Movie · 2009 · Action, Adventure, Science Fiction · 2h 38m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 0.8/10 (860.1K ratings)
We were warned.
Overview
Dr. Adrian Helmsley, part of a worldwide geophysical team investigating the effect on the earth of radiation from unprecedented solar storms, learns that the earth's core is heating up. He warns U.S. President Thomas Wilson that the crust of the earth is becoming unstable and that without proper preparations for saving a fraction of the world's population, the entire race is doomed. Meanwhile, writer Jackson Curtis stumbles on the same information. While the world's leaders race to build "arks" to escape the impending cataclysm, Curtis struggles to find a way to save his family. Meanwhile, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes of unprecedented strength wreak havoc around the world.
Ratings
Curator score: 0.8/10
IMDb: 5.9/10
Letterboxd: 2.56/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 40%
Metacritic: 49
TMDB: 5.9/10
Director
Roland Emmerich
Production
Columbia Pictures, Centropolis Entertainment, Farewell Productions, The Mark Gordon Company
Cast
John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandiwe Newton, Oliver Platt, Tom McCarthy, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover, Liam James, Morgan Lily, Zlatko Burić, Beatrice Rosen, Alexandre Haussmann, Philippe Haussmann, Johann Urb, John Billingsley, Chin Han, Osric Chau, Chang Tseng, Lisa Lu
Curator Review
Verdict
A maximalist disaster spectacle with huge-scale destruction, frantic momentum, and a straight-faced commitment to absurdity. It’s often ridiculous, sometimes unintentionally funny, but also undeniably entertaining if you want a loud end-of-the-world ride rather than a plausible thriller.
Best for
fans of big-budget disaster movies
viewers who enjoy so-bad-it’s-fun spectacle
people in the mood for nonstop visual effects and catastrophe set pieces
audiences who like earnest, overblown blockbuster melodrama
Skip if
you want scientific realism or emotional subtlety
you dislike long runtimes and repetitive destruction beats
campy disaster excess makes you cringe instead of laugh
you prefer character-driven apocalypse stories
Overview
Roland Emmerich’s disaster machine is operating at full blast here: earthquakes split cities, oceans swallow landmarks, and every sequence is designed to outdo the last. The movie is shamelessly huge, with a premise that treats global collapse like a theme park ride, and that scale is its main attraction.
Worth noting
The downside is that the human drama is thin and the logic is frequently laughable, which is why it plays as accidental comedy for many viewers. But if you accept it on its own terms, there’s a certain gleeful momentum to the chaos, and the film never really stops moving long enough for you to get bored.
Bottom line
It’s best approached as a spectacle-first apocalypse movie: loud, excessive, and weirdly committed to its own seriousness. For some viewers that’s a dealbreaker; for others, it’s exactly the kind of disaster nonsense they want on a Saturday night.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Mary Conti · 3778 likes
So now this film's existence is awkward.
matt lynch (2★) · 3243 likes
if something like this ever really happens i hope it takes less than 2 hours and 40 minutes.
Josh Lewis (2★) · 2530 likes
Can't believe it's been 10 years since all this happened. Never forget.
Framesofnick (2.5★) · 2112 likes
I never realized the ending is them planning to colonize Africa AGAIN
final rosie 🔪 (hiatus) (5★) · 1602 likes
I understand if everyone wants to kick my ass for this but this is honestly one of my favourite films of all time. It's one of very few that I can watch over and over again and never grow tired of, even though I'm fully aware that it's severely unrealistic (NASA branded it "absurd") and probably politically questionable too (mainly because, despite continued assertions from certain characters that the act of selling tickets for placement on the arks is inhumane,… more I understand if everyone wants to kick my ass for this but this is honestly one of my favourite films of all time. It's one of very few that I can watch over and over again and never grow tired of, even though I'm fully aware that it's severely unrealistic (NASA branded it "absurd") and probably politically questionable too (mainly because, despite continued assertions from certain characters that the act of selling tickets for placement on the arks is inhumane,… more