So this weekend, I did a Disaster Movie Marathon. I was in the mood for a little carnage and apocalyptic terror, so I dug up some old favourites, and one new film, and settled down on Saturday for some survival-of-the-fittest drama.
First up, was The Day After Tomorrow. Now, this film didn’t so much split the critics as simply send them running. I’ve not really ever heard more than mediocre things about this film. I watched it for the first time a few months ago and really enjoyed it. It’s like 2012 (considered, but dismissed, for this marathon) in that it’s not particularly good, but it’s not exactly bad either. The plot is pretty thin, the characters one dimensional and the outcome entirely predictable. Thing is, with these kind of movies, that’s exactly what you want. You want to know that the good guys sacrifice or survive and that life triumphs over everything, even a new Ice Age.
One of the reasons I like this film is, apart from the ridiculous out-of-nowhere-ness of the disaster, climate change is, in my opinion at least, probably what will snuff us out. I’m holding up a serious doubt card for aliens at this point and with the way we screw around with the world, it wouldn’t be surprising if the world decided to screw us back.
Even with my overwhelming doubt for the alien theory, my next film was Independence Day. I adore this film for many, many wonderful reasons. First off, Will Smith is a god and Jeff Goldblum, a comedy genius. Also, almost all versions of 90’s nostalgia are fine with me and this is one of those films I can remember watching as a child. It’s got more cheesy bits than a large pizza but it also has some awesome one liners (I could’ve been at a barbeque!) that more than make up for it.
I then moved onto my only new film (well, new to me) of the day with War of the Worlds, Spielberg version. Before watching it, I didn’t actually know it was a Spielberg film, just that it was a Tom Cruise film and that was enough to put me off. That’s before I even took into account all the reviews.
It’s got a bad rep this film. And I’m sorry to say, but it really deserves most of that bad rep. It’s not horrifying. I mean, I sat through it. I didn’t want to turn it off, never to darken my sight again, which I have done with some films (Ghost Rider *shudder*). But at the same time, I didn’t really find anything to like in this film. Cruise was bland (as always), and I don’t even remember any of the characters names, which is never a good sign. I watched it because War of the Worlds is such a classic story and I thought I should see it in full. I’m glad I saw the movie because I definitely got a better understanding of H.G. Wells epic tale, but if you’re already familiar with it I can’t see this being a necessary addition to your knowledge.
Last, but my no means least, was Deep Impact. This movie has an ongoing rivalry with Armageddon; both released in ’98, both ‘a meteor’s going to crash and kill us all’ movies, and both packing a few solid stars. Armageddon definitely won the box office race, but Deep Impact is, by far, the better of the two films.
Hailed as more scientifically credible, Deep Impact does seem more realistic in how the disaster is dealt with. The preparation and logistics of controlling the population and ensuring mankind’s survival are much better executed than in, for example, 2012, in which it only seems to matter if you have enough cash to buy your way to safety. The characters are genuine and though the same inaccuracies prevail as in every film of this genre, I think the audience are more inclined to overlook them due to the high quality of everything else. Out of my four marathon titles, it was the only one to make me cry and I think that’s due to caring more about the characters in Deep Impact than in any of the other films.
As for my favourite film out of the four, it’s a tough call between Independence Day and Deep Impact. I think it’s telling that the two films I like best out of the genre were both made in the 90’s. I genuinely think that, even with all the enhanced special effects and even greater dangers we actually face from real life disasters, the 1990’s produced better movies in the disaster/apocalypse genre than we do today. Maybe it’s because of that greater danger; we can’t make the movies too real or it’ll hit home, just how close we really are to destroying ourselves without Mother Nature’s help.
