2012 - 4K + Blu-ray + Digital

SPOILERS throughout! I don't know what movie the rest of these brain-fried people saw. I'm sure glad I watched the movie before reading their 3rd grade diatribes. This was one of the most excellent, thrilling, action-packed disaster movies I've ever seen. There's not a boring moment in the entire movie and has you on the edge of your seat every moment. It was a pleasure to finally see a disaster movie which is truly packed with disasters destroying the entire planet and every identifiable landmark instead of wasting time with ridiculous side stories. Most of the movie is through the viewpoint of global scientists, leaders and the struggle of one family to survive. I watched it for the disaster storyline, not their personal stories. When people complain about the lack of depth for the family, this is a disaster movie, not Sleepless in Seattle. If they had spent a lot of time on the personal issues of families, it would have ruined the movie and impeded the flow of suspense. I'm thankful they kept to the main core of the plot "The destruction of the Earth!" The entire movie was a fresh concept for global destruction. I was surprised to learn that these were not spaceships... although I think that would have been neat as well. However, it did not make as much sense for the two leaders which stayed behind, as it might have made if these had been interplanetary vehicles. While I understand the concept that no gov't would inform the population of such a cataclysmic event due to global panic and violence which would ensue from the very type of people who wrote those ridiculous critiques... many could have survived via ships or high altitudes if they had known planetary flooding was the main issue. You can also bet the wealthy, famous and chosen few would be the ones to get the seats. It isn't pretty, but unfortunately, realistic (as was the elimination of anyone who threatened to spill the beans). However, I doubt the escape ships would have all been in China. Each country would have had their own assembled at their respective black ops sites, under their control. It was obvious the person in charge of the plane flight scenes had no knowledge of aerodynamics or piloting. Planes simply cannot fly like that and would have stalled and crashed within minutes. However, it did not make it any less exciting. Having had about the same amount of flying skills, I did share Gordon's horrific predicament at being expected to fly a plane he had never trained for. That part was realistic but I doubt he would have managed that well under those conditions (not even in a simulator). However, it didn't dampen the excitement of the scenes. Same with the unbelievable driving escape scenes where no vehicle could survive the bizarre destruction sequences. Yet, no less exciting even though we knew it was over the top. We were still on the edge of our seats all the way. On the "divorced family being saved by the part time dad" issue... that has been overused from movies like Day after Tomorrow and War of the Worlds, so the theme is too repetitious as is the bratty kid routine which was also used in the Day the Earth Stood still. So, on this subject, these directors and writers do need to get away from these overused themes. In this film, would have opted to save Gordon in this scenario since he was the one who earned the family's love & respect. You can also bet that the cell phones and electricity would not be working and there would have been in a lot more global panic. However, our beloved media & political circus would have certainly been making jokes chastising everyone for making a big deal out of nothing (as depicted) while the planet was disintegrating beneath their feet. Have to keep the masses calm no matter what. The officials also seemed to be unreasonably blind as to what was occurring globally when they had access to hundreds of orbiting satellite systems. It took these survivors a month to find out that one of the continents had not flooded, (despite the supertech ops center they had?) As a director, I would have opted to flood all of the continents. I would not have left any landmass untouched because that really changed the dynamics. I would also have also opted for a simple discovery of the father alive on his ship & his rescue without the alternate ending discourse dialogue. Tsunami's are not as bad at sea as they are near a coast. At sea, they are swells, not waves, so it is likely large ships out at deep sea would have faired quite well. The film's research on realistic effects of cataclysmic occurrences was a bit thin. Opening the gates of the ships at the last moment was in poor judgment. If they had done so earlier, it would have been ok, but to wait until the tidal wave was on the way was most definitely not the smartest thing to do with humanity at stake. It would have been better with the President all the way to the end of the movie. The Secret Service would not have left him under any circumstances despite any protest he might have made. He would have never been out of their sight and they would have taken him by force if necessary to save him and the continuity of gov't. I think this should have been handled quite differently than it was. I did not agree with the fate of this character. He should have been a survivor and an inspiration to the survivors. Even with these improvements I would have opted for, I still loved the movie. It was a great disaster film! Don't listen to these brain-fried low brows that were probably dragged away from their favorite sports game and beer, etc., by their families and forced to watch the movie. Their lack of education and mentality is obvious just by reading their mindless attempts to attack the director and film to get revenge for missing their favorite TV sports; It was obvious just by the time of year and date this film was released. The reviews improved as soon as football season was over. That should tell you something about the hostility & validity of those holiday reviews. Think for yourself. If you enjoy action packed disaster movies, you will love this movie. It outdoes any disaster movie ever made. If you are looking for soapy relationships... then perhaps Sleepless in Seattle is a better choice for you. If you are looking for info on the Mayans & 2012... then you should look for documentaries with that info. But this is not for thin-skinned picayune whiners who are impossible to please. This movie is for people who love disaster and action movies. The scientific concept of this disaster is fresh and original. The director does a great job of destroying every famous landmark and anticipated trouble spot across the planet. You get to see California fall into the ocean; the Yellowstone Caldera in a magnificent explosion; Hawaii buried in lava; the Sistine Chapel crumbling into dust around the masses; the Las Vegas casino's disintegrating magnificently; the destruction of Brazil's landmarks; Washington DC in ruins; California skyscrapers crashing around their ears; incredible tsunami's miles high... covering every coast on the globe; continents tearing apart into horrific chasms taking everything of civilization down with it. You can't ask for more than this movie has to offer in disasters. A refreshing change from all those movies where they usually save civilization in the nick of time. Not this one. They utterly destroy it along with a majority of the population, in full realistic "top of the line" effects! This is by far the best disaster movie ever made with the most fantastic effects you could ever hope for. It is truly like riding the world's scariest roller coaster for almost 3 hours. You are on the edge of your seat throughout the entire movie. Not a boring moment. The tension is tight from start to finish and will twist you into knots without a chance to catch your breath. There are no pauses between the action and constant tension. The bigger the screen, the better you will appreciate the experience. This ultimate disaster movie is indeed all about the fantastic special effects. They did not scrimp on any of them. You will not be disappointed if you love disaster movies crammed with global destruction and special effects. This film outdoes any disaster movie ever made.

Whoa! Where do I begin?? My name is Isiah and I'm from Tallahassee, Florida and I am telling you that we need to ADD a certain movie to our hall a classics; classics where even today, they give us pause with their messages, themes, story lines, and sometimes, special effects. One of these movies, based on my humble opinion, should be the Roland Emmerich's film-the Mother of Disaster Films, the film that ended the 2000s with a bang..."2012"!! Roland Emmerich was born in 1955 in Germany and is well known massive disaster movies such as "Independence Day" (1996), "Godzilla" (1998), "The Day After Tomorrow", and recently "White House Down". While being criticized for his films being too long, over reliance on special effects, poor character development, and so on, Roland's films, to me, our truly massive and opens up the movie with a global initiative where the disasters he creates affects almost all of the Human species, which is clearly evident in 2012. I first fell in love with Roland's work when his most celebrated work, Independence Day; in which aliens attack the planet during the American holiday of Independence Day. I have seen many documentaries about the making of this movie and the difficult work and skill needed to produce such an epic, from model miniatures to shooting. ID4 has been credited for inaugurating the era of the disaster film that lead up to 2012 and continues to this day. Now, the movie! I first saw the trailers at my high school during lunch. I remember seeing the images of Los Vegas, the crumbling of the Christ the Redeemer statue and others back in the fall of 2009 when I moved back to Tallahassee from Apalachicola. I was certainly turned on by the sporadic clips of the movie but the LA scene DEFINATLY sealed opinion of the movie. I have never seen destruction of that scale and I would even say it rivals the destruction scene in ID4 where only the US Bank Tower was destroyed. In 2012, the mother of all earthquakes rips apart the West Coast in disaster scenes never before seen. So, on Saturday of November 13, 2009, I invited my dad (despite us not getting along), to see the film at the Tallahassee AMC 20 theater located in the former Tallahassee Mall. I was completely amazed, wowed, and even bought to tears by the movie. the sheer scale, situations, and movie length already suggested to me that this would be an EPIC film. I'm not here to narrate the film since I would assume everyone on this forum has seen the movie in its entirety but I am here to tell you what I got out of the film. The characters are rather well-explained and have taken their roles respectively. President Thomas Wilson (Danny Glover) is rather an ode to the accomplishment of Barack Obama who has been informed of the 2012 situation and his visibly concerned but not overly dramatic about it (since, the information of the end is being kept away from the public). The fact that, during the catastrophes, the President remained to address the nation one last time rather than board the arks in China speaks to his attribute of Humanity. Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) is a struggling father and holding odd jobs who is estranged from his ex-wife and kids but still manages to care and hold on to hope that he will one day be reunited with his family- a massive global event just so happen to set those wheels in motion. Adrian Helmsley (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) takes is job vary seriously and in a way has been the voice of the Humanity through science, him being the one who knows the the disasters are about to happen much sooner than expected and collaborates with world leaders to save Humanity. Finally, Oliver Platt plays Chief of Staff Carl Anheuser, a rather snobbish individual who is only concern with control and power rather than love and compassion-in contrast to the humanitarian of Helmsley. I was wowed by the grand scale of the calamities at hand; massive earthquakes literally ripping apart continents, terrible volcanic eruptions, to massive tsunamis flooding every country, this movie is as close to slow-pace end-of-the-world as you can get (as opposed to "Knowing" which ends it all in one swift blow). The movie, thankfully,takes place in 2012 and the human race is going about their normal lives, unaware that most of them will be dead in a few days, note the playful chatter of the morning radio hosts in LA after an earthquake when we are first introduced to Jackson Curtis's character. This movie could have easily been set during or after the cataclysms and then the background development would have been absent, which would have made this movie less enjoyable. Due to the hysteria that would have enveloped the populace if knowledge of the disaster was made public, the governments of the world hold on to information to ensue a selected few survive. The disaster happens and its a struggle between the ones chosen to survive and everything else. Those in the disaster zone are obviously dead, those not there are scrambling to survive but know that their time is coming as whole civilizations are virtually wiped out. Those chosen to survive are now in charge of likely saving the human race from extinction despite being selected because of their checkbooks. Finally, the movie details the most single destructive event in modern earth history and certainly human history,not even a large-scale nuclear war could compete with this, in my opinion. In many cases, the governments of the world have abandoned their people and let then fend for themselves, it shows whole cultures and societies being systematically destroyed; the fact that America, the sole superpower of the earth, ceases to exist after being ravaged by earthquakes, tsunamis, and the Yellowstone eruption and subsequent ash cloud. Indeed, the world has sure come to and end. One could only imagine families,couples, and even total strangers either fighting each other ore holding hands as they wait to die. Hell, i almost cried when President Wilson died when the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy hit the White House and along with billions of others. In addition, human greed and the dark side of Capitalism ultimately ensured that only a select few survived due to their financial situation, as opposed rather how they could contribute to a post-2012 world or not. I actually thought that the 2012 myth would happen in some form when during the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami and the destructive 2011 tornado outbreak in the Midwestern United States. But, in 2012, had my first prom, I graduated from high school, and started college. The only thing that happened on December 21, 2012 was the movie "2012" in honor of the date, premiered on the FX Channel. Humanity breathed a sigh of relief. (Lol!) This movie is certainly ca classic and it should be treated as such. So what do you think? XOXOXOXOX Isiah

Awesome movie

When I first heard about "2012" prior to it's release, I thought "Ooh geez, here comes another doomsday piece of quackery." When I saw the previews, and learned that Roland Emmerich was the director, well, it all made sense. Of course the visual effects in the trailers were awesome, but I didn't feel like buying into the 2012, end of the world story line. I'd thought Emmerich had been a tad heavy handed with "Day After Tomorrow" and so I avoided "2012" at the box office and waited for "Avatar." After seeing "2012" on Blu-Ray, I admit I was wrong. If you just suspend disbelief a little bit, sit back, and allow yourself to be entertained, this film will not disappoint. No mistaking here, willful suspension of disbelief is necessary. There are just too many close calls, near misses, and coincidences to take the film on anything but a surface level. But, if you allow yourself to be drawn in to the eye popping special effects, the incredible depth of detail in the CGI rendering of destruction, the wry sense of humor, you can actually have a pretty good time with this movie. My son said he can't wait for this film to be turned into some kind of ride at Universal Orlando. It IS a long movie, and the characters are paper thin, with a plot that hangs on a thread of scientific information. But, it doesn't FEEL long, you become invested in the characters, and the science begins not to matter. In fact, the film's pace moves along quite nicely. And though the characters are thin, you do "root" for John Cusack to succeed in saving his estranged wife, resentful son, and precocious daughter. Heck, halfway through you even begin rooting for the wife's boyfriend to survive! How the film resolves itself is actually a bit of a surprise (if it hasn't been spoiled for you elsewhere). I actually think that the marketing of the film did a disservice. If more of the character driven moments had been shown in the previews, I probably would have bit on seeing the movie in a theater. And so, there is an entertaining plot with interesting characters, lot of really excellent visual effects, and a satisfying ending. It even survives multiple screenings. The Blu-Ray 2 disc special edition includes a few deleted scenes, an alternate ending (too much suspension of disbelief required), and a variety of behind the scenes featurettes. I think it's a good value. I do have to mention that the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier was retired from active duty several years ago, and therefore would not be at sea, in a position to tumble into the White House as a tsunami wipes out Washington in 2012. Having said that, I must humorously add that Danny Glover's President Thomas Wilson had the entirely wrong line as he looked up to see the ship coming. He should have said, "I'm too old for this s#$t!" (Not knocking Danny Glover's performance - just thinking that the call back to "Lethal Weapon" was dying to be used)

this movie is a favorite for my family since it released, we will put it on just for background noise sometimes an having it on dvd is perfect.

An amazing apocalyptic film, definitely get your blood pumping and leave you on the edge of your seat. Must watch!

This movie came out in 2009 and I've watched over & over. The special effects are outstanding! John Cusak and Woody Harrelson and the rest of the actors are terrific in it (they're 2 of my very favorite actors). The story is something to think about in today''s world. It is exciting to watch and never a dull moment. The ride through watching it is thrilling, exciting and heart-warming. I never tire watching it. DVD was in perfect condition (new) along with the packaging and delivered on time. VERY happy I bought it!

Well, is it Shakespear? No. It is not coincidence that the "artsy flicks" which are all released at the end of the year to very limited audiences do very little at the box office. This is what it is..a special effect disaster movie. I packed this with another film like it, "San Andreas" and we had a blast. The kids loved it. Price? I got the special addition, two disc blu ray. Price? I did what they called "shopping" and got it for less then Wally World. No I did not go for a digital download. I have a 4K TV, so this was great. Not the Blu Ray is an upgrade from the DVD version. As I said, a great diversion movie. It is a disaster movie. If you want to entertain the kids etc this works. if you want to entertain the Book Club friends with Wine and Cheese this will not work. Ahh I remember when Star Wars got bad reviews.... UPDATE..Just got the 4k version. Still love the movie, the special effects beat the other disaster flicks decisively. Brought up by Irwin Allen's disaster flicks like Towering Inferno, any Volcano movie, and the recent San Andreas, this one stands out. Story is great. Like the "The Day After Tomorrow". Well worth it.