2012: Day 2 – The Clips

Day  2 of WAMG’s  series  on 2012 will take a look at some of the clips from the film as well as a few other disaster films. The money shots like the one up above are what gets our butts into the seats. It really is a guilty pleasure… disaster pornography, if you will. We return time and time again for the thrill of the ride  to see how the filmmaker will kill off the species, whether it be through invading aliens, massive tidal waves, shattering earthquakes or engulfing tornadoes, and Emmerich has become  “King-of-All-He-Surveys” over it.

He loves taking out our national landmarks too. I think its become a summer thing with him. Only with 2012, every country’s landmarks are up for grabs. He decimates Rio de Janeiro, Rome, and Tibet. I will say this for Emmerich, he sure knows how to blow stuff up, with the main characters always running or flying away in the nick of time.

Before Emmerich, Irwin Allen, “The Master of Disaster,” had the corner on the  disaster film  genre. He had a flare for larger than life wipe outs of cities, through his great use of fires and miniatures….

…and every part of the world was fair game as far as Allen was concerned. It may look pretty inferior now, but back then audiences loved every minute of it.

No question about it, the penultimate Irwin Allen  disaster movie has to be  1974’s THE TOWERING INFERNO. Just ask my sister. It was nominated for 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won 3 Oscars for Cinematography, Editing, and Original Song. Along with a heart-racing score from John Williams, it has one of the most exciting and  imaginative conclusions in film history. Its a stroke of genius by  Allen. A  remake,  filled with the big stars of today, would be hard-core epic.

Have a look at this  5 minute preview of 2012.  I guarantee it’s what will  get you back on that rollercoaster and  into the theater.

Come back tomorrow for Day 3  and a look at the movie poster for 2012 as well as other  ones from the genre.  2012, starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, with Danny Glover, and Woody Harrelson,  opens Friday, November 13th.