I’ve got to hand it to director Roland Emmerich. He may have started out with smaller films, but once he graduated into the realm of big budget blockbusters, he hasn’t looked back. I’m a huge fan of “Stargate” as well as “Independence Day”. The former spawned an extremely popular TV series (which I watch religiously on DVD). Then he ran into a big of a snag with “Godzilla.” First he ticked off the ‘man in suit’ brigade by daring to re-invent the uber-lizard into something entirely new. The hope was that he would win over the fans by delivering a movie that would be so good that they would have to embrace it. Unfortunately, he missed the mark and instead “Godzilla” was pretty much derided by everyone that had the ability to deride. The tag line “Size Matters” was quickly overtaken by its sarcastic counterpoint, “Plot Matters.” After those somewhat scathing reviews, Emmerich bounced back with the Mel Gibson epic “The Patriot.”

Though I wouldn’t say it turned his career around, at least most audiences and critics seemed to embrace the film to some extent. Now that Emmerich had his ode to the history of the United States out of his system, he opted to return to the world of… well… destroying the world. Unlike “Independence Day” however, where the enemy came from outer space, here the enemy came from within. Positing the theory that Global Warming is actually having an affect on the world’s temperate climate, which is to this day a subject of debate amongst scientists, the world was to find itself in the midst of an Ice Age. And I don’t mean the really old one that spawned that really cute little ‘Scrat’ creature, but a whole Ice Age that threatened the majority of the Earth’s population.

Throughout the course of “The Day After Tomorrow” we are bombarded with epic scenes of destruction around the globe. Whether (or should that be Weather?) it was tornadoes in L.A. or the flooding and freezing of New York, Emmerich and his team of special effects artist blew audiences (as well as the cast) away. The effects work is astounding, my only disappointment being that I didn’t see the movie in a theatre.

But here lies the dilemma. For all of the razzle dazzle the film delivers in terms of special effects, less attention was paid to the more important part of the film. We are once again faced with a fairly weak plot. Granted the storyline is at least a little less far-fetched than they were in “Independence Day”, the timelines were just speeded up for the sake of the film’s running time. That wasn’t at all my problem. It was the characters, and to some extent, the acting.

“Stargate” and “Independence Day” both featured characters that were fairly well fleshed out. I’ll admit they were at times more like stereotype caricatures, but they were at least interesting. You really cared about these characters and that made the threats they were facing all the more threatening. In “The Day After Tomorrow”, the cast of exceptionally good actors is pretty much wasted. Dennis Quaid, Sela Ward and Ian Holm do the best they can with what they were given, but in the end they just come across as dull and flat. Then there’s Jake Gyllenhaal………. well that’s all I can really say about that.

Getting back to the storyline, though I will admit that I found it interesting that life was imitating art during the production of the film. During filming back in 2002, there was a series of near cataclysmic weather conditions that seemed to mirror the events being created for the movie. There was a deadly hailstorm that hit Central China, with hailstones the size of eggs; as well as a three week torrent of flooding rains that swept across portions of Europe. Even here in the U.S., we were being battered by major outbreaks of tornadoes. Probably the most unusual occurrence had to be the Larsen B Ice Shelf in Antarctica breaking off and falling into the ocean. This happened within weeks of the writing of the same situation in “The Day After Tomorrow.” (Insert “Twilight Zone” music here…)

I will say that Fox’s DVD release of “The Day After Tomorrow” does deliver a terrific transfer, which is quite important considering the main draw of the film. If you have a set-up at home that will allow you to appreciate the image and sound, there is no doubt you’ll start feeling pretty cold watching the movie. But beyond that, there are but a few extra features on the disc.

There are two commentaries, the first by Emmerich and producer Mark Gordon. The second features co-writer Jeffery Nachmanoff, cinematographer Ueili Stieger, editor David Brenner and production designer Barry Chusid. Interestingly enough, both commentaries are fairly good, and each offers quite a varied range of information. These are followed up by a couple of short deleted scenes and an audio featurette that looks at one of the film’s helicopter sequences. Finally, there is a DVD-Rom link to some behind the scenes featurettes.

While I can’t say I loved “The Day After Tomorrow”, I did enjoy seeing the rampant destruction. (This of course is probably quite telling of my personality, so any psychologists reading this review may feel free to call me.) I just wish Emmerich had paid as much attention to his actors, and had given them characters that were interesting as opposed to just focusing on the effects. (Hmmm… George Lucas anyone?) If had, I would have easily given this movie a much higher mark.

Directed by: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Selma Ward, Ian Holm
Extras: Audio Commentary by Director/Co-Writer Roland Emmerich and Producer Mark Gordon, Commentary Track by Co-Writer Jeffrey Nachmanoff, Cinematographer Ueli Steiger, Editor David Brenner, and Production Designer Barry Chusid, Deleted Scenes, Interactive Audio Demo and a DVD-Rom Link to Exclusive Material Including an Hour Long ‘Behind the Scenes Featurette
Specifications: Widescreen (2.35:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, DTS 5.1 Digital Surround Sound
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: 10/12/2004
Region 1
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Website

We'll give The Day After Tomorrow a C+.