“Mr. Vice President, if we don’t act now, it’s going to be too late!” Jack Hall.

Computer models are predicting a new ice age. Unfortunately paleo climatologist, Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid), is having a hard time getting the government, especially the Vice President to act and evacuate the northern states. (Government inaction – sounds about right so far). Suddenly it’s hailing baseball-sized hail in Tokyo, the birds are beating a hasty retreat to south of the border, the ocean temperatures are plummeting and huge tornados start to rip through the states. Could it possibly get any worse?

Sam, Jack’s son (played by a youngish-looking Jake Gyllenhaal), flies to New York on field trip with the school's debate team. In addition to the pending storm, Sam is struggling with a school-boy crush on Laura (Emma Rossum), another member of the debate team.

The mega-storm arrives sooner than anyone could have predicted stranding Sam in New York. Can Jack save his son before the world plunges into the next ice age? Jack and his two side-kicks, Jason (Dash Mihok) and Frank (Jay O. Sanders) take off from D.C. to New York to save Sam. Unfortunately, they run into trouble just north of Philly and have to walk the rest of the way. In the meantime, Sam has taken refuge, with other survivors, in the New York Library trying to stay alive from an ice storm that could freeze them in seconds.

Great movie moments:

Sela Ward (The Fugitive and the T.V. series, Sisters), Arjay Smith (T.V. shows Sons of Anarchy and Perception) and Nester Serrano (Bad Boys and Lethal Weapon), both give solid performs in their supporting roles.

Jake Gyllenhaal gives an excellent performance as a love-struck teenager, rebellious son and super-intelligent teenager all rolled up into one.

If you like earth doomsday / action movies, this will not disappoint you.

Not-so-great movie moments:

Critics are not real fans of The Day After Tomorrow. In fact, anyone who is a stickler for realism may be a bit disappointed. For example, was Jack's trek to New York realistic? Just what was the time frame from the onset of the storm to when Jack reached Sam? Shouldn't it have taken days, if not weeks (months even) to make the journey from Philly to New York on ice, on foot, in extremely cold weather? The movie tended to stretch the imagination for those who want realistic attention details.

Personally, as a fan of action, earth-disaster SyFy movies, I truly enjoyed the film.

I give The Day After Tomorrow four out of five stars.

Rating: PG-13, not too much real violence, mostly “peril”, a quick kiss and a really quick suggestive hug.
Runtime: 124 min
Director: Roland Emmerich

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This movie is part of my personal collection.