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The Day After Tomorrow | 2004 | PG-13 | - 3.6.4

When the predictions of global warming come true and the polar ice caps melt, the survival of humankind is in question. A climatologist (Dennis Quaid) embarks on a treacherous trek through the frozen and snow-covered Eastern U.S., from Washington, D.C. to New York City, in order to find his son (Jake Gyllenhaal) who may or may not have survived. Also with Emmy Rossum, Ian Holm and Dash Mihok. Directed by Roland Emmerich. [1:29]

SEX/NUDITY 3 - A man lies on top of a woman on a couch, they kiss, and he begins to unbutton her sweater (we see cleavage and part of her bra). A young man admits his romantic feelings to a young woman and they kiss tenderly. A man and a woman kiss (they're married). A young woman holds a young man close to warm him and he seems to enjoy it (he is attracted to her). A man appears attracted to a woman and a young man appears attracted to a young woman. A man gets out of bed bare-chested and in his boxer shorts. A young man takes off his clothes and we see him in his boxer shorts. A young woman's dress reveals cleavage and bare shoulders.

VIOLENCE/GORE 6 - An enormous wave bears down on New York City, it hits the shore and washes through the city filling the streets with water, and sweeping up everything in its path (buses, cars); the water slams into buildings, cars are shoved into the buildings, and people run and scream in panic. Three helicopters spin out of control and crash to the ground, a person (with a bloody hand) on one of the helicopters opens its door and we watch as he freezes instantaneously (his skin becomes frosted, his face is frozen with an expression of disbelief and his eyes go white). Three men walk through snow-covered terrain, they walk across what used to be the glass roof of a shopping mall, the glass breaks beneath their feet pulling their sled and one man into the opening, the other two men brace themselves (one cuts his hand on the glass and he bleeds), the break begins to spread and the man dangling inside cuts his rope and falls to his death (we see him falling but do not see the impact). Huge chunks of ice fall from the sky, a man is hit on the head by one and falls to the ground, then another man is hit and falls to the ground (both are dead), and a man crashes his motorcycle through a plate glass window when he is hit by ice. We see two people who appear to be sleeping but they are dead, and we see several people frozen and lying dead in the snow. A man is hit by a billboard being blown through the air and is swept away. A man gets into his car and a bus lands on top of it squishing it. A pack of wolves track three young men into a ship, one attacks and tears and pulls at the leg of one young man (we see bloody tooth marks). A young man runs through a passageway, a wolf lunges at him, he stabs the wolf, it flies into a wall (blood spurts), and another wolf chases the young man and slams into a door (we see a splat of blood on the door). A young man slips under water when the room he is in fills up with water and we fear he has drowned. A young woman cuts her leg (we see blood in the water around her leg), we see her later with a very infected wound and hear that she has blood poisoning (she has a fever) and that she may die. A man walking through a snowstorm collapses and the man he is with drags him by a rope for some distance. A man drops an unconscious man through a shaft (he hits the ground), and then the conscious man drops himself through hitting the ground. A plane flies into a big menacing cloud, severe turbulence causes it to lose altitude quickly (one young man on the plane appears particularly frightened), and a drink cart sails down the aisle nearly hitting a young man in the head. A man drills through an ice shelf, the ground around him begins to crack and shake, a large fissure opens, and he falls on a small piece of ice that breaks away; another man jumps across the opening and then back again, the ground breaks away under his feet, he falls, catches on with a pick and is pulled up by two other men. We hear that the presidential motorcade was hit by a storm and there were no survivors. Animals howl, snarl and act aggressively. We watch several newscasts that show hurricanes blowing roofs off houses, etc. and we watch tornadoes tearing up New York -- when tornadoes touch down we see everything torn into splinters and thrown through the air, and we watch violent lightning flash through the sky. We see wreckage of a passenger plane and hear of other crashes caused by storms. A car slams into a snow drift. We see children in a hospital cancer ward; one boy has no hair and we hear that his eyesight is failing from a tumor. A huge tanker (presumably unmanned) sails down what had been a street that is now filled with water, and it crushes whatever is beneath it. We watch as everything exposed to the air is frozen instantly and people scramble to get inside and build fires to keep warm. A man smacks another man on the back of the head (in a joking manner).

LANGUAGE 4 - 2 scatological terms, 1 anatomical term, 7 mild obscenities, 1 religious profanity, 8 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - People are shown drinking alcohol.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Global warming, climate shifts, polar ice caps, a new Ice Age, divorce, scholastic achievement, obsessive behavior, promises, second chances, nerds, desalinization of the seas, burning books, destruction of civilization, bravery, difficult choices, evacuation, dense, dumb and disingenuous politicians.

MESSAGE - There are serious consequences to using up our natural resources that can cause global climate shifts.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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