This 20-Year-Old $552M Disaster Film Went From Blockbuster to Busted Really Fast

While there is an audience for every genre of film, science fiction attracts many people who are curious about every ‘what if’ scenario that exists. From time-travel adventures to elevated versions of actually complicated physics concepts, sci-fi movies cover as many interests as possible.

While it's hard to completely ruin a sci-fi journey, some movies just lack something to become well-known fan favorites. Sometimes it's the graphics that ruin the impression of the movie, other times the plot simply lacks consistency and the characters seem to have no common sense.

In the case of The Day After Tomorrow, the scientifically proven concept was completely ruined by the lack of thought behind the dialog.

Is The Day After Tomorrow Bad?

One of the most shocking things about the sci-fi disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow is not its mediocre Rotten Tomatoes rating or its lack of appreciation even 20 years later when people tend to look back on even the worst projects with a touch of nostalgia, but its box office numbers.

Back in 2004, no matter how much the critics panned the story of an American professor trying to save his son from an impending catastrophic storm, it made a fortune during its theatrical run. With a budget of $125 million, the film grossed $552 million, making it the sixth highest-grossing release of the year.

Despite the critical consensus that the movie was borderline silly and lacked the dramatic impact it was trying to achieve, which landed it a 45% rating, there are two main reasons why audiences bought tickets to see The Day After Tomorrow on the big screen.

First of all, every single critic admitted the quality of the special effects, which was worth seeing in theaters. Second, the movie managed to spark an important conversation about the effects of global warming, which attracted a lot of media attention. Although the topic wouldn't be groundbreaking in 2024, it was still very controversial 20 years ago.

If you don't mind spending time on a dynamic and visually pleasing but rather empty and inconsistent popcorn movie, The Day After Tomorrow is not a bad choice, and the movie is available to rent or buy on Apple TV or Amazon Prime Video. However, it might be wiser to save yourself the trouble and settle for another Jake Gyllenhaal movie instead.