2012 (2009)

A frustrated writer struggles to keep his family alive when a series of global catastrophes threatens to annihilate mankind.

Director:

Roland Emmerich

Writers:

Roland Emmerich, Harald Kloser

Stars:

John Cusack, Thandie Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor

5 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Cusack	...	Jackson Curtis
Amanda Peet	...	Kate Curtis
Chiwetel Ejiofor	...	Adrian Helmsley
Thandie Newton	...	Laura Wilson
Oliver Platt	...	Carl Anheuser
Tom McCarthy	...	Gordon Silberman
Woody Harrelson	...	Charlie Frost
Danny Glover	...	President Thomas Wilson
Liam James	...	Noah Curtis
Morgan Lily	...	Lilly Curtis
Zlatko Buric	...	Yuri Karpov
Beatrice Rosen	...	Tamara
Alexandre Haussmann	...	Alec
Philippe Haussmann	...	Oleg
Johann Urb	...	Sasha

Storyline

Dr. Adrian Helmsley, part of a worldwide geophysical team investigating the effect on the earth of radiation from unprecedented solar storms, learns that the earth's core is heating up. He warns U.S. President Thomas Wilson that the crust of the earth is becoming unstable and that without proper preparations for saving a fraction of the world's population, the entire race is doomed. Meanwhile, writer Jackson Curtis stumbles on the same information. While the world's leaders race to build "arks" to escape the impending cataclysm, Curtis struggles to find a way to save his family. Meanwhile, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes of unprecedented strength wreak havoc around the world.

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Plot Keywords:

apocalypse | earthquake | end of the world | elizabeth i character | juvenile bedwetting | 

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Taglines:

Mankind's earliest civilization warned us this day would come...

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense disaster sequences and some language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Seth Rogen turned down the role of Adrian Helmsley.

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Goofs

In the Antonov plane, Jackson scans FM frequencies on the Bentley's radio. FM frequencies are relatively short-range, and can't be heard at all when flying over open ocean. Jackson may not realize that.

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Quotes

Jackson Curtis: I was listening to the broadcast and I was wondering what is exactly that's gonna start in Hollywood?
Charlie Frost: It's the apocalypse. End of days. The Judgment Day, the end of the world, my friend. Christians called it the rapture, but the Mayans knew about it, the Hopis, the I Ching, the Bible, kind of...

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits at all, except the Columbia Pictures logo and the movie title "2012".

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Alternate Versions

There were some deleted scenes that were featured on the DVD:

• Jackson drives Alec and Oleg to the airport while trying to get through some doomsdayers.
• President Wilson and his secretary Sally talk about plans to make arrangements to address the nation one last time.
• After the discovery that the impact drill is stuck and before the mega-tsunami hits, Anheuser blames Adrian for what his decision cost them and makes a comment about having sex with Laura. Dr. Helmsley punches him before taking Laura and some crew members down to the Hydraulics Chamber.
• Jackson finds Gordon's cell phone under the water after Gordon was crushed by the gears.
• In a follow-up to the alternate ending, Anheuser (after hearing that Dr. Helmsley's dad is still alive) apologizes to Dr. Helmsley for what he said.

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Connections

Referenced in Honest Trailers: Die Hard (2015)

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Soundtracks

Fades Like a Photograph
Written by Richard Patrick, Harald Kloser and Thomas Wanker
Produced by Richard Patrick
Performed by Filter

User Reviews

This film had so much potential. What went wrong?

They had all the money, actors and special effects they needed so how did they manage to screw this one up? Obviously they thought exiting moments were more important than developing deeper characters and that's why this story that had great potential stayed so shallow. The dialog was always cheesy and none of the 'hero's' in this film really showed any real emotions nor did they give any of those speeches that give the audience goose bumps. Another thing that really bothered me was that so much was almost going wrong the whole time. Every second of the film had a 'close call' which made the film seem totally unrealistic. Examples are planes taking off just before the runway collapses or driving just fast enough to not get hit by an explosion. This can be very cool if it doesn't happen 100% of the time and I have never seen a movie abusing this way of creating excitement to this extent. So to sum up: If you feel like turning your brain off and watching special effects and big explosions with a very shallow storyline then this movie is for you. But if you feel like watching a movie with a bit of depth then go and see something else.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Tibetan Mandarin Russian Hindi Portuguese Latin Italian Spanish

Release Date:

13 November 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Farewell Atlantis

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$200,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$65,237,614, 15 November 2009

Gross USA:

$166,112,167

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$791,217,826

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Centropolis Entertainment, Farewell Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

158 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1