The Day After Tomorrow
Structurally, The Day After Tomorrow is like The Poseidon Adventure – the money-shot destruction scenes comprise the first and second acts, leaving the characters stricken, trying to save themselves and each other. They include climatologist Jack Hall (Quaid), who predicts the coming catastrophe, and his son Sam (Gyllenhaal), stranded in New York, where a tidal wave has swept through the city in the film's most memorable scene.
Being an American blockbuster, the audience has its share of suffering too; there's the pro-American values, hammy script and syrupy family appeal fixtures (lovable dog, sick child). But it's a standout success of the merger between filmmaking technology and imagination, so if you still tingle with excitement at the memory of the Tyrannosaur crashing out onto the road or the alien ship's weapon ominously opening up over the Empire State Building, go now.