woeful plot, but it's always fun watching film makers devastate America

Rating: 5/10 (2 May 2005)

SPOILERS In 2004, Roland Emmerich, creator of fun films like "Independence Day" and "Stargate" wrote, directed and produced his latest disaster film. Based around the ecological problems of the world, Emmerich created a film which has a dreadful script, but is saved purely by the way in which it depicts the slow destruction of America.
Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) is in the antarctic when he makes a discovery. Believing the world is facing another ice age in a hundred years or so, Hall is shocked when Terry Rapson (Ian Holm) contacts him with the news that events are happening sooner than expected. Suddenly the world's climate begins to go wrong and Hall sets out on a personal mission across America to save a family member.
The earliest you abandon hope of a decent story, the sooner you begin to enjoy this film. Whilst Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal and others all perform admirably, the flaw is that Emmerich's script is truly awful. It has some of the most annoying lines ever written, and a plot which is predictable and tedious. So, the story should be abandoned the second you put the film on.
Like so many other disaster films, for example "The Core", the beauty of "The Day After Tomorrow" is the way it destroys the planet, especially America. With a scene where the Hollywood scene is wiped off the map, it's hard not to find this film amusing. It's not that people hate America, it's purely that watching the place be destroyed is always amusing.
In fact, that is the key of this film. The graphics are outstanding with huge amounts of water and ice looking realistic and brilliant. The film is worth watching just for that.
"The Day After Tomorrow" is a dire film saved by it's special effects. Roland Emmerich has a record as a special effects, directorial guru, sadly though, he needs to learn that a film cannot survive purely on it's graphics. This film needs a decent plot and it simply doesn't deliver it.