The Day After Tomorrow

The Day After Tomorrow – The world’s temperature suddenly drops dramatically, speeding up the effects of global warming exponentially. Scientist Jack Hall who first realised what was happening vows to save his son, Sam, who is many miles away in New York. Can anyone survive the devastating weather and if they do, what kind of world will be left for them to live in?

The Day After Tomorrow (2004) – Director: Roland Emmerich

Rating: 12

Running Length: 124 mins

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum

Genre: Disaster 

REVIEW: ‘THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW’

Ah, disaster movies. A genre that only really works with a big budget and spectacular special effects. It certainly helps to have a good plot but in reality, the promise of a giant tidal wave is all it takes to put bums on seats. Thankfully, ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ has those essential blockbuster effects as well as an easy to follow, relatable plot about a father trying to save his son. Whether any of this is believable or not is irrelevant.

As global warming is a hot topic right now (pun intended), ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ remains relevant and with governments and authorities ignoring the advice of scientists, the parallels with real life makes the tension palpable. While the events in the movie are entirely fiction, it certainly gives one pause when the effects of our consumerist lifestyles are shown on-screen, even if there is a large helping of hyperbole.

Dennis Quaid, playing likeable protagonist Jack, has a strong but calm presence as a man who is a mixture of humble but highly intelligent scientist, loving father and a man desperate to be heard by the authorities. The other characters are played well but overall don’t really have a lot to do. While disaster movies may not be to everyone’s tastes, ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ is very watchable and with such incredible visuals, doesn’t fail to impress.

CONTENT: IS ‘THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

A hail storm hits Tokyo with giant stones causing major damage to vehicles and injuring people when they are hit. A cop is hit on the head and is knocked unconscious; shortly after another man is hit and knocked down. He continues to suffer blows and as he isn’t moving it is unclear whether he is still alive. Before this he was on the phone to a woman, presumably his wife, and when he is injured, she can be heard frantically calling to him from the phone.

A plane begins to experience severe turbulence, the passengers become afraid with some crying out or screaming in fear. A trolley rolls down an aisle, picking up speed towards a flight attendant who only just manages to get out of the way in time. The turbulence then goes away and the scene ends.

A man lies on top of a woman, kissing her and he begins to unbutton her shirt. They are interrupted before anything explicit happens.

A man speaks to a colleague on the phone while watching a news report on the extreme weather, as one of the characters gets into a car, the news report shows it being completely flattened by a bus and the phone line cuts off. A reporter stands outside to report on the weather, as he speaks a huge wooden sign flies into him, taking him with it.

Helicopters fly over Scotland and when the rotor blades freeze, they crash-land. A door opens and seconds after the man tries to leave the helicopter, he freezes solid, a small puff of air leaves his mouth indicating that has perished from the extreme cold.

A huge tidal wave hits New York, killing potentially thousands of people. People vainly flee the coming water and while some manage to get inside to safety, most are washed away, either on foot or in vehicles.

Some characters realise that they are going to die and stoically accept their fate. One character who has previously been gushing over his child sadly says ‘I just wish I could have seen him grow up’.

Hundreds of people are seen walking through New York after the ice has hit and character says this is a bad idea as they will ‘freeze to death’. A part of this character’s group then decides to take their chances outside and despite being begged to reconsider, they venture out. Later, various members of this group are shown to have died from the cold.

A man falls from a height and is saved by a rope connected to two other characters. As they realise there is no hope for him to be pulled up and, if the other characters continue the rescue attempt, they will also fall, the character chooses to cut their rope, sacrificing their life for his friends. The others beg him not to and, as they watch him fall they cry out in horror. The scene cuts to later in the evening and both characters are downcast with grief.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW’ FOR KIDS?

While few of the characters are particularly interesting, ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ more than makes up for it in visual effects. As there are strong themes of death and destruction, we feel this movie is appropriate for kids aged 10 and over.

• Violence: 3/5 (the extreme, violent weather kills millions of people. These deaths are mostly just mentioned in the dialogue but some scenes show thousands being killed)
• Emotional Distress: 2/5
• Fear Factor: 2/5 (ravenous wolves chase three characters through a ship. This becomes quite intense and could be scary for young kids)
• Sexual Content: 1/5
• Bad Language: 2/5 (infrequent mild cursing, a could of moderate words are used)
• Dialogue: 2/5 (references to death and a global catastrophe killing millions of people)
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of global warming, climate change, an extinction level event, family, sacrifice, life and death, risking your life for loved ones, hope and survival.

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Words by Laura Record