good, but could have been a lot better

Rating: 6/10 (24 August 2007)

First, let me clarify some things: some people asked: why didn't sam and JD stay in the apartment? well, sam was anxious to get home, but planes were grounded and train lines were flooded, so he accepted a ride to philadelphia so he can catch the train there, to washington.
libraries are often chosen as evacuation centers due to their size and height above sea level, and so are stocked with emergency supplies out of reach of floodwaters. this is why sam and JD went there after it was clear that car's weren't going to be able to navigate the clogged and flooded streets.
now, the plot holes and mistakes: in a major event like that, sam should have been smart enough to get home as soon as the competition was over, instead of waiting a day like he did. even if he did do some sightseeing, he could have taken a train that night, or told JD about the upcoming storm (surely, it would have been on front page headlines, or the internet) and get a ride south then, or even have rented a car to drive down himself.
just because the power's out doesn't mean the traffic has to snarl up. hadn't they heard of four-way stops?? they could have burned the chairs and tables in the library, but many people have already pointed this out, so i'm not going to go into details.
sam WAS correct about the phones being powered directly from the phone lines, but that is only the case with regular phones. pay-phones need external power (which is not available at the time) to operate the credit-card machine, the coin taker, the digital display, etc. without it, the pay-phones won't work.
Jack comments on global warming and is against it, yet he still drives a heavy-duty Dodge pickup truck. i know what you're thoughts are, that he has to cause it's too snowy, and you're right. but he could have asked sam to take the bus, or the train that was in the background as they were driving, and if he was going to talk to sam about his calculus grade, he could have taken the bus or train with sam.
When jack's colleague fell through the roof of the mall, jack and jason could have lowered themselves down through the hole as well, thus sparing all their lives. there may even be valuable gear stowed in the mall that they could have used, and to get out they could have simply dug a hole through the snow at the main entrance. or get out through a less-fragile section of the roof.
many people also pointed out the no-chimney mistake, so i'm not going into details on this either.
now, i'm not an expert on new york, but i believe that there is an a-train connecting parts of the city. they could have taken that, instead of walking, to Victor's car. and as it is above ground (and the floodwaters), it would have still been running (electric trains are not affected by power outages; if one area's power is out, the train line can draw power from another area that still has power).
the scientists in Scotland did not leave their posts. however, a responsible one would, in order to complete his research and contribute to humanity. they would know that dying would simply be a waste of their talents (especially considering that they're world-famous scientists) and that they would leave their work only half-done. obviously, they didn't think of their families' reaction to their deaths either.
because ice is less dense then water (1cm3 of ice would have less mass than 1 cm3 of water, resulting in it floating on water), melting arctic ice would only result in water taking the ice's place, and won't actually raise the sea level. the glaciers and ice of greenland, canada, and northern europe will melt, but that would only contribute to a small rise in ocean levels.
i could ramble on and on about this, but i'm not going to. all in all, the movie wasn't half bad. it could've just been a lot better. it just needed more polishing up, and some revisions to make it more believable. 3/5-good.