The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
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A catastrophic disruption of the North Atlantic Ocean circulation triggers a series of extreme weather events leading to a new ice age.
The story
After a paleoclimatologist warns that the disruption of the North Atlantic Current could trigger a new ice age, the world faces a series of catastrophic weather events. While a United Nations conference debates the risks of global warming, superstorms begin to strike across the globe, including a massive storm surge in New York City. As the climate shifts rapidly, a father must navigate the chaos to reach his son, who is trapped in the city. Amidst the rising waters and freezing temperatures, the survivors must find a way to endure the sudden onset of a global environmental catastrophe.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Jack Hall, a paleoclimatologist, warns at a UN conference that a disruption in the North Atlantic Current could trigger a new ice age. His warnings are ignored by officials, but his theory is soon validated as superstorms strike across the globe, causing extreme temperature drops and massive flooding. In New York City, Jack's son Sam and his friends are trapped in the New York Public Library as a massive storm surge inundates the city. Jack and his colleagues trek through a frozen landscape to reach the city, while the government orders evacuations. Amidst the chaos, Sam's group faces a pack of escaped wolves while searching for medical supplies. After the superstorms pass and the city freezes, Jack and his team reach the library to find the survivors. The film ends with the discovery of the extent of the ice sheets covering the Northern Hemisphere.
- First release year
- 2004
- Runtime (minutes)
- 123
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Roland Emmerich
- Writers
- Roland Emmerich · screenplay; Jeffrey Nachmanoff · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Dennis Quaid; Jake Gyllenhaal; Ian Holm; Emmy Rossum; Sela Ward
- Genres
- science fiction; disaster
- Themes
- climate change; father-son relationship
- Tone and mood
- thriller
- Premise and plot tags
- disaster; climate change; ice age; superstorm
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Coming Global Superstorm by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a commercial success.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 46% · scale: percentage · review count: 219; Metacritic · score: 47 · scale: 100 · review count: 38; CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The film was the highest-grossing film for a domestic release to never open at number one on opening weekend until 2015.; The opening flyover of Antarctica was the longest continuous all-CGI shot in film history at the time.; The film was once listed as one of the top-10 scientifically inaccurate films.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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