The Day After Tomorrow screenwiter Jeffrey
Nachmanoff has witten an article exclusively for Amazon.co.uk about the film,
and the DVD release.
Click here to read
it.
Special Offers and Product Promotions
Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details
|
Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
Supreme silliness doesn't stop The Day After Tomorrow from being lots of fun for connoisseurs of epic-scale disaster flicks. After the blockbuster profits of Independence Day and Godzilla, you can't blame director Roland Emmerich for using global warming as a politically correct excuse for destroying most of the northern hemisphere. Like most of Emmerich's films, this one emphasises special effects over such lesser priorities as well-drawn characters and plausible plotting, and his dialogue (cowritten by Jeffrey Nachmanoff) is so laughably trite that it could be entirely eliminated without harming the movie. It's the spectacle that's important here, not the lame, recycled plot about father and son (Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal) who endure an end-of-the-world scenario caused by the effects of global warming. So sit back, relax and enjoy the awesome visions of tornado-ravaged Los Angeles, blizzards in New Delhi, Japan pummelled by grapefruit-sized hailstones, and Manhattan flooded by swelling oceans and then frozen by the onset of a modern ice age. It's all wildly impressive, and Emmerich obviously doesn't care if the science is flimsy, so why should you? --Jeff Shannon
Special Features
Two Film Commentaries: #1 by Roland Emmerich and Howard Gordan #2 Co-writer, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, Ueli Steiger, Editor David Brenner, and Production Designer Barry Chiusid
DTS and 5.1 Audio
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Bright spells of excitement early on, becoming dull later,
By
This review is from: The Day After Tomorrow - Single Disc Edition [2004] [DVD] (DVD)
At the risk of labouring the allusions to the weather, this is a misguided attempt to catch lightning in a bottle second time round. Emmerich et al. should have been content with the success of "Independence Day", but, unable to resist temptation, they have retraced their footsteps through that alien invasion and repackaged it all as a sombre warning about the effects of global warming, hoping that the heat from the lingering embers of their earlier blockbuster will provide some warmth to sustain this sub-zero outing. Spot the scenes which begin with a suspiciously familiar explosion, and watch the eye of the storm settle not only over New York, but also directly over the Empire State Building in similar fashion to the alien ship which proceeded to blast the Big Apple to bits. Which prompts the question whether this structure, along with the rest of the city, should even be in another Emmerich film: if the ESB and its environs were reduced to rubble in "Independence Day", someone has certainly done a splendid job of rebuilding it all, and correct to the last detail, in time for this frostbitten farrago. Still, they go one stage further this time round and ensure that the incumbent US president becomes another wintry statistic, along with the the British Royal Family who are left to freeze to death after their evacuation helicopters succumb to the intense cold of arctic Scotland. The first half of the film is nonetheless fraught with enough thrills and tension, along with some sufficiently intelligent special effects to keep audiences hooked and earn the picture its kudos, that is, until a tanker sails into shot up a New York side street, at which point credibility takes a rapid nosedive. Some stray wolves show up as an unnecessary distraction, intended to increase the (lack of) suspense, a scientist just happens to find the one building where his estranged son has been taking refuge, along with a suitably attractive girl who inevitably ends up as his love-interest. Meanwhile, the big chill that is all set to annihilate civilisation as we have known it and usher in the next ice age, instead carries off the award for "Greatest Non-Event" following its sudden dispersal in a laughably unrealistic sunny spell, leaving the newly-promoted and previously cynical vice-president to express the relief of a planet in an excruciatingly maudlin speech about the inevitable "lessons we must learn". On this evidence, the moral of this distinctly flawed disaster movie is for governments to pay more attention to the scientists (obviously), and for supposedly experienced producers to come up with a rather more convincing film.
43 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If the world's future is threatened, find a public library,
This review is from: The Day After Tomorrow - Single Disc Edition [2004] [DVD] (DVD)
The Day After Tomorrow is everything you'd expect from the director of Independence Day; spectacular special effects, a beautiful cast who manage to look immaculately groomed throughout - despite their lives being turned upside down - and a good stack of dramatic one-liners. In a surprise twist to the trend of big-budget action films depicting America as the good guy however, the writers should be praised for the alternative stance they take. The film is often thought-provoking in this way, and the political statement it makes regarding important issues allows it to stand out from the deluge of mediocre blockbusters of the same genre. The story follows Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) as a government climatologist who, when he learns of the powerful storm forming a path of destruction across the world, treks through the killer conditions to find his estranged son Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal). Sam, however, has found safety a long with a group of friends and fellow citizens, in the New York Public Library. As the storm closes in around the terrified crowd, they attempt to salvage food, warmth and - cheesy American film as it is - hope. The thing that most surprised me about the film is that it was often very funny. There are numerous memorable lines, and a clever use of ironic humour. The special effects are, of course, outstanding. Then again, you'd expect nothing less from a film of this capacity. In particular, the birds eye view of New York City conveys the lengths the art department have gone to to create an authentic look. It is interesting to note that director Roland Emmerich (who also directed Godzilla) makes a point of emphasising the carelessness of the world's inhabitants, and the destructive effects their pollution is having upon the planet. It does, of course, have its disgustingly sentimental moments, and is often highly predictable. Saying that, it is a film i'd watch again, not least because it seems to have somewhat of a prophetic air about it. It's well worth watching.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Popcorn fun,
By
This review is from: The Day After Tomorrow - Two Disc Edition [DVD] [2004] (DVD)
Let's be honest, you don't watch an 'end of the world' movie for the tight plot, incredible script and Academy Award winning acting. You watch it for special effects and to turn your brain off. Thankfully, this hits all the right spots but at the same time lacks that little spark. The movie has some horrible dialogue, a flimsy plot to pull together the set pieces and what can only be described as a flawed story, but the special effects are great and the movie is exactly what it says on the tin... fun! If you're not a fan of natural disaster movies stay clear, but if you enjoy them then definately give this one a spin. 3.5/5
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
