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Quint survives THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW!!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with my look at Roland Emmerich's big summer blow-em-up spectacle THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW.
Is the film a cheesefest? Sure, it is. Does it have a strong environmental political agenda? Sure, it does. Is it entertaining? You bet.
Listen, this movie wears its heart on its sleeve. The political message, the jabs at Bush and Cheney are thinly veiled. The sappy emotions are turned up 100%. The science is radical, but still in the realm of possibility... and more importantly the film lives by the rules it sets up for itself. It's a summer spectacle film with a strong message. The message in ID4 was unity and patriotism, the message in THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW is beware the wrath of mother nature. Treat her right or she'll cleanse herself and you certainly won't like the results.
Believe in the message or don't, that's fine, but the movie really is about spectacle entertainment and it is an entertaining spectacle. Some dialogue is the most balls-out cheesy shit I've heard in a long time, but it fits the movie. The visuals are strong, the disaster is enormous and visually very appealing. The coincidences are large, but acceptable if you can get the fact that you're watching a Science Fiction movie.
The performances are more or less over the top. Dennis Quaid isn't my favorite actor and has some weird facial expressions that make me laugh, but he pulls off the lead in the film, the kind of everyman guy. Jake Gyllenhaal steals the movie, though. His story line in New York was what made the movie an enjoyable experience for me. I liked the relationship between him and his science geek friend (Arjay Smith) and the shy crush he has on the gorgeous Emmy Rossum.
I know there has been some talk about how the movie gets boring at the middle part, after the initial disasters. I don't understand that myself because I thought the movie really came into its own during the second half. Of course the majority of of the second half deals with Gyllenhaal and his group, which was my favorite story line... I guess I'm just a sucker for groups of people in survivalist situations, like POSEIDON ADVENTURE or THE TOWERING INFERNO, because my favorite part of the film was the mission to get medicine (you'll know it when you see it)in the last act.
Honestly, this movie is very entertaining and a tad ridiculous, but not to such a level where it'll keep you from enjoying yourself, unless you absolutely refuse to accept what this movie is: a survivalist spectacle. If you get caught up in the science or the politics then that's your own fault. The movie is what it is... it puts everything on the table and never tries to be sneaky about its message, but it also realizes that its first job is to entertain.
I'd recommend a matinee to just about everyone. If you dig survivalist disaster flicks then this won't disappoint, even with all the cheesy dialogue and line delivery!
-Quint
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'nuff said.
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untill mass destruction and super-sexy Sela Ward! I think she blows away the chick that play Jake's love interest by far.
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...Harry's was a mess of "I enjoys," tip-toeing around an actual verdict. Whenever he writes a review that begins with a caveat, I know that he knows the movie sucks, but that he is still oddly (in "Van Helsing's" case perversely) entertained by it, yet won't admit that it's bad. I think that makes sense.
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Giving the home theater a workout seems might be its on purpose.
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the question is, will this film be worth the $10 for the first hour or so of the world falling apart, or will the rest of it ruin that fun? Im sure i'll see it.
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I going to see this on sunday
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Haven't seen TDAT, but I'm going to see it today. I hope it's spectacular and silly. I think the genius to cast Jake Gyllenhaal
and Dennis Quaid in the same flick is inspiring. -
Mediocre bullshit, both counts. ID4 sucks fucking balls. Sucked balls in 96 too. Godzilla sucks fucking balls. Sucked balls in 98 too. Don't be wooed into this TDAT shit by reviews written by a website that sells out to studios, amazon, and what they think the readers/posters will respond to. And to this Napolean Dynamite shit too, christ I can't take that geek staring at me much longer.
And I agree with Nintendo's above (or possibly below) statement, for what that's worth. -
Is it better than The Core? And do the heros defeat the evil weather with nuclear weapons?
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Sorry, I just can't get excited about this movie.
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"The coincidences are large, but acceptable if you can get the fact that you're watching a Science Fiction movie." This quote just shows what is obvious on pretty much every page of AICN -- you guys have NO IDEA about what SF (or fiction, for that matter) is. Large coincidences do not a story make. They tend, in fact, to be symptoms of "good-idea-at-the-time-itis", a common problem with Emmerich's films, and I suspect a big problem with this turkey, which has looked hideous from the first teaser trailer. Science fiction deals with "what if?" scenarios by extrapolating logically, not wildly, from whatever premise it starts with. You shouldn't NEED huge coincidences to pull it off if it's all that interesting to begin with. Lousy though it was, even STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION followed fairly strict rules of SF in this regard (to my mind, the problem there was that their premises were spurious at best). To dismiss coincidence as being a part of SF is to fail completely at understanding it.
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May 27, 2004 6:35:21 AM CDT
I'm gonna see this today can't wait, I love disaster flicks
by spacesheik
Looking forward to it. Unlike THE CORE, this looks bigger in scope and more serious.
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The science in the movie is neither radical nor possible nor science. It is fantasy, nothing less.
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Saw it last night at a sneak peak in San Francisco. It was a pretty fun movie, and I didn't notice the middle drag at all. Special effects are awesome.
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Let's all just hope that when the real super storm comes,it takes all the talkbackers out first.At least then humanity will have a chance dammit!
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At least ID4 has cool aliens and spaceships. This movie has tornados and snow...I'll pass.
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It seems that the only people who actually take the time to talk back are the haters!!! I'm so sick of it!!! Stop hating on everything just because you're a bunch of losers!!! Nintendo, how can you say Spiderman was the worst movie ever!?!? It fucking rocked, and so will the sequal. I just got back from a preview screening of Day After Tomorrow, and I agree with Harry and Quint, it's alright. My only criticism was that the wolves looked too CGIed, and the story seemed to fall apart near the end. So stop fucking hating you assholes.
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I gotta agree with the dude flamming "the haters." Everyone's self rightous holier than thou indignation gets old. What ever happened to movies for fun? If this were 1977 you'd all be ragging on "Star Wars" becuase it's popular and cool people revile the popular. Jesus, give it up already. "Spider Man" the worst movie ever? Fuck that, you obvioosly never sat through
"Wing Commander." Does Harry love movies that suck? Sure he does and he talks about them on his site. Deal with it. Is Harry unabashadly left and liberal? Yep, and since this is his site he can pimp the left all day long and there's nothing you WWJD fuckers can do about it. Oh, and that Napoleon Dynamite add looks like ass. So what. So feel free to flame me and send me emails about how I'm a looser and your family makes more money than I ever will. That's what the last fucker who didn't like my talkback did: brag about his daddy's money. Fucking amazing. Oh, and TDAT looks like a fun cheese fest. -
Look for a pretty good weekend followed by a drop off a cliff as people tell their friends how awful (and boring) it is.
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May 28, 2004 8:55:46 AM CDT
"If you get caught up in the science or the politics then that's
by fluffyunbound
They have tried to make this movie an "event" film by deliberately playing up the political angle, inviting people to give speeches about it, planting "Could this really happen?" stories in every media outlet out there, etc. It is now ALL about the politics, and that was the studio's choice. You might as well say you should go see Fahrenheit 911 and not pay attention to the politics.
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Why oh why didn't they cast sultry Sela as Catwoman, starting with "Batman Returns"? If there were ever a woman feline enough to fill Julie Newmar's catsuit, it's Sela. Even today. Dang ol' dumb producers!
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Sela as Catwoman, oh God that woulda been sweet. Fuck Halle Berry. Sela was born to play a femme fatale and she is one of the very few actresses in Hollywood whose superioir talent is matched equally by her stunning beauty. She blows away most starlets 25 years younger than she. Judging by those Sprint ads a few years back she fills out a leather catsuit perfectly.
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May 28, 2004 8:05:15 PM CDT
The science is radical, but still in the realm of possibility
by sheared
Nope. Not in the least bit.
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I think you nailed it on the head. Everyone else seems to be stumbling through the fog of their own party line rherotic, good to see there are folks out there who can see the larger canvas of a situation instead of just peering through the distorted lens of myopia.
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May 28, 2004 9:02:02 PM CDT
what the SECRET PENTAGON REPORT had to say about climate change
by bregalad_
Stop bickering over petty politics and read this stunning secret report that was exposed by the Observer: Link ------ http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1153513,00.html ------ WHY was this report covered up by U.S. Defense power-players for FOUR MONTHS? You doubt the veracity of the report? Well, the authors were hand-picked by the PENTAGON: they are Peter Schwartz, a CIA consultant and former head of planning at Royal Dutch/Shell Group, and Doug Randall of Global Business Network. WHY would a guy from freakin' SHELL OIL lie about or distort the horrific environmental disasters the report reveals will happen to us??? Learn about the most serious threat to the future of Mankind on a geopolitical, economic, and humanitarian scale, just DOWNLOAD AND READ THE COMPLETE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PENTAGON REPORT HERE: ------ Link http://cryptome.org/dod-climate.zip ------ Bullshit popcorn movies give only broad and silly examples of the disasters included with sudden climate change ------ BUT YOUR SKIN WILL TRULY CRAWL WHEN YOU READ THIS REPORT. It's a bigger problem than Kerry or Bush could ever manage to solve...... because petty politics and the righteousness of First World countries are likely to prevent anything being done. Can the U.N. really get their shit together and face these issues? Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Will Mankind be smart enough to fix the problems before they become irreversible? I say Mankind with a capital "M" -- meaning the responsibility of dealing with this rests on everyone, beyond the scope of your myopic political rants. It's not about the Neocons versus the progressive liberals. It's about all Humans on the freakin' planet dealing with reality. Sheesh.
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Best line of the movie. I saw this today in L.A. and the whole crowd cheered when L.A. got destroyed by the tornados (not a spoiler since you see it in the trailers). This was movie was an utter cheese-fest, but it was entertaining as all hell and worth it to watch.
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Spiderman didn't suck. It wasn't Shakespeare, but it was fun. The CGI could have been better, and the Goblin costume could have been better, but Tobey smuggled some wonder and some real feeling into the film with his performance, and it was SPIDERMAN, damn it. And I hate wrestling. And what does any of this have to do with treating women like whores, anyway? If Hitchcock was writing this Talkback this would be the part where Gregory Peck would ask an incisive question, and you'd break down and reveal the dark secret that makes you unstable, and it would turn out that you watched strange men treat your mother like a whore when you were a child and now can't control yourself because even when talking about Spiderman you're thinking of the times you had to go buy cigarettes for some wino while he screwed your mom in the living room with the curtains open.
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I mean, come on! It says Roland Emmerich on it, it has a lot of big things falling to bits rather quickly, in a disaster-type fashion. What in the name of my hairy rear was anyone expecting?
Spiderman was a great film. No arguing with anyone; no 'haters', 'playas' or whatever it is you kids are calling yourselves nowadays. -
i can't believe anyone has anything positive to say about this movie
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What's up with all the lusting for Sela Ward on this site? She's really not all that. Fuck Halle Berry? Yeah, I'd love to. You can have Sela.
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Some of the audience was laughing at the dialogue about the disaster. The fx wasn't bad, and I liked some of the shots there. Sela Ward was as babalicious as always. Frankly, I love disaster films and have ever since I saw Posiedon Adventure. This one was about on a level with The Postman...and at least with Postman I liked the source material.
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You stupid fuck. The only good thing about the complete environmental collapse of our planet is that you dumbass republicans will all die with the rest of us.
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