The Day After Tomorrow - DVD - Region 2

Based on a doom-laden book by Whitley Strieber, Roland Emmerich's "The Day After Tomorrow" manages the feat of making you think about a real issue while also turning it into spectacular, city-destroying entertainment. Those familiar with Emmerich's previous destruction epic "Independence Day" will recognise the style, but this time the force decimating civilisation is far more terrifying than B-movie aliens; it's a new Ice Age brought about by our own ignorance.

Like "Independence Day", the real stars of the show here are the effects. Jaw-dropping CG realises a giant tornado destroying Los Angeles and an enormous tsunami sweeping into New York, only to be frozen to snow hundreds of feet deep. Meanwhile in Britain, the eye of a huge super storm is enough to bring down helicopters and instantly freeze-dry their crew.

With all this to contend with, Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal struggle with the human drama as a separated father and son. In true disaster movie style, Quaid plays a climatologist whose warnings of the coming catastrophe are roundly ignored.

Bubblegum cinema it may be, but the film doesn't totally trivialise the issue of climate change. There are nods to the American refusal to sign the Tokyo accords, and the sceptical, oily Vice-President looks suspiciously like Dick Cheney.

As a portrait of a real issue, "The Day After Tomorrow" may be somewhat sensationalised, but even this effects-laden blockbuster will have you thinking about cycling to work tomorrow...