waters will disrupt the North Atlantic current and cause another Ice Age.

Meanwhile, Sam Hall (Jake Gyllenhaal), Jake’s intelligent son, flies to New York City with his school’s academic team.  His school companions include Laura Chapman (Emmy Rossum) and Brian Parks (Arjay Smith).

While all of this is taking place, various weather-related phenomena are taking place around the world, from massive hailstorms to flocks of birds flying askew.  The crowning moment is when a series of tornadoes destroy portions of Los Angeles, California.  A superstorm develops in northern Canada featuring air so cold that it instantly freezes and causes three helicopters to crash.  When the survives crawl out of the wreckage, they’re all instantly frozen to death.

In New York City, heavy rains cause localized flooding, preventing Sam and his friends from leaving and returning home.  Things go from bad to worse when the Atlantic Ocean swells and massive waves the size of buildings wash ashore in a dramatic fashion, flooding downtown New York City.  People scramble and seek shelter wherever they can.  Sam and his friends join others in the New York Public Library.

At the Highland Climate Research Centre, the computer models predict the formation of three superstorms over Canada, Europe and eastern Asia.  The storms resemble hurricanes, complete with an eye in the center of the rotation, a feature that seems nearly impossible as hurricanes cannot survive on land, especially over cold areas.

At the New York Public Library, Jake is able to use a pay phone in a flooded basement to contact his parents.  He briefly speaks with his father and learns dire news about the worsening weather.  Before the line disconnects, Jake tells Sam to stay put as he’s going to New York City to rescue him.

Sure enough, the rain and flooding finally stop, but the supercooled air changes the precipitation into snow.  Snow falls heavily and the flooded streets quickly freeze into ice.  When people are spotted walking on the ice, the rest of the survivors inside of the library want to head out, but Sam warns them about the *really* cold weather that’s about to strike.  Heading outside is suicide.  The people don’t believe him, and most of them leave the library and head out into the cold.

It’s not just New York City that’s experiencing the drastic cooling.  Most of the United States is hit with freezing weather, and the people begin a massive migration to the south.  One of the more political scenes in the movie shows Americans crossing the Rio Grande and illegally entering Mexico.  Later, the U.S. President works out a deal to allow the Americans legal entry into Mexico and Latin America as long as America forgives the financial debts from those countries.

Jack Hall sets out north to New York City on a quest to find his son.  Accompanying him are Jason Evans (Dash Mihok) and Frank Harris (Jay O. Sanders).  The trio starts out driving north to New York City, but they crash into a block of ice just past Philadelphia, forcing the men to continue the journey on foot.  They run into more trouble in New York when Frank falls through the glass roof of a snow-covered shopping mall.  They try to save him but the other glass supporting the rest of the team starts to crack.  Frank chooses to cut the rope and sacrifice himself so that the other two can continue on their journey.

At the library, Sam and his friends are trapped inside of the building as the blizzard continues outside.  They decide to burn some of the library’s books so that they can stay warm.  They also break into vending machines to find food.

At the refugee camp in Mexico, word quickly spreads that the President’s motorcade was caught in the superstorm before it could make it to Mexico.  There were no survivors.  Vice President Becker is then sworn in as the next President of the United States of America.

It’s soon discovered that Laura has become sick from blood poisoning from a cut on her leg.  They look it up in a medical book and realize that she’s going to die unless they can locate some penicillin.  The library doesn’t have that kind of medicine in stock, but they suspect that a Russian cargo ship outside of the building does have it in a first aid kit.  The cargo ship had floated up the street after the flood, and it became lodged on some debris and then locked in place when the water froze.

Sam and two of his companions venture outside and make their way into the ship.  They locate a first aid kit and find some penicillin.  However, their joy is quickly evaporated when they discover that some wolves that recently escaped from a zoo are also roaming the ship.  They’re briefly chased before the guys are able to lock the wolves on board the ship.  They then quickly return to the library before a mass of extremely cold air descends and instantly freezes everything that it touches.

Jack and Jason are also caught outside when the eye of the superstorm passes over New York City.  Both of them are barely able to make it into a restaurant before the cold air kills them.

When it’s safe to venture back outside, Jack and Jason make it to Manhattan and discover that the entire city is buried in snow, including the New York Public Library.  All is not lost, and the two of them find a way into the mostly buried building.  Sam and his friends are still alive, and there’s a joyous reunion between father and son.  They use a radio and a helicopter arrives, rescuing everybody.

When President Becker learns of the extent of the new Ice Age, he makes a televised statement acknowledging that he was wrong about the Earth.  He admits that the government’s policies were wrong and that they should have been more conscious and respectful towards the environment.

The Day After Tomorrow ends with more helicopters flying into a completely frozen and snow-covered New York City, looking for more survivors.

So is The Day After Tomorrow a good movie?

The special effects are great, the story is mediocre, and the “science” behind the Ice Age is absolutely terrible.  This is one of the most scientifically inaccurate movies that you’ll ever see.

Forget about the hurricanes that form over dry land, the incorrect way that the models show air rotating in some of the scenes, or the tornadoes that destroy downtown Los Angeles.  Also forget how in the movie the super cooled air flows *downward* in the eye of the superstorm when in reality air flows *upwards* in the eye of hurricane (part of what causes the lifting of the ocean during the storm surge).

The main part of the movie (the flooding of New York City followed by an Ice Age level freezing event) is something that would occur over the timespan of hundreds if not over a thousand years, certainly not an event that takes place over a few days.  No way in hell would an event like that take place that quickly.

The science in this film is a complete joke.  This movie pushes a political agenda (it wasn’t a coincidence that Vice President Becker looked identical to Vice President Dick Cheney) with a strong anti-global warming message, although that message is carried out through a vision created by a sixth-grade student and not an actual meteorologist scientist.

As far as the story for The Day After Tomorrow, it’s full of clichés and standard moments in disaster films.  There are the mandatory moments of doom and foreshadowing before the main brunt of the weather strikes.  After that it’s a generic survival story that pits man against nature.  There’s really nothing special or inspirational with the story in this movie.

The Day After Tomorrow (2004) – movie trailer

The Day After Tomorrow is a type of movie that you enjoy watching because it has some cool special effects.  You get to see New York City completely flooded in a matter of minutes, and then it’s hit by a tremendous blizzard.  There’s also a fun moment earlier in the film when tornadoes hit Los Angeles.

But that’s really it.

Whatever you do, do NOT take this movie seriously.  This is a popcorn flick that doubles as a corny disaster film.  Watch it because you love disaster films, not because you believe any of the crap or propaganda in the story.

Jason Evans – “What do you think’s going to happen to us?”
Jack Hall – “What do you mean?”
Jason Evans – “I mean ‘us’? Civilization? Everyone?”
Jack Hall – “Mankind survived the last ice age. We’re certainly capable of surviving this one. All depends on whether or not we’re able to learn from our mistakes.”