The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

45% of critics liked it
(209 reviews)
57% of users liked it
(31,228,798 ratings)

Directed by Roland Emmerich, this mega-budget, special-effects-laden epic revolves around the onset of an international series of crises brought on by the long-term results of the greenhouse effect. At the eye of the storm is paleoclimatologist (a professor dedicated to the study of weather patterns… More Directed by Roland Emmerich, this mega-budget, special-effects-laden epic revolves around the onset of an international series of crises brought on by the long-term results of the greenhouse effect. At the eye of the storm is paleoclimatologist (a professor dedicated to the study of weather patterns throughout the ages) Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid), who voluntarily takes on the preservation of the world in the dawn of the next ice age and all the disaster that comes along with it -- violent hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, tidal waves, massive floods, etc. Hall must also contact his son, Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal), who was in the middle of an academic competition in New York City when the chaos begun. In addition to facing the largest-scale onslaught of natural catastrophes in the history of humankind, Jack, in his journey north, must contend with the masses fleeing south in an attempt to resettle in a warmer climate. The Day After Tomorrow also features Emmy Rossum, Sela Ward, and Joe Cobden. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 2 hr. 3 min.
Directed By: Roland Emmerich
Written By: Jeffrey Nachmanoff, Roland Emmerich
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy

In Theaters: May 28, 2004 Wide
On DVD: Oct 12, 2004
Studio: 20th Century Fox

Critic Reviews

Peter Rainer, New York Magazine
Many of the clichés in this movie predate the last Ice Age.
Anthony Lane, New Yorker
A shambles of dud writing and dramatic inconsequence which left me determined to double my consumption of fossil fuels.
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
... the situations are just so ludicrous that it really detracts from the quality of the special effects ...
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
An exceptionally stupid movie.
Rex Reed, New York Observer
For all of its dire premonitions, foreshadowings of horror and easy targets for Jay Leno jokes, The Day After Tomorrow is eye-poppingly awesome and wonderfully entertaining.
Dennis Lim, Village Voice
It fulfills its summer air-conditioning duties with flippant ease, and its enjoyably cloddish attempts at political relevance add a fascinating layer of incongruity.
Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
Some cool special effects...that's about it.
Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed
This is a popcorn film with a fact based concept, and that's all it is...
Steve Biodrowski, Cinefantastique
The ecological theme is not advanced with any subtlety, but so what? The film works with the broad brushstrokes appropriate to a popular entertainment.
Christopher Smith, Bangor Daily News (Maine)
High-strung, melodramatic hogwash steeped in a measure of scientific fact. Emmerich takes it as seriously as he can and his movie, as a result, delivers more provocative fun than you might expect.
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com
Don't even get me started on the hilarity of the scene where a bunch of people outrun a blast of freezing air and close the doors on it.
Peter T. Chattaway, Christianity Today
this is one film viewers might want to put off until some time long, long after the day after tomorrow.
Bill Clark, FromTheBalcony
Like any other Emmerich movie, this one is loaded with humor, mostly unintentional.

Read all 13 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Albert K

roland emmerich loves destroying the world. there's literally a scene where they're running away from the freezing point of temperature. uh huh...
Jason S

nice visuals
Directors C

The Day after Tomorrow is better then you might expect. This time round Roland Emmerich's big scale effects that always draw in a crowd are worth their agressiveness this time round. Were talking about an apocalyptic disaster film here and it's the genre that Emmerich suits.… More
The Day after Tomorrow is better then you might expect. This time round Roland Emmerich's big scale effects that always draw in a crowd are worth their agressiveness this time round. Were talking about an apocalyptic disaster film here and it's the genre that Emmerich suits. Although some information in the film is innacurate it's a well made flick with better acting and storyline then expected from Emmerich. In other words, he suprised me.
Christopher H

The biggest flaw with this film is it blows its watt too early. The disaster scenes occur within the first thirty minutes, after that the movie might as well have ended. After the disasters hit, the film comes down to watching survivors waiting around for the plot to resolve itself.… More
The biggest flaw with this film is it blows its watt too early. The disaster scenes occur within the first thirty minutes, after that the movie might as well have ended. After the disasters hit, the film comes down to watching survivors waiting around for the plot to resolve itself. During a scene, the film throws in the most fake looking CGI wolves just to give the characters something to run away from. The characters are shallow, and the plot is stupid as it is preachy. Roland Emmerich, leave global warming preaching to Al Gore.
Eric A

I feel as if this film pioneered and paved the way for all the modern day disaster films you see today.....so i'll give it that. However, some special effects are okay, but this film mostly screams out "unrealistic".
Alexander D

Despite all the neat-looking theatrical posters, there really isn't anything that great about THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW. It's more like the predecessor to Roland Emmerich's later film 2012, sharing the same apocalyptic storyline, except this one, though better-acted by a… More
Despite all the neat-looking theatrical posters, there really isn't anything that great about THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW. It's more like the predecessor to Roland Emmerich's later film 2012, sharing the same apocalyptic storyline, except this one, though better-acted by a lot, is less intense, and it has an underlying message about global warming. So think of 2012, then add it to Al Gore's AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. That's what you get with this: a dull apocalypse movie about going green.
Jeff "

Roland Emmerich has had a checkered career. I thought his films Independence Day and The Patriot were great films, and among his best. After all, he's not that great a director. Godzilla was crap, 10,000 BC was also crap and so was 2012. However if I'd have to pick a third… More
Roland Emmerich has had a checkered career. I thought his films Independence Day and The Patriot were great films, and among his best. After all, he's not that great a director. Godzilla was crap, 10,000 BC was also crap and so was 2012. However if I'd have to pick a third film that he made that was actually quite watchable, it be The Day After Tomorrow. This is not excellent by any means, but it manages to be quite entertaining as the film focuses on the temperature of the planet dropping. The film is almost prophetic in the sense that people think the problem with earth is Global Warming, but if you read the facts, one day the earths temperature will drop. The Day After Tomorrow is a visual feast for the eyes, and I'm surprised that Emmerich was able to make something watchable. The Day After Tomorrow for me, is Emmerich's final good film. After this one, he pretty much went down hill. The Day After Tomorrow is a terrific disaster film, and visually it's a stunning piece of work. The acting is fairly good as well. Emmerich has made a fun popcorn flick that remains his last good film. If you enjoyed Independence Day, then you'll enjoy this one as well. The Day After Tomorrow is a well made disaster film with great special effects. A good film, but nothing truly exceptional.
Bethany M

The effects in this film were out of this world! Anything with Jake Gyllenhaal gets my heart racing though, probably why I gave this another star. Good film, but not great.
Film C

excellent love films like this. i love this movie it has to be one of my favourite disaster movies, and it truly is a one of the kind disaster. its a thrill ride right from the start and its quite scary because it could happen. A very enjoyable movie well worth the watch
Kase V

Entertaining? Yes. Thrilling? Yes. Don't know why it's bagged on, I thought it was pretty decent. Even Gyllenhal stepped up his game. Emmerich seems to really like disasters.
Brad W

A film with tremendpous effects but with mediocre acting and predictable story, I couldn't see a whole many reasons to like this movie
Nadira I

My favorite sci-fi movie related to global warming. Action packed filled with romance too. Jake Gyllenhaal and Emmy Rossum did it well because they both have good chemistry. This movie really illustrates global warming well without make it boring to the audience.
Lady D

It's true I'm not big on Disaster movies and I did find this one pretty boring in parts, but the effects were fantastic and it really is so topical in our current climate.
Richard C

B-
Conner R

For some reason I've always loved this movie, it's just so much fun and doesn't try to be over-intelligent or pretentious. This was made to show a great what-if? scenario and have it's characters in multiple death trap scenarios. Jake Gyllenhaal triumphs as the… More
For some reason I've always loved this movie, it's just so much fun and doesn't try to be over-intelligent or pretentious. This was made to show a great what-if? scenario and have it's characters in multiple death trap scenarios. Jake Gyllenhaal triumphs as the star and is reason alone to find this movie interesting to watch. Dennis Quaid is also really good and his charismatic self. Actually the entire cast works really well and there isn't much cheesiness to the relationships. The effects are great and the sequences are far and above the best for a Roland Emmerich disaster event. While this won't go down in history as the best disaster movie, I personally think it's a lot better than most out there and is extremely re-watchable and harmless.
KJ P

The Day After Tomorrow is a great disaster flick, but fails to provide anything believable. It is definitely a movie worth sitting through for the acting and the effects alone, but it's just not a believable movie, thats all!
Dean !

A good disaster film with top notch SFX, could this be our real future?!
Derek D

Another Roland Emerich disaster flick based on a conspiracy theory about shit blowing up and people dying left and right. The disasters are pretty cool, but there's not enough of them, instead focusing on a lot of drama. More destruction and peril would've been nice.
Dead A

Even though I don't like this sort of movie but this was a great one. I liked every bit of it. I was getting bored of seeing high rated boring movies but finally found something interesting.
Jeremy S

I saw this at Fox Studios on the opening day and was alittle disappointed. The special effects were phenominal. Overall fairly good Disaster film.