The Day After Tomorrow

Movie review by Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
The Day After Tomorrow Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 14+

Some cool special effects...that's about it.

PG-13 2004 123 minutes
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Parents say

age 12+

Based on 21 reviews

Kids say

age 11+

Based on 66 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this movie has intense peril and violence, with the destruction of much of the world. Millions of people are killed, mostly off-screen, though there are some dead bodies and major characters are killed. There are brief images of grisly injuries. Characters drink, including drinking as a way to dull the sadness. Characters sacrifice themselves, sometimes by killing themselves, to save others. A strength of the movie is the portrayal of men and women of different races with courage and ability and devotion, including a loving inter-racial marriage.

Community Reviews

Treemagination
Treemagination Adult
January 7, 2022
age 10+

Definitely appropriate in terms of graphics

Firstly I don’t agree with the 5* violence rating. Yes most of the world dies, but it doesn’t happen on screen or In a gory graphic way. To give an example without spoiling, the teens see a mammoth at a museum and learn that it froze so fast it was grazing when it died (obv. During the first ice age), it didn’t even know it was about to die or that it was in danger. From what I can recall that is the only kind of death that happens on screen (a couple that was sleeping and doesn’t wake up, a man that steps outside and is suddenly popsiclized) aside from one heroic moment of self-sacrifice (which happens off screen as well). All in all, if your kid takes death hard by all means avoid this movie, but if you are simply trying to find a movie that will appease your pre-teen that doesn’t have sex and gore this is the perfect movie. My son is 11 and really liked it. Any younger than 10 I think he would have been bored out of his mind because the weather stuff would have flown over his head.
1 person found this helpful.
HBurningham
HBurningham Adult
July 5, 2021
age 15+

Great movie…. Not for a family of little kids!!!

Great movie but not good for little kids! We watched this because my kids loved Ice Age… this move was not like Ice Age I would not recommend.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
See all 21 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, paeloclimatologist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) figures out that the global warming problem is much more serious than everyone thought, but the vice president of the United States and other government officials dismiss Jack's call for action. With various weather-related disasters occurring all around (hurricanes, earthquakes, tidal waves, deep freezes, etc.), Jack sets out to save the world. He must also rescue his son (Jake Gyllenhaal), who's stranded in New York City.

Is It Any Good?

Co-writer and director Roland Emmerich gave us an entertaining disaster movie with Independence Day; this one has some of the same ingredients, but they don't mix as well. The Day After Tomorrow doesn't have the some heart or the zing that Will Smith, Robert Loggia, and Jeff Goldblum brought to Independence Day. It does have some striking visuals and cool special effects, from hailstones the size of basketballs in Tokyo to a huge Russian ship floating ghost-like through what once was 5th Avenue. But to the extent there was ever any pleasure possible in seeing New York City destroyed, that has surely been diminished by 9/11.

This movie gives us too much destruction to take in, but also too little -- we see only a small group of dead bodies, and the survivors have to deal with problems that are almost quaint and antiseptic compared to the real-life aftermath of lesser disasters. The drama seems curiously muted as well; with the exception of the Vice President's arrogance, just about everyone else is uniformly calm, dedicated, resigned, and heroic. Wouldn't we see some panic? Some selfishness? Some desperation? Some consequences? Combined with preposterous plot turns, this further diminishes the emotional impact of the movie's themes.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about global warming and research the efforts by scientists and politicians to prevent further damage to the ozone layer. They could also talk about why the librarian wanted to save the Gutenberg Bible and about how all of the characters think about (and rearrange) their priorities in the face of disaster. Would your choice for your favorite vacation be like Sam's? Whose decisions do you approve of and why? The politicians speak of "triage," making the very tough decisions to let some people die so that more can live. How do people make those choices? What do you think about the way they decide to define "win?" What will happen in the weeks following the end of the movie, and what will the world look like a year later?

Movie Details

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