The special effects deserve a 10!

Rating: 6/10 (2 March 2016)

And the casting is great! Is that Dick Cheney I see? No, it's Kenneth Welsh, and is Al Gore playing the part of President Blake? No, it is Perry King! The first hour shows us a concentrated version of climate change, not next century, not next decade, but... next week! First there is huge hail stones, then a tornado that destroys the "Hollywood" sign in LA, then a flood that swamps New York, and finally, a dramatic fall in temperature that will turn the earth into another ice age.
How can we possibly survive? Most, it seems, don't. Some clear off to Mexico, gosh, won't that be fun? There are distracting sub-plots which don't really add anything to the story, teenagers, a street hobo with a mutt. And minor characters whose role and identity are not clear.
Apart from Quaid in the main role, the others are quite ordinary and none of them get really great lines to say. How many times does someone say "Are you alright?" Too many times, and then Doctor Lucy changes it to "Are you OK today?" The DVD has "Bonus Features". I was hoping they might tell me a bit about how they did the special effects. Alas, it's just guys burbling away about nothing in particular. I suppose getting the Russian ship to drift up 5th Ave is easy enough, but what about when it crushes the bus with its great big bow-bulb-thing?
I know it is fantasy and that much of what is shown is artistic license, but I was disappointed.
Oh, one great line is when they need heat while waiting in the NY library and so start burning books. Someone says "More books" loudly. (to put on the fire! including Friedrich Nietzsche!)