The science depicted in The Day After Tomorrow is horrendous.
Video:
As I pointed out in the main body of this review, the only worthwhile reason to watch "The Day After Tomorrow" is for its visuals. The 2.35:1 AVC MPEG-4 transfer does its best to make this visual tour de force look about as good as possible on the high definition Blu-ray format. Even though I felt the storm sequences lost much of their luster after seeing them one time, watching them on Blu-ray was an impressive affair. The disc is quite detailed and features very strong coloring. There are a number of dark scenes in the film and detail is never lost even during the harshest scenes. The particle effects of the CGI work looks very good at 1080p resolution. Each hair of stubble can be picked out on Quaid´s chin. Detail is indeed strong, but I didn´t feel that "The Day After Tomorrow" bested the absolute top Blu-ray and HD-DVD titles in clarity. The colors show strong reds, yellows and blues. Skin tone coloring is natural looking. The strong whites of the snow perfectly contrast the dark skies of dangerous weather with near perfection. Shadow detail is strong. The source materials were quite clean and no digital flaws were present while watching the film.
Sound:
I could not help myself but enjoy "The Day After Tomorrow" at very high volumes. I set my receiver about five decibels higher than normal to enjoy the kinetic energy of the English 5.1 DTS HD Master Lossless Audio mix. "The Day After Tomorrow" contained some of the deepest and most potent moments I can remember in the .1 LFE channel. This bass heavy mix is quite impressive during the foul weather moments and thankfully, the bass is not alone. Rear surrounds are heavily used throughout the film and when the soundtrack is in full effect, it is a strong enveloping experience with a full 360 degree soundfield. The front channels are strong and heavy. I was so impressed with the dynamic sound effects that I paid little to no attention to the musical score by Harold Kloser and had to revisit the film to listen to the score. It sounds warm and holds up rather nicely, but is lost amongst the more potent moments. Dialogue is clean and holds up rather nicely even when the bass is the most imposing. Also included are French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtracks and subtitles in English, Spanish, Cantonese and Korean.
Extras:
The Blu-ray release of "The Day After Tomorrow" includes two commentary tracks. The first Commentary by Director/Co-Writer Roland Emmerich and Producer Mark Gordon was recorded just four weeks after the film´s theatrical release. There is a lot of information thrown between Emmerich and Gordon, but Gordon felt obligated to spend a lot of his time patting himself on the back and watching the film in complete awe. Emmerich has a deep accent, but it wasn´t too difficult to understand. I at least enjoyed Gordon´s sometimes candid comments about the unbelievable nature of some scenes. This commentary served some entertainment value, but it wasn´t anything overly exciting. The second Commentary by Co-Writer Jeffrey Nachmanoff, Cinematographer Lieli Steiger, Editor David Brenner and Production Designer Barry Chusid was far drier and more detailed. If you are looking at an indepth look at the production of the film, this commentary is it. This is one of those commentaries that is a good listen for film students.
After the commentary tracks, a number of other extras are included. The Global Warming Trivia Track provides graphical pop-ups with information pertinent to the science of the film and the science behind global warming. If you are listening to one of the commentary tracks, it doesn´t hurt to turn this feature on as well. The Search Content provided an index of topics to scroll through. Some were items like "_Death" and others were for actors like "_Gyllenhaal, Jake." Once you select an item from the list, the various instances where the topic can be found in the film is then provided and you can jump directly to a particular scene. This was actually an interesting inclusion and I can think of a few practical uses for it. The third ´interactive´ supplement was the Personal Scene Selections that served as the bookmarking feature for the disc. The neat part of this feature was that you can select scenes and then watch them in order. Use the search, bookmark a scene and then make your own mini movie. Cool.
The standard categories of supplemental materials can also be found on the disc, but with updates via Blu-ray. The Deleted Scenes (18:35) push technology a little further than what was provided with DVD. You can play the scenes via a ´Play All´ feature, or select any of the individual ten scenes and play the selected scenes. You can play an individual scene as well by selecting just that scene and then viewing it. Optional commentary with Roland Emmerich and Mark Gordon is provided for the scenes as well. The deleted scenes are shown in high definition and some of them were well worth watching and added character depth to some of the minor characters from the film. The Cold Zone Game is a trivia game that can be played actively or passively. In other words, you play the game while watching the film or have the questions automatically answered. I´m not sure where the fun lies in having the questions answered automatically, but the choice was there. Two Theatrical Trailers, the promotional Fox on Blu-ray and D-Box functionality are provided.
Closing Comments:
"The Day After Tomorrow" is a visual and sonic affair that is very enjoyable during its first viewing for the sheer visuals and incredible sound effects. It is loud and aggressive. However, after you get past the big budget production values and in-your-face presentation, this is a terminally flawed film. The story is atrocious. There is little redeeming value to what occurs between the characters and I enjoyed the minor character Luther (Glenn Plummer) far more than any of the major characters. Most of them were boring and lifeless. The science depicted in "The Day After Tomorrow" is horrendous. It makes a mockery of anything discussed by Al Gore and only serves to capitalize on the momentum of the Global Warming discussion. This is a movie that is a treat to watch once for its incredible storm sequences. However, that is the only reason to watch the film. The Blu-ray release does a solid job of delivering the storm effects to the home theater with a top-notch DTS soundtrack and with above average visuals. The supplements show what Blu-ray is capable of and are perhaps more engrossing than the film itself.
As I pointed out in the main body of this review, the only worthwhile reason to watch "The Day After Tomorrow" is for its visuals. The 2.35:1 AVC MPEG-4 transfer does its best to make this visual tour de force look about as good as possible on the high definition Blu-ray format. Even though I felt the storm sequences lost much of their luster after seeing them one time, watching them on Blu-ray was an impressive affair. The disc is quite detailed and features very strong coloring. There are a number of dark scenes in the film and detail is never lost even during the harshest scenes. The particle effects of the CGI work looks very good at 1080p resolution. Each hair of stubble can be picked out on Quaid´s chin. Detail is indeed strong, but I didn´t feel that "The Day After Tomorrow" bested the absolute top Blu-ray and HD-DVD titles in clarity. The colors show strong reds, yellows and blues. Skin tone coloring is natural looking. The strong whites of the snow perfectly contrast the dark skies of dangerous weather with near perfection. Shadow detail is strong. The source materials were quite clean and no digital flaws were present while watching the film.
Sound:
I could not help myself but enjoy "The Day After Tomorrow" at very high volumes. I set my receiver about five decibels higher than normal to enjoy the kinetic energy of the English 5.1 DTS HD Master Lossless Audio mix. "The Day After Tomorrow" contained some of the deepest and most potent moments I can remember in the .1 LFE channel. This bass heavy mix is quite impressive during the foul weather moments and thankfully, the bass is not alone. Rear surrounds are heavily used throughout the film and when the soundtrack is in full effect, it is a strong enveloping experience with a full 360 degree soundfield. The front channels are strong and heavy. I was so impressed with the dynamic sound effects that I paid little to no attention to the musical score by Harold Kloser and had to revisit the film to listen to the score. It sounds warm and holds up rather nicely, but is lost amongst the more potent moments. Dialogue is clean and holds up rather nicely even when the bass is the most imposing. Also included are French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtracks and subtitles in English, Spanish, Cantonese and Korean.
Extras:
The Blu-ray release of "The Day After Tomorrow" includes two commentary tracks. The first Commentary by Director/Co-Writer Roland Emmerich and Producer Mark Gordon was recorded just four weeks after the film´s theatrical release. There is a lot of information thrown between Emmerich and Gordon, but Gordon felt obligated to spend a lot of his time patting himself on the back and watching the film in complete awe. Emmerich has a deep accent, but it wasn´t too difficult to understand. I at least enjoyed Gordon´s sometimes candid comments about the unbelievable nature of some scenes. This commentary served some entertainment value, but it wasn´t anything overly exciting. The second Commentary by Co-Writer Jeffrey Nachmanoff, Cinematographer Lieli Steiger, Editor David Brenner and Production Designer Barry Chusid was far drier and more detailed. If you are looking at an indepth look at the production of the film, this commentary is it. This is one of those commentaries that is a good listen for film students.
After the commentary tracks, a number of other extras are included. The Global Warming Trivia Track provides graphical pop-ups with information pertinent to the science of the film and the science behind global warming. If you are listening to one of the commentary tracks, it doesn´t hurt to turn this feature on as well. The Search Content provided an index of topics to scroll through. Some were items like "_Death" and others were for actors like "_Gyllenhaal, Jake." Once you select an item from the list, the various instances where the topic can be found in the film is then provided and you can jump directly to a particular scene. This was actually an interesting inclusion and I can think of a few practical uses for it. The third ´interactive´ supplement was the Personal Scene Selections that served as the bookmarking feature for the disc. The neat part of this feature was that you can select scenes and then watch them in order. Use the search, bookmark a scene and then make your own mini movie. Cool.
The standard categories of supplemental materials can also be found on the disc, but with updates via Blu-ray. The Deleted Scenes (18:35) push technology a little further than what was provided with DVD. You can play the scenes via a ´Play All´ feature, or select any of the individual ten scenes and play the selected scenes. You can play an individual scene as well by selecting just that scene and then viewing it. Optional commentary with Roland Emmerich and Mark Gordon is provided for the scenes as well. The deleted scenes are shown in high definition and some of them were well worth watching and added character depth to some of the minor characters from the film. The Cold Zone Game is a trivia game that can be played actively or passively. In other words, you play the game while watching the film or have the questions automatically answered. I´m not sure where the fun lies in having the questions answered automatically, but the choice was there. Two Theatrical Trailers, the promotional Fox on Blu-ray and D-Box functionality are provided.
Closing Comments:
"The Day After Tomorrow" is a visual and sonic affair that is very enjoyable during its first viewing for the sheer visuals and incredible sound effects. It is loud and aggressive. However, after you get past the big budget production values and in-your-face presentation, this is a terminally flawed film. The story is atrocious. There is little redeeming value to what occurs between the characters and I enjoyed the minor character Luther (Glenn Plummer) far more than any of the major characters. Most of them were boring and lifeless. The science depicted in "The Day After Tomorrow" is horrendous. It makes a mockery of anything discussed by Al Gore and only serves to capitalize on the momentum of the Global Warming discussion. This is a movie that is a treat to watch once for its incredible storm sequences. However, that is the only reason to watch the film. The Blu-ray release does a solid job of delivering the storm effects to the home theater with a top-notch DTS soundtrack and with above average visuals. The supplements show what Blu-ray is capable of and are perhaps more engrossing than the film itself.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]22229[/release]