lostcarpark (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lostcarpark) wrote2004-05-28 10:01 am
lostcarpark) wrote2004-05-28 10:01 am
The Day Before The Day After Tomorrow...
The evil minions lovely people at Microsoft sent me to a special preview screening of "The Day After Tomorrow" because I use their developer products.
This happened to be the same night that Ireland were playing Romania (apparently we won) just down the road from my office and, crucially, next door to the train station. This meant I had to fight through huge throngs of people to get there. On the plus side, there were extra trains running for the match so I was in town in minutes.
I got to the cinema and got the ticket (plus free drink vouchers), and as an afterthought asked what time the film would be over. "Twenty past ten," I was told. Oops, I think, as my last train is at 10:24.
The movie starts with the main character, Professor Jack Hall, drilling ice core samples in the Antartic when a giant crack cuts through their camp, as a piece of the ice shelf breaks off.
He then goes to a climate conference in India, pisses off the vice president, and meets a Scotish scientist. Meanwhile, he has a conversation with his son, Sam, who is a misunderstood genius, and Sam goes to New York to compete in a smart-ass competition.
Around this time, strange things start happening, like giant hailstones in Japan, and tornadoes in LA. All good fun.
The weather continues to worsen, and Jack gets called in to talk to other scientists at NASA. He runs a computer simulation that predicts the gulf stream si sutting down which will plunge the world into a new ice age. Several giant storms rage across the northern hemisphere, with an almost convincing of how "instant freezing" occours at the eye of the storm.
Meanwhile, Sam and his friends retreat to the New York Public library, as a tidal wave hits the city. He manages to make a phone call to his Dad who tells him, "stay indoors and keep warm". Jack starts trekking to New York, which by now is a frozen wasteland.
This movie does an excellent job of making implausable science almost believable. However, it has to be berated for blatant disregard for the laws of thermodynamics and conservation of energy. Could the Earth be plunged into an ice age? Almost certainly. But while there may be unknown factors which could make it happen quicker than current models predict, unless several of the laws of physics are suddenly repealed, it could not happen in the timeframe this movie suggests.
But this is science fiction, and implausable science has never stopped us before. The movie is carried by the special effects, and they certainly are special. The tornadoes hitting LA, the tidal wave and the frozen New York all looked stunning. The acting was generally passable, though never outstanding.
I was a bit disappointed by the portrayal of women. The strongest was Lucy (Jack's wife) who is a doctor who stays behind when a hospital is evacuated, and has to wait to be rescued. There is also a female scientist, who stays behind to warn them about the weather when they go off to rescue Sam (perhaps showing that women are more sensible). And Laura, Sam's love interest, who gets injured and Sam has to find medacine.
Apart from the implausability of some of the weather effects, I have a few other science niggles. There was a graphic showing one ocean stream following a tortuous route through all the planet's oceans. In reality there are many separate ocean currents, and there's a complex interaction between them (my sister was in Cape Town a few years back, and she said you can actually see the divide between the Atlantic and Indian oceans).
There were also a number of shots of Earth from space, including one showing Europe covered in ice, with the perfectly cleat coasline of Italy and Spain. My problem with this is that if Europe was plunged into an ice age, coastlines would alter dramatically. Evidence from the past shows that water locked up in glaciers would significantly lower sea levels, and likely create a land bridge between Britain and the continent. I also can't see why the "instant freezing" would greeze the flooded New York solid, but not cause any ice as they pass over the sea. However, from the movie point of view I can see how having the clearly visible coastline has a dramatic impact.
There was also the small matter of the completed ISS orbiting the Earth, which may or may happen one day, but is at least reassuring that these events won't happen any time soon.
Overall though, once you suspend disbelief and sit back to enjoy the ride this movie is a very enjoyable romp.
I was watching out to see if there was an obvious Microsoft connection, though I failed to find one (though every computer had a clearly visible Dell logo).
I stayed as long as I could, and at 10:10, when the main plot points had been resolved I grabbed my bag and snuck out of the cinema. I had to run down Henry Street and Talbot Street, arriving at Conolly at 22:21 (according to the station clock). The train arrived a few minutes later, packed full of football fans.
It was one of the most packed trains I've been on to date. Usually I'd manage to get a seat by Rush & Lusk (Lally country, for anyone interested), or at worst Skerries (and I've never had to stand on the train at that time of night before), but there were people standing all the way to Drogheda. Clearly Irish Rail should take note and run extra commuter trains on match days.
This happened to be the same night that Ireland were playing Romania (apparently we won) just down the road from my office and, crucially, next door to the train station. This meant I had to fight through huge throngs of people to get there. On the plus side, there were extra trains running for the match so I was in town in minutes.
I got to the cinema and got the ticket (plus free drink vouchers), and as an afterthought asked what time the film would be over. "Twenty past ten," I was told. Oops, I think, as my last train is at 10:24.
The movie starts with the main character, Professor Jack Hall, drilling ice core samples in the Antartic when a giant crack cuts through their camp, as a piece of the ice shelf breaks off.
He then goes to a climate conference in India, pisses off the vice president, and meets a Scotish scientist. Meanwhile, he has a conversation with his son, Sam, who is a misunderstood genius, and Sam goes to New York to compete in a smart-ass competition.
Around this time, strange things start happening, like giant hailstones in Japan, and tornadoes in LA. All good fun.
The weather continues to worsen, and Jack gets called in to talk to other scientists at NASA. He runs a computer simulation that predicts the gulf stream si sutting down which will plunge the world into a new ice age. Several giant storms rage across the northern hemisphere, with an almost convincing of how "instant freezing" occours at the eye of the storm.
Meanwhile, Sam and his friends retreat to the New York Public library, as a tidal wave hits the city. He manages to make a phone call to his Dad who tells him, "stay indoors and keep warm". Jack starts trekking to New York, which by now is a frozen wasteland.
This movie does an excellent job of making implausable science almost believable. However, it has to be berated for blatant disregard for the laws of thermodynamics and conservation of energy. Could the Earth be plunged into an ice age? Almost certainly. But while there may be unknown factors which could make it happen quicker than current models predict, unless several of the laws of physics are suddenly repealed, it could not happen in the timeframe this movie suggests.
But this is science fiction, and implausable science has never stopped us before. The movie is carried by the special effects, and they certainly are special. The tornadoes hitting LA, the tidal wave and the frozen New York all looked stunning. The acting was generally passable, though never outstanding.
I was a bit disappointed by the portrayal of women. The strongest was Lucy (Jack's wife) who is a doctor who stays behind when a hospital is evacuated, and has to wait to be rescued. There is also a female scientist, who stays behind to warn them about the weather when they go off to rescue Sam (perhaps showing that women are more sensible). And Laura, Sam's love interest, who gets injured and Sam has to find medacine.
Apart from the implausability of some of the weather effects, I have a few other science niggles. There was a graphic showing one ocean stream following a tortuous route through all the planet's oceans. In reality there are many separate ocean currents, and there's a complex interaction between them (my sister was in Cape Town a few years back, and she said you can actually see the divide between the Atlantic and Indian oceans).
There were also a number of shots of Earth from space, including one showing Europe covered in ice, with the perfectly cleat coasline of Italy and Spain. My problem with this is that if Europe was plunged into an ice age, coastlines would alter dramatically. Evidence from the past shows that water locked up in glaciers would significantly lower sea levels, and likely create a land bridge between Britain and the continent. I also can't see why the "instant freezing" would greeze the flooded New York solid, but not cause any ice as they pass over the sea. However, from the movie point of view I can see how having the clearly visible coastline has a dramatic impact.
There was also the small matter of the completed ISS orbiting the Earth, which may or may happen one day, but is at least reassuring that these events won't happen any time soon.
Overall though, once you suspend disbelief and sit back to enjoy the ride this movie is a very enjoyable romp.
I was watching out to see if there was an obvious Microsoft connection, though I failed to find one (though every computer had a clearly visible Dell logo).
I stayed as long as I could, and at 10:10, when the main plot points had been resolved I grabbed my bag and snuck out of the cinema. I had to run down Henry Street and Talbot Street, arriving at Conolly at 22:21 (according to the station clock). The train arrived a few minutes later, packed full of football fans.
It was one of the most packed trains I've been on to date. Usually I'd manage to get a seat by Rush & Lusk (Lally country, for anyone interested), or at worst Skerries (and I've never had to stand on the train at that time of night before), but there were people standing all the way to Drogheda. Clearly Irish Rail should take note and run extra commuter trains on match days.
no subject