End Day

I don't get the low rating for this well done little movie. In the style of "Groundhog Day" , it presents several possible mega-catastrophes, two of which have actually occurred since this docu-drama was made, in 2004. The last catastrophic event dramatized in the movie is a physics experiment gone wrong. It is the most catastrophic of all, but, No Spoilers, you'll have to watch the movie.

This is a BBC docudrama featuring several scenarios that could herald the end of civilisation as we know it . The premise sees a scientist involved with particle acceleration waking up and catching a plane to a conference in New York only to have his travel plans disrupted because of several different scenarios

1 ) A volcanic eruption in the Atlantic causes a massive tsunami to hit the Esatern seaboard of America killing millions

2 ) A series of explosions in the Middle East aren't the work of terrorists but are in fact fragments of an approaching meteor that crashes in to Berlin killing millions

3 ) A passenger arriving from the Far East is found dead at Heathrow airport , the first victim in Britain of a virus that will eventually decimate continents

4 ) A supervolcano erupts at Yellowstone park throwing thousands of tons of soot and ash in to the atmosphere leading to a " volcanic winter "

5 ) The particle acceleration experiment goes ahead leading to the creation of a black hole that will eventually destroy the planet

It's interesting in hindsight that one scenario , the one involving a particle accelerator has been and gone with no bad consequence to humanity where an experiment took place with the Haldron Collider in Switzerland in March 2010 which is something the programme pointed out . There's always a fear of the unknown where science is concerned and science always gets a bad rap since it tells humanity things they don't want to hear such as God is not only dead but he never existed in the first place . Likewise bad things happen such as viruses , earthquakes and meteors that can destroy whole species but science will probably never evolve enough to defeat these forces of nature

Certainly it's a thought provoking docudrama but perhaps pulls it punches a little too much . None of the scenarios apart from the speculation of the particle accelerator leads to what scientists describe as an " extinction event " where mankind dies out overnight . It's within the realms of possibility that a extinction event of any kind could happen within our lifetimes however remote this might be but didn't seem hammered home enough

My favorite part of this was when one interviewee near the end was named Brian Cox, and then the interviewee after him kept repeating the word "succession." Truly forward-thinking as a docudrama/disaster movie, End Day is.

When judged as a TV movie made during the middle of the 2000s, it's fine. There are a couple of shots that understand the budget is next to nothing, and these are the most effective. Unfortunately, other shots are way too ambitious, rendering certain parts of this horrendously bad-looking.

It's interesting how Gareth Edwards more often than not makes films with bland/bad protagonists - I couldn't stand the lead guy in this, and the self-aware Groundhog Day approach to showing the world ending in several different ways is probably more interesting in theory than it was in execution here; maybe some points can be afforded for effort.

This is a great made for TV disaster movie. If you love the genre you should see it. No, it's not a billion dollar budget, but it can still be an 8 for what it is. Maybe a 7.5 but I always round up if I think the general rating is too low.

Judging strictly on a realism scale (and perhaps a cheesiness scale) I would have given this one a 6 or 7. It gets the bonus point for a few moments and references that are genuinely hilarious if you are quick enough to catch them.

Part Groundhog Day, part Run Lola Run (without the awesome soundtrack), we follow a scientist working on a LHC-type project trying to fly from London to NYC for the big experiment. We cycle through the day repeatedly with different scenarios unfolding:

1) A massive tsunami hitting NYC; 2) A meteor storm and incoming larger meteor; 3) A new pandemic; 4) The Yellowstone caldera finally blows; 5) The LNC does, in fact, produce a black hole

I think this could have been an amazingly intelligent 'what if' (or, as the movie's mantra says "not what if, but when") scenario projection with some thoughtful commentary on such events, but it was largely reduced to a scientific summation in each instance.

I also found that the idea of parallel events (people who cross the Dr.'s path on his way to the airport, etc) could have been even more flushed out, but that would have made it more of a two-hour movie rather than a 1-hour spoonful of docudrama. It would have made this much stronger though.

As 3 and 4 are the most likely scenarios, it was very sobering to watch. And 1 is certainly more plausible with the recent footage of Superstorm Sandy's effects on a populous city like NY. Sadly the 5th was laughable, but perhaps that was the point? Why worry about a particle collider (which we now know, went onward with its experiment without catastrophic results) when we have scenarios that are far more likely?