This 2004 movie focuses on the climate effects of global warming. It postulates that global warming will cause the North Atlantic current to stop, pushing the Northern Hemisphere into severe freezing weather and triggering a new ice age.

At the time it was released there was unanimous condemnation from the climate science community as being farfetched. Yet a mere three years later and science reports of a 30% drop in the strength of the North Atlantic current prompted this film to be mentioned in serious news coverage. While the exact climate consequences in the film may be very wrong, the thing about sudden shifts is that you don’t know what will happen exactly until it does. All of recorded history has occurred in a period of relative climate stability, and so there is no direct experience of a sudden climate shift to draw on. People naturally extrapolate from their experience, and so ideals of gradual climate change prevail.

Directed by Roland Emmerich with the story also by him and the screenplay by him and Jeffrey Nachmanoff, the film is a special effects heavy film of stunning visuals. From the opening sequence over the Antarctic ice sheet on, there are memorable scenes throughout.

Without giving too much away for those who have not seen it, the film follows one family through the disaster, primarily focusing on Dennis Quaid’s character (a climate scientist) and his son. The film has been criticized as having poor character development, but I don’t find this completely true. While some characters do seem under-developed, such as Sala Ward’s character, I don’t find this true of most of the main characters.

The film divides into two clear parts. In the first part the focus is on the emerging weather issues and the realization of the problem. The second is the focus on Dennis Quaid’s journey to rescue his son. So the film progresses from a pretty wide scope to a more narrow focus. The first part works very well, offering snapshots of extreme weather and a pretty accurate reflection of how the US government reacts to anything that might have a negative impact on the economy. The second also works but in a slightly less satisfactory way, because while you might want to know much more about what is happening to the rest of the world, the attention is on a few people. But others might see this as a satisfactory approach of concentrating on the personal.

I like this film very much, despite the few issues. It is spectacular, believable enough, at least in the big picture areas and has enough action to keep you interested.

Recommended.