Co-written, produced and directed by Roland Emmerich (the man who brought you Independence Day), The Day After Tomorrow is a bit of an old film, its initial release back in 2004, but there’s much to be said about this film that may still be relevant for any who are yet to watch it.
First and foremost there’s no getting away from or ignoring the fact that this film is a stereotypical, in your face, over the top international plug for global warming and the many ways that pollution is plaguing the planet. That both works for and against it in my opinion. The environment is clearly important, as is how are actions affects it, and a big budget film that primarily focuses on this is never a bad thing, even if it only enlightened one or two people. However, people don’t like to be peached to or at, and there’s a fine line for these sort of films that can make or break them if crossed.
How terrible would it have been if a film on such a good subject was completely ruined and overlooked because it had crossed said line?
Anyway, part of the issue that the film was heavily criticised about were the inaccuracies and, to an extent, made up science that the film was based on. Many felt that these things would turn people away from the literal truth of environmental issues. I’d say there is truth to this argument, but I personally believe the old saying that all news, even bad news, is fundamentally good news.
But I digress. The film itself was well written, though at parts it felt a bit rushed. I got the feeling that at times they were unsure what they wanted the film to actually be; a global warming disaster film or a tale of love and the lengths people will go to protect and save family. With the subject material for both being so large, I think it would have taken a much longer film to cover them both perfectly. Nevertheless, I don’t think the storyline suffered too much because of this.
With a cast the likes of the always talented Dennis Quaid, a quite young Jake Gyllenhaal, the absolutely beautiful Emmy Rossum and the magnificent Ian Holm, it would have been incredibly difficult for this film to have been poor in regards to acting. They did excellent with the script that they had and I think they saved the film from any potential failure.
The thing that stood out the most to be during this film was the music. From the opening credits you are met with this deeply profound and inspiring music. It drew me in instantly and I found myself somewhat saddened when it faded out to allow the film to continue. The music was done by Harald Kloser, who also worked on the films 10,000 B.C. and 2012, and I have to take my proverbial hat off to him. The music exactly what I feel it was meant to, and that was to draw me in and help me further relate to the characters and the overall theme of the film. To me, if I walk away from a film and then actively search for a piece of music that I heard in it, then that music was exceptional; I actually find myself listening to the main theme of the film (played during the opening credits, if you're curious) as I write this.
So, all in all I would recommend that anyone who hasn't see this film, should. It won’t be the best film that you've ever seen, you probably wont even consider it in the slightest when you think of your all-time greatest films. However, I believe you will enjoy watching it. I saw it at the cinema, bought it on DVD and have watched it many times since then. So I will be giving this film a rating of…
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