The Day After Tomorrow

I'm afraid that time has come and gone. - Prof. Rapson

I'm not the only one who likes watching destruction on an epic scale; Roland Emmerich's Independence Day was one of the highest grossing films in history, and THE film that launched me into my obsession with films.

And here comes the mother of all disaster movies. Emmerich has combined several forms of natural disasters, cranked up the amplitude, and slammed it at the audience.

Paleoclimatologist Jack Hall (Quaid) is just the right man to discover that mankind's time on Earth is doomed to end at an unspecified time in the future. However, when the events he predicted begin to happen much sooner than expected, Jack races to Manhattan to get to his stranded son Sam (Gyllenhaal).

Insane blizzards, sextuplet twisters, towering tsunamis and unbelievable super-freeze feature, which you may have thought looked farfetched if you saw the trailer (the 'what-the-hell?' response). While it is true that the cataclysmic events portrayed in this film are overblown and speeded-up, some elements are real. The cause for the climate change in the film is explained by the slowing down of the 'conveyor belt' in the North Atlantic Ocean due to desalination; in reality scientists ARE detecting a worrying acceleration in the desalination process.

And of course, the much-publicised coincidence of the collapse of the Larsen B ice-shelf weeks AFTER the writers wrote that scene for the film. The director joked that they had better produce the film quickly or soon they'll be shooting a documentary.

Obviously the biggest selling point of this film are its seamless special effects, they are breathtaking and awe-inspiring. I enjoyed the plot as well, and liked the characters. Some people are less impressed, but most would find it a shocking reminder of what we've done to the environment and how it could bite back. As for the politics, you can read as much as you like into the fact that the Vice President in this film looks a lot like Dick Cheney.

Whatever you do, do not dismiss the film as completely unbelievable or unrealistic. On the other hand, if you're having too much fun, you're missing the point.

Sebastian NG