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The Day After Tomorrow(2004)
20th Century Fox May 28, 2004 | Wide
Jack Hall, paleoclimatologist, must make a daring trek from Washington, D.C. to New York City to reach his son, trapped in the cross-hairs of a sudden international storm which plunges the planet into a new Ice Age.
Director & Top Cast
Technical Specifications
Sound Mix: DTS,Dolby Digital,SDDS
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1
Other Details
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English,Japanese,French,Arabic
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(U.S. Only)
Summaries
Plot Summary
- Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) is a Paleoclimatologist on an expedition in Antarctica with colleagues Frank (Jay O. Sanders) and Jason (Dash Mihok). They are drilling for ice core samples on the Larsen Ice Shelf for the NOAA when the shelf breaks off and Jack almost falls to his death. Later in New Delhi, Jack presents his findings on global warming at a United Nations conference, where diplomats and Vice President of the United States Raymond Becker (Kenneth Welsh) are unconvinced by Jack's findings.However, Professor Terry Rapson (Ian Holm) of the Hedland Climate Research Centre in Scotland believes in Jack's theories. Several buoys in the North Atlantic simultaneously show a massive drop in the ocean temperature, and Rapson concludes that melting polar ice is disrupting the North Atlantic current. He contacts Jack, whose Paleoclimatological weather model shows how climate changes caused the first Ice Age and can predict what will happen. Jack thought the events would take hundreds or thousands of years, but his team, along with NASA's meteorologist Janet Tokada (Tamlyn Tomita), builds a forecast model with their combined data.Across the world, violent weather causes mass destruction, including a massive snowstorm in New Delhi, a powerful hailstorm striking Tokyo, Japan, and a series of devastating tornadoes in Los Angeles. President Blake (Perry King) authorizes the FAA to suspend all air traffic due to severe turbulence. At the International Space Station (ISS) three astronauts see a huge storm system spanning the northern hemisphere, delaying their returning home. The situation worsens when the latter develops into three massive hurricane-like super storms with eyes holding super-cooled air that instantly freezes anything it comes in contact with. Jack's theories become reality in seven to ten days' time.Meanwhile, Jack's son Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal) is in New York City for an academic competition with his friends Brian and Laura (Arjay Smith and Emmy Rossum), where they also befriend a student named J.D. (Austin Nichols). On the flight over there is severe turbulence and Sam grabs Laura's hand in fright. During the competition, birds migrating south suddenly fill the sky as animals all over New York become agitated. The weather becomes increasingly violent with intense winds and rains, causing the traffic-jammed Manhattan streets to become flooded knee-deep in a mix of rainwater, saltwater, and sewage.Sam calls his father, promising to be on the next train home, but the subways and Grand Central Terminal are closed due to flooding. As the storm worsens a massive tidal wave hits Manhattan, causing major flooding and killing thousands in the chaos. Sam and his friends seek shelter in the New York Public Library, but not before Laura gets wounded, cutting her leg on a submerged taxicab.While survivors in the northern United States are forced to stay inside due to the cold, President Blake orders the evacuation of the southern states, causing almost all of the refugees to head to Mexico. Initially Mexico closes its US border, but President Blake negotiates to open the border. Jack and his team set out for Manhattan to find his son. Their truck crashes into a tractor just past Philadelphia, so the group continues on snowshoes.During the journey, Frank falls through the glass roof of a snow-covered shopping mall. As Jason and Jack try to pull Frank up, the glass under them continues to crack and Frank sacrifices himself by cutting the rope and falling to the floor far below. Meanwhile in Mexico, Vice President Raymond Becker hears from the Secretary of State that President Blake's motorcade was caught in one of the super storms before he could make it to Mexico, so Becker is sworn in as the new President.Inside the library, Sam warns everyone to stay indoors, but few listen. The small group that remains burns books to stay alive and breaks the vending machine for food. Laura appeared to have a cold, so Sam comforts her and later confesses that he joined the team because he held feelings for Laura. Laura and Sam share a kiss. Soon after, the group find out that Laura is afflicted with blood poisoning due to her cut leg being infected. So, Sam, Brian and J.D. search for penicillin in a derelict Russian cargo ship that drifted inland and are attacked by starving wolves. The eye of the super storm begins to pass over the city, instantly freezing everything from the top-down. The three barely get back to the library with the medicine, food and supplies they were able to scavenge.During the deep freeze, Jack and Jason take shelter in an abandoned Wendy's restaurant, then resume their journey after the astronauts confirm the storm's dissipation, finally arriving in New York City. They discover the library buried in snow but find Sam's group alive. They radio this in and the President orders in Black Hawk helicopters. President Becker orders search and rescue teams to look for other survivors (having been given hope by the survival of Sam's group) as he gives his first address to the nation.As the main characters are evacuated and flown over the city, they see that hundreds of other helicopters searching for more survivors find success as people from other skyscrapers flock to the roofs, looking for a ride to safety. The movie concludes with the astronauts looking down at Earth from the Space Station, showing most of the northern hemisphere covered in ice and snow, with one of the astronauts calling it "the clearest atmosphere [he's] ever seen."
Storyline
- As Paleoclimatologist Jack Hall is in Antartica, he discovers that a huge ice sheet has sheared off. But what he does not know is that this event will trigger a massive climate shift that will affect the world population. Meanwhile, his son Sam is with friends in New York City to attend an event. There, they discover that it has been raining non-stop for the past three days, and after a series of weather-related disasters begin to occur all over the world, everybody realizes the world is about to enter a new Ice Age and the world population begins trying to evacuate to the warmer climates of the south. Jack makes a daring attempt to rescue his son and his friends who are stuck in New York City and who have managed to survive not only a massive wave but also freezing cold temperatures that could possibly kill them. — John Wiggins Jack Hall, a scientist who studies the planet's weather patterns, thinks that because of global warming, a new Ice Age is imminent. He tries to air his suspicions at a conference which the Vice President also attends. Since Hall's rants means that certain industries, who are supporters of the administration, could be in trouble, he shoots Hall down, But another scientist thinks Hall might have something so they talk. The man who works at weather monitoring station sees that the planet's climate is drastically changing and calls Hall who is surprised and tries to inform the government, but the Vice President again doesn't believe him. But when things get worse, Hall advises the President to move everyone from the Southern part of the continent further South till the weather improves. While everyone in the North should do their best to survive the cold. Hall then learns that his son is in New York City so he tells his son to stay inside till Hall can get to him, but the weather gets worse. Can Hall make it? — rcs0411@yahoo.com Mocked for his altruistic concerns about global warming before the U.S. Vice President at a U.N. conference in New Delhi, the renowned palaeoclimatologist, Jack Hall, is convinced that a new ice age is closer than everyone thinks. Before long, ferocious tornadoes level Los Angeles; a towering tidal surge floods Manhattan; a massive super-storm batters the northern hemisphere--and in the middle of this endless maelstrom of destruction--Jack's son, Sam, gets trapped in a New York public library with a handful of friends. Now, as Hall sets out on a dangerous trek from Washington D.C. to locate his son, the global temperature plummets, burying everything under an impenetrable blanket of ice. Can the father and son reunite before it's too late? Will the world survive the devastating Ice Armageddon? — Nick Riganas As a new ice age weather event takes over the world, a father does everything that he can to reach and rescue his son and his friends who are trapped. The son and his friends work together to do everything that they can to survive and before time runs out. — RECB3 1 more All