Hollywood does the Environmental Awareness Film

Rating: 9/10 (6 March 2007)

When global warming triggers the onset of a new Ice Age in Roland Emmerich's "The Day After Tomorrow "(2004, 124 min., U.S.), tornadoes flatten Los Angeles, a tidal wave engulfs New York City and the entire Northern Hemisphere begins to freeze solid. Starring Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ian Holm and Emmy Rossum.
This film truly is a typical Hollywood version of an environmental film. Using nature as the protagonist and the several familiar subplots of boy gets girl, Dysfunctional family comes together to save parts of the world. Workaholic dad steps up to the plate and against extremely adverse conditions manage to rescue his son and his friends. Who in the first place should never have left the posh apartment? However, in Hollywood reality those characters always lack common sense. Sitting the audience, I want to scream at the stupid characters "No don't go" but they always do. The science exaggerated to heighten the drama and music and sound seamlessly float in and out of your awareness.
The views of the storm from the space station really give you the sense of the magnitude of the storm. The Computer Generated Images (CGI) and visual effects combine to create a terrific impression of the scale of destruction. Specifically the tidal wave that hits Manhattan, the masses of people fleeing over the Rio Grande south to Mexico all make impressive effects and create to the drama and intensity of the film.
Professor David Ingram mentioned the political underlying narrative that establishes similarities to the Bush administration's position on global warming. He mentioned that the film was released in 2004 coincidentally was an election year. His other insight into the film was a liberal discourse, an American Jeremiah appealing to reason and appealing to emotion. There were a few moments I found myself not lost and captivated by the story, graphics and the action. In all I give this film a grade of B+. (That is a strong B++ leaning toward an A-)