Warning, the following will contain spoilers...although I guess I'm not spoiling much when I tell you that Earth is going down, man! In fact, anyone who has ever seen a Roland Emmerich movie already know exactly how this movie plays out - and I mean scene for scene.

Okay, for what is was - an FX-movie about the end of the world - it was quite good. There are some really great visuals in this movie of just over the top destruction, especially the limo ride through LA was awesome. And that's really what this movie is about - destruction (I mean, that's why I went to see it).

Of course there's more to it than just mere destruction. There's the token love story, the token family reunion, the token bad guy, the token good guy, the token nut case, the token animal saving scene, the token bad guy turns good guy in the end and sacrifices himself, the token drawn out humanity speech, the token one-liners, the token president who stays behind, the token suicide mission that everyone survives, the token tears, the token goodbye scenes...sigh

The goodbye scenes (and there's, like, a thousand of 'em) got tooth-achingly annoying really really fast. I mean, everyone had someone to say goodbye to and it was always this long never ending I-love-you-I-love-you-too sugar fest. Barf. It just got in the way of the cool shit.

The acting was pretty good actually. Woody Harrelson stole the show whenever he was on screen, which wasn't all that much unfortunately. Oliver Platt and Zlatko Buric stood out for all the right reasons as well. Danny Glover was terrible though. The way he delivered his lines (which, to his defense, pretty much sucked) was toe-cringingly awful. It was like he hadn't acted a day in his life before.

So, all in all, for what it was, it was good. For what it wasn't, it sucked.

SPOILERS...........(for those of you who think they can read a movie review thread and not get any)

I agree with everything you said Rob. I have some more thoughts too.

First of all, I read the script some time ago and I thought it was okay. Not great. Not horrible. Compared to the movie however, I liked the script better. What I hate more than anything is when I'm being preached to. It doesn't matter what it is, I just hate when I'm being told what I should be thinking. This movie had a lot of that. I almost gagged when Adrian, a black guy btw, made the humanity speech. I held my popcorn bag in front just in case. It was his plea for humanity against Oliver Platt's character against saving humanity. Btw, he was an old white guy. YES! Let's be politically correct here. I bet that bastard was a republican. Probably watches O'Reilly and Glenn Beck. As soon they build their first prison, he should probably be put there.

Then wasn't it sooo touching that Africa was spared? I mean, the human race gets a second chance and I mean...I'm speechless....in Africa (sniffle) where the human race came from. The mother land.  I mean WOW.  My only thoughts there was, when these ships get closer to Africa, would they have to look out for Somali pirates or are they all best friends now? I bet the whole continent will be a paradise now. No wars, no despots, no crimes against women...  

It was also awesomely touching that they were all saved by a writer and a kid. I mean, what are the odds of that? It brought tears to my eyes. (not for the intended reason).  

Some other things bothered me as well. I can tell you that there is no chance in hell that someone who's had a couple of lessons in a Cessna 182 can take off and land safely in a twin engine. Their survival factor on that alone would be 0! But this is a movie after all and this plastic surgeon flies them all to safety.

And then there was the blue screen bit. I guess Hollywood people aren't used to riding in the back of pick-up trucks, but I am. I can tell you that if you sit in the very back of the loadbed... it's really windy. Yet, those two rode along and their hair didn't even move. Little details like that totally ruins things for me. Not to mention that the earth suffers mega volcanic eruptions, thick ash clouds, fires, smoke, tsunamis everything you can think of, but no one gets dirty or get their make-up ruined????

After all these complaints though, my biggest one was with the people in the theater. What is wrong with people? Grown-ups, adults that can't sit still in a seat for two hours, but have to yo yo up and down and run to the bathroom over and over. Are people's bladders really that weak? And why go to the movies if you need to be texting and checking your e-mails constantly. Are these people really that important? Give me a break!!

The best part of this film was Woody Harrelson. He was great. I just love him!

Do I recommend this film? Sure, just know in advance that there are a lot of silliness in it that you have to look past.  :)

$260 million can buy you a World Series but not a good story.

SPOILERS I guess.

The special effects of this movie are top notch.  In fact, the destruction of Los Angeles is probably one of the coolest city-destruction scenes I've ever seen in a movie.  Emmerich destroyed LA in "Independence Day" and "Day After Tomorrow" but those sequences were nothing compared to 2012's.  What I really liked about the destruction scenes is that he paid attention to detail; that is, he actually went in on the action and got close-ups of things blowing up and getting destroyed rather than just showing it from extreme long shots as he did in DAT.  

Destruction=great.  Story=thin, weak, lame.  There's not much to say because there wasn't much there.  The greater governments of the world were building these arches for three years and anyone outside of selected officials who found out were killed.  And when they revealed that fact 2 hours in, we're all supposed to be shocked or something.  Why were they building the ships in the mountains of China?  A big deal was made about the ship drifting into Everest and then everyone would die.  Well, even if they didn't have the door malfunction, isn't there always the REMOTE POSSIBILITY that they could, you know, ACCIDENTALLY hit something after the massive tsunami, you know, HITS THEM?!?!

And what was the deal with the girl and the diapers?  That was an absolutely pointless addition and what made it even worse was that the final line was something like "no more pads, dad!"  Gah.

And that humanity speech at the end by Adrian.  Gah.  

So yeah, you'll see some great special effects and disaster sequences if you see this, but don't expect anything deeply profound.  FTW with the LA scene, though.

Quoted from Grandma Bear After all these complaints though, my biggest one was with the people in the theater. What is wrong with people? Grown-ups, adults that can't sit still in a seat for two hours, but have to yo yo up and down and run to the bathroom over and over. Are people's bladders really that weak? And why go to the movies if you need to be texting and checking your e-mails constantly. Are these people really that important? Give me a break!!

I think out here in Cali it's a regional thing.  When I spent 3 years in a dumb suburb of Sacramento, that kind of crap went on at every movie I saw.  But since living in Southern California now and Bay Area prior?  Never seen anything close to that magnitude.  Sacramento sucks, go figure.

Maybe Nietzsche didn't like this movie, but I got emotional when I saw the poor humanity to succumb, but wasn't not sorry about them.

So are you guys saying that as far as disaster movies go this is no Titanic?

this was no Titanic. think what you will about Titanic, but it had much better characters. the only character that stood out in this was Woody Harrelson. the rest were pretty bland.

if you like special effects and disaster movies, you'll find a decent return on your money. if you're looking for a great film, You'll be disappointed.

Saw this last night.

The first 45 minutes were as bad as I've ever seen, it has to be said. Numerous people were walking out of the cinema in boredom and I've never been so tempted myself.

The script is beyond ridiculous and the story telling is less than amateur. It's quite disturbingly infantile.

There is a lesson in all of this. If you spend a lot of money on  film, you need to make sure that as many people as possible can understand it. An intelligent person can understand something aimed at a two year old. The two year old isn't going to understand anything complicated. To perfect your script you need to plumb the absolute depths of idiocy. If you think you've dumbed it down just enough, think again, that's your education getting in the way. You can always go dumber. If you need to take PCP to make sure that your brain is completely fried, do so. Any kind of talent is only an obstacle. Get that brain killed and reduce your brain to slush. This is how you get in the "zone" to write a hollywood script it seems.

It's a shame that people continued to talk throughout the film as it would have been a better film if it was dialogue free. I've rarely seen dialogue as bad as this in any script. It's miraculously bad. In almost three hours you'd expect a writer to get at least one half decent line in there, even if it was just a typo that they never picked up on, but no, it's nothing if not consistently deplorable.

It did get better when the world started falling apart and I at least felt that I hadn't been ripped off by the end of it.



It was OK, I suppose. Like everyone else, I thought the Woody Harrelson cameo stole the show. I hope it's not to be the definitive 2012 film as the whole Maya material is potentially so much more interesting. I'd prefer to see a more Da Vinci Code (but better) type film about the apocalypse.

I must say that as good as the effects were, I didn't really believe any of them. At times I was completely aware that everything on the screen was fake. As good as CGI is as a tool, it completely dispels any suspension of disbelief when the whole film is essentially an animation.

It felt like watching a cut scene on an Xbox 360 at times. You just wanted to press a buttion to get to the next part of the story.

No amount of money thrown at something can overcome the lack of human interest.

I thought the acting was quite good, particularly on the part of Paris Hilton's little dog, who, bravely, strolled past a crowd of thousands of angry people, tiptoed across the abyss on a narrow cable and fell into Paris's waiting arms and DID NOT even get a yummy for his efforts...

Take comfort that, though the world may be crumbling around you, your cell phone will still work.

Quoted from Blakkwolfe Take comfort that, though the world may be crumbling around you, your cell phone will still work.

I bet they were not using AT&T...

I thought it was a very solid, enjoyable Summer disaster movie.

For me, the characters and their relationships worked.

The action worked.

I was actually a little touched at times and happy with the finale.

Now, I think it's important to note that I went in with a wide open mind, knowing pretty much exactly what I was going to get...and based on that, I was happy with what I got.

These type of movies are always going to be "dumbed down", and they're always going to be cliched.  That's just the way it is.  If you can stomach that and understand it, you won't be unhappy with the big budget ride.

Quoted from Dreamscale I thought it was a very solid, enjoyable Summer disaster movie. For me, the characters and their relationships worked. The action worked. I was actually a little touched at times and happy with the finale. Now, I think it's important to note that I went in with a wide open mind, knowing pretty much exactly what I was going to get...and based on that, I was happy with what I got. These type of movies are always going to be "dumbed down", and they're always going to be cliched.  That's just the way it is.  If you can stomach that and understand it, you won't be unhappy with the big budget ride.

Jeff, Jeff, Jeff! Not you, too!

That is so disappointing to hear. It really is. And, everyone who goes to see a Roland Emmerich movie knows exactly what they're getting, so long as they know he's involved.

And, surprisingly, his least weak effort (The Day After Tomorrow) has effects that still stand up six years later. Yes, it was awful, like most (who am I kidding? All) of his movies, but there was something that was not so terrible about it. That is, unlike some other Emmerich movies I can name, Independence Day, whose effects were out-dated at the time.

I think one of the many things I didn't like about this movie was the amount of "We just made it!"s done by plane. I swear, they used the plane escape 3 or 4 times if I remember correctly. Ugh, I'm done thinking about the movie. But Ray (and I know other people mentioned this, too) is right, Woody Harrelson was pretty good stuff in this because he knew exactly what type of movie it was. He's like, "Fuckin' A! A paycheck?! Damn right, I'll ham it up all you want!" and he did. The trouble with these movies, usually, is that the actor's themselves take it so serious, like it's going to win a meaningful Oscar. Don't be angry, I use that erm to describe Picture, Writing, Acting Directing, mainly. Movies that are made specifically for visual effects and money, I'm cool with, but the actors should think about the type of movie they're in when they yell "Action."

Sorry, Blonde, but I think I'm in the minority here, aren't I?  Seems like everyone hated it.

I liked it.  I was surprised how much I liked it.

I like John Cusack.  I like Amanda Peet.

It was extremely cheesy in many, many places, but overall, it worked for me.  I was entertained the entire time.

Quoted from Dreamscale Sorry, Blonde, but I think I'm in the minority here, aren't I?  Seems like everyone hated it. I liked it.  I was surprised how much I liked it. I like John Cusack.  I like Amanda Peet. It was extremely cheesy in many, many places, but overall, it worked for me.  I was entertained the entire time.

From what I know, yeah, you are. But we're all in the minority on something. I liked both Land of the Dead & Diary of the Dead. What can I say? That's probably an even bigger minority.

Their second pairing together. Naturally, the first time was more enjoyable because it had all the cool people; Busey, Liotta, Molina, McGinley and of course, yeah, that's right. Marshall Bell. Lol.

As long as you actually like it, what does it matter what I think? =)

Quoted from Mr. Blonde That is, unlike some other Emmerich movies I can name, Independence Day, whose effects were out-dated at the time.

Didn't ID4 win an Oscar for its effects?

Quoted from greg Didn't ID4 win an Oscar for its effects?

"Independence Day – Volker Engel, Douglas Smith, Clay Pinney and Joseph Viskocil.

Dragonheart – Scott Squires, Phil Tippett, James Straus and Kit West.

Twister – Stefen Fangmeier, John Frazier, Habib Zargarpour and Henry La Bounta."

You have to admit that the competition wasn't too difficult. Twister's was weak, then, too...

EDIT: Had it been '97, I don't quite think ID4 would've won.

"Titanic – Robert Legato, Mark A. Lasoff, Thomas L. Fisher and Michael Kanfer.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park – Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Randal Dutra and Michael Lantieri.

Starship Troopers – Phil Tippett, Scott Anderson, Alec Gillis and John Richardson."

Cameron, Spielberg and Verhoeven. Tough 3-way, or at least 2. =)

EDIT 2: Titanic's visuals aren't really holding up too well, either, now that I think about it. Shame.

Looking back it's not really stiff competition, but at the time those interior shots of tornadoes were pretty impressive.  At least for my 10 year old self they were =)

That is true. It's just fun to look back at old movies' visual effects as compared to today. One of my favorites is "War of the Worlds", the original. They were amazing and scary (I've heard, I don't know for certain because I was nowhere near alive then) and you look at it nowadays and almost have to laugh, but you think that once, they were great.