More people will be worrying about The Day After Tomorrow thanks to Dennis Quaid's movie about the effects of global warming. Steve Pratt reports on the appeal of complete disaster in a movie and looks back at some of the blasts from the past.

DENNIS Quaid believes he knows why disaster movies are so popular. "Everybody's got a rubber neck, including me. Whether it's a fire or a train wreck, we all stop and look," he says.

"In a split second we all wonder if it's somebody we know, then we're thankful when it isn't, then we wonder 'what would I do in that situation?'."

Disasters - and disaster movies in general - seem to churn up human emotions, he continues. "Audiences enjoy that combination of highs and lows and I think they like having their imagination sparked by a 'what if?' kind of situation."

Quaid has good reason to hope that cinemagoers still have an appetite for disaster movies. After two US box office flops - Cold Manor Creek and The Alamo - the actor needs a hit. The Day After Tomorrow, from the maker of aliens-have-landed drama Independence Day, should give him a major winner.

The Day After Tomorrow is like a dozen disaster movies lined up end to end. Hailstorms in Tokyo, hurricanes in Hawaii, tornadoes in Los Angeles, floods in Manhattan and finally an American East Coast deep freeze.

"It's every disaster flick you've ever seen all rolled into one giant non-stop global meteorological cataclysm," says Quaid, who plays a climatologist in the film.

Whether The Day After Tomorrow will kick-start a revival in the production of such movies is uncertain. A pair of volcano movies in the late 1990s, Volcano and Dante's Peak, cancelled each other out at the box office although another couple, Armegeddon and Deep Impact, both did well.

The Day After Tomorrow's release is also sandwiched between Troy and the third Harry Potter movie, so the competition is pretty strong. But director Roland Emmerich has done a good job in topping the most famous disaster movies of the 1970s when the genre was at its peak.Advances in special effects and computer-generated effects means that today's disasters can be bigger and better than before. But he believes that there has to be something factual at the core of any disaster movie, something real for the audience to grab onto. "What we already know about global warning and climate change has provided us with a great fact base for the movie and that directly affects the believability of the characters and the world that we have created for them," he says.

It's man against nature, survival against the odds and ultimately, says Emmerich, "it's about the triumph of the human spirit".

CINEMA'S MOST DISASTROUS MOMENTS

So, as the storm clouds gather over cinemas with the release of The Day After Tomorrow, let's pause to remember some of cinema's most disastrous moments.

EARTHQUAKE (1974). Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner and Bonanza's Lorne Greene dodge falling masonry as Los Angeles is hit by shock waves.

THE TOWERING INFERNO (1974). Call the fire brigade as the world's tallest building goes up in flames. Steve McQueen heads the firefighters with the obligatory all-star cast, led by Paul Newman, William Holden and Faye Dunaway, trapped on the upper floors.

AIRPORT (1979). Terror in the sky. There's a bomber on board and several sequels in the offing. Also led to the airborne spoof Airplane!.

THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (1972). A luxury liner turns turtle after being hit by a freak wave, leaving passengers trapped in the upturned vessel.

HURRICANE (1979). Jason Robards and Mia Farrow get the wind up on a South Pacific island when a typhoon strikes.

ARMAGEDDON/DEEP IMPACT (1998). A giant asteroid hurtles towards Earth in both movies, threatening to cause major damage. Not to be confused with...

METEOR (1979). A large meteor heads towards Earth etc. Sean Connery tries to block its path.

THE SWARM (1978). Killer bees attack the US, although the script of this hilarious movie is far more dangerous than a dozen stings.

WHEN TIME RAN OUT (1989). From disaster king Irwin Allen comes the story of a South Sea island threatened by an erupting volcano. Paul Newman starred.

TWISTER (1996). Now you'll believe a cow can fly. The poor animal is picked and thrown around as meteorologists chase tornadoes.

Published: 27/05/2004