Project #1: Hollywood and Earth Science
During the course, the student will watch a
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2012 (2009)
John Cusack , Chiwetel Ejiofor , Roland Emmerich PG-13 DVD ·
Run
Time: 158 minutes Product
Description From Roland Emmerich, director of THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW and INDEPENDENCE
DAY,
comes the ultimate action-adventure film, exploding with groundbreaking
special effects. As the world faces a catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions,
cities collapse and continents crumble. 2012 brings an end to the
world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors. Starring John
Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor,
Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson and Danny Glover. |
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Editorial Reviews
Now this is how you destroy the world. Roland Emmerich's 2012 pounces on a Nostradamus-style loophole
in the Mayan calendar and rams the apocalypse through it, gleefully conjuring
up an enormous amount of Saturday-matinee fun in the process. A scientist (Chiwetel Ejiofor) detects
shifting continental plates and sun flares and realizes that this foretells the
imminent destruction of the planet. Just as the molten lava is about to hit the
fan, a novelist (John Cusack) takes his kids on a trip to Yellowstone; later
he'll hook up with his ex (Amanda Peet) and her new
boyfriend (Tom McCarthy) in a global journey toward safety. If
there is any safety. The suitably hair-raising plot lines are
punctuated--frequently, people, frequently--by visions of mayhem around the
globe: the Vatican falls over, the White House is clobbered (Emmerich's Independence Day was not enough on that score),
and the California coastline dives into the Pacific Ocean. Unlike other action
directors we could name, Emmerich actually
understands how to let you see and drink in these vast special-effects
vistas--and they are incredible. He also honors the old Irwin Allen
disaster-movie tradition by actually shelling out for good actors. Cusack and Ejiofor are convincing even in the cheesiest material; toss
in Danny Glover (the U.S. president), Woody Harrelson (a nut-bar
conspiracy-theorizing radio host), Thandie Newton,
and Oliver Platt, and you've got a very watchable batch of people. Emmerich hasn't developed an ear for dialogue, even at this
stage in his career, and the final act goes on a bit too long. This is a very
silly movie, but if you've got a weakness for B-movie energy and hairbreadth
escapes, 2012
delivers quite a bit of both. --Robert Horton
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Deep Impact (1998)
Robert Duvall , Téa Leoni , Mimi Leder PG-13 DVD ·
Run
Time: 120 minutes In DEEP IMPACT, Leo Beiderman (Elijah Wood), joins a field study for his high
school's Astronomy Club and discovers a new comet that unfortunately is
headed for Earth. While scientists build a cave to prevent the extinction of
the human race, they estimate that only 800,000 people can be selected to
survive the "Deep Impact." The threat of a comet ending the world
quickly sends Americans into a panic until the president announces a plan to
send astronauts on a mission to destroy the comet before it reaches earth. |
Chapter 21 |
Apollo 13 (1995) Starring: Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton Director: Ron Howard Rating ·
Plot
Outline True story of the moon-bound mission that developed severe trouble
and the men that rescued it with skill and dedication. ·
Plot
Synopsis: Based on the true story of the ill-fated 13th Apollo mission bound
for the moon. Astronauts Lovell, Haise and Swigert were scheduled to fly Apollo 14, but are moved up
to 13. It's 1970, and America have already achieved their lunar landing goal,
so there's little interest in this "routine" flight.. until that is, things go very
wrong, and prospects of a safe return fade. |
Chapter 20 |
The Day After Tomorrow (Widescreen Edition) (2004) Starring: Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal Director: Roland Emmerich Rating ·
Plot
Outline A climatologist tries
to figure out a way to save the world from abrupt global warming. He must get
to his young son in ·
Plot
Synopsis: This movie takes a big-budget, special-effects-filled look at what the world
would look like if the greenhouse effect and global warming continued at such
levels that they resulted in worldwide catastrophe and disaster, including
multiple hurricanes, tornadoes, tidal waves, floods and the beginning of the
next Ice Age. At the center of the story is a paleoclimatologist
(a scientist who studies the ways weather patterns changed in the past),
Professor Jack Hall (Quaid), who tries to save the
world from the effects of global warming while also trying to get to his son,
Sam (Gyllenhaal), who was in New York City as part
of a scholastic competition, when the city was overwhelmed by the chilling
beginnings of the new Ice Age. In addition to all of the other challenges Dr.
Hall faces, he's also going against the flow as humanity races south to
warmer climates, and he's nearly the only one going north... |
Chapter 19 Application |
Twister (1996) Starring: Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton Director: Jan de Bont Rating ·
Plot
Outline A
couple on the point of divorce keep meeting each other because both
are researchers who chase tornadoes. ·
Plot
Synopsis: TV
weatherman Bill Harding is trying to get his tornado-hunter wife, Jo, to sign
divorce papers so he can marry his girlfriend Melissa. But Mother Nature, in
the form of a series of intense storms sweeping across |
Chapter 24 Application |
Contact (1997) Starring: Jena Malone, David Morse Director: Robert Zemeckis Rating First Line: Young Ellie: CQ, this is W9GFO. CQ, this is W9GFO here. Come
back? ·
Plot
·
Plot
Synopsis: Contact, based on the novel of the same name
by Carl Sagan, is the story of a free thinking radio astronomer (Jodie Foster)
who discovers an intelligent signal broadcast from deep space. She and her
fellow scientists are able to decipher the Message and discover detailed
instructions for building a mysterious Machine. Will the Machine spell the
end of our world, or the end of our superstitions? Will we take our place
among the races of the Galaxy, or are we just an upstart species with a long
way to go? |
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Chapter 9 Application |
Volcano (1997) Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Heche Director: Mick Jackson Rating ·
Plot
Outline A volcano erupts in downtown ·
Plot
Synopsis: After a seemingly minor earthquake one night
in |
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Chapter 9 Application |
Dante's Peak (1997) Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Linda Hamilton Director: Roger Donaldson Rating ·
Plot
·
Plot
Synopsis: Volcanologist Harry Dalton and mayor Rachel Wando of Dante's Peak try to convince the
city council and the other volcanologists that the volcano right above
Dante's peak is indeed dangerous. People's safety is being set against
economical interests. |
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Chapter 13 Application |
Sphere (1998) Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone Director: Barry Levinson Rating ·
Plot
Outline A spaceship is
discovered under three hundred years' worth of coral growth at the bottom of
the ocean. ·
Plot
Synopsis: 1000 feet below the ocean, navy divers
discover an object half-a-mile long. A crack team of scientists are deployed
to the site in Deep Sea Habitats. What they find boggles the mind as they
discover a perfect metal sphere. What is the secret behind the sphere? Will
they survive the mysterious 'manifestations'? Who or what is creating these?
They may never live to find out. |
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Chapter 13 |
The Abyss (Special Edition) (1989) Starring: Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio Director: James Cameron Rating First Line: USS Montana Captain:
60 knots? No way. The Reds don't have anything that fast. ·
Plot Outline A
civilian diving team are enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and
face danger while encountering an alien aquatic species. ·
Plot
Synopsis: An American nuclear submarine is
attacked (during the cold war) and crashes underwater. The navy asks the
workers of a nearby underwater oil rig who are joined by a number of navy
SEALS to locate and investigate the cause of the crash. As the crew embark on their mission, they encounter a number of
difficulties and discover that they may not be alone. There is something else
down there. |
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Chapter 19 |
Category 6 - Day of Destruction (2004) Starring: Thomas Gibson, Nancy McKeon Director: Dick Lowry Rating After a freak tornado destroys Las Vegas,
scientists determine that unusually destructive weather could be building
over the United States. When a "category five" hurricane forms over
the Great Lakes and a band of "force five" tornadoes moves up the
Midwest toward Chicago, the resulting collision of deadly weather fronts not
only decimates great cities, it ultimately causes the entire North American
power grid to implode, effectively leaving the United States without power
for at least six months. |
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Chapter 19 |
Category 7: The End of the World (2005) Starring: Gina Gershon, Cameron Daddo Director: Dick Lowry Rating Plot Synopsis: In this hair-raising sequel to Category Six:
Day of Destruction, mankind's survival against the elements is pushed to the
limits... All across the globe, an unprecedented Category 6 storm descends
with greater force than could have ever been imagined. The Eiffel Tower is
shredded by violent winds-the Great Pyramids reduced to piles of rubble as
twisting, black funnels snake across the desert. For years scientists have
been expounding theories-and warnings-of global warming trends. Now these
warnings are coming true with a frightening ferocity. But though it may have
created regions of volatile and extreme weather, global warming isn't what
triggered the terrible tempest. The cause is unknown. As various regions of
the Earth succumb to the increasingly powerful super storm, beautiful but
discredited scientist Faith Clavell (Shannen Doherty, TV's Charmed) teams up with storm chaser
Tommy Tornado (Randy Quaid, Elvis) and head of FEMA
Judith Carr (Gina Gershon, Face/Off) to determine
the trigger and eliminate it-and that means infiltrating the storm itself.
Compounding the chaos, a terrorist organization is threatening to make the
situation worse. Now, it's not only man against nature, but man against man
as the newly-intensified Category 7 approaches-and possibly, the end of the
world. |
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Chapter 9 |
Magma: Volcanic Disaster (2006) Starring: Xander Berkeley, Amy Jo Johnson Director: Ian Gilmore Rating ·
Plot
Synopsis: Volcanology professor John Shepherd comes to realize that
recent unexplainable volcanic activity the world over is the start of a
coming global catastrophe which could lead to mankind's extinction. Assisted
by several of his students and a wheelchair-bound colleague, the professor
sets out to gather the evidence needed to convince government officials that
a worst case scenario is unfolding. Can he convince the Powers That Be that
the end is near, devise a plan to potentially prevent Armageddon, and save
his own troubled marriage before time runs out? |
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Polar Storm
(2009)
Jack Coleman , Holly Dignard , Paul Ziller PG-13 DVD ·
Run
Time: 93 minutes Product Description When a piece of the
massive comet ''Copernicus'' collides with the Earth, it knocks the planet
off of its axis and unleashes a disaster never before witnessed in recent
history. Dr. James Mayfield (Jack Coleman) and his highly trained research
team are the only ones who can re-align the axis. With the life of his
teenage son and his beloved wife on the line, the only way James can save his
family from the unthinkable is to save the world. |
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The Core (2003)
Aaron Eckhart , Hilary Swank , Jon Amiel PG-13 DVD ·
Run
Time: 135 minutes FEAR IS IN THE AIR AS RESEARCH REVEALS THE EARTH'S CORE ISSTALLED
AND UNLESS IT GETS A JUMPSTART, THE WORLD WILL BURN.THE WORLD'S LAST POSSIBLE
CHANCE RESTS ON THE SHOULDERS OF ATEAM OF "TERRANAUTS," WHO TRAVEL
TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH TOTRY AND SAVE THE PLANET. |
Smarter than Armageddon and equally extreme, The Core
is high-tech Hollywood hokum at its finest. It's scientifically ridiculous, but
this variant of Fantastic Voyage at least tries to be credible as
it plunges deep into the earth's inner core, where a formulaic team of experts pilot
an earth-boring ship to jump-start the planet's spinning molten interior, now
stalled by a military secret that could seal the fate of all humankind. It's a
geophysicist's wet dream that only a fine ensemble cast could rescue from
absurdity, and director Jon Amiel (Entrapment,
Copycat) draws excellent work (and plenty of humorous interplay) from
Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Stanley Tucci, Delroy Lindo, and a host of
memorable supporting players, especially The New Guy's D.J. Qualls as
the world's greatest cyber-nerd. With enough digital F/X disasters to satisfy
anyone's apocalyptic fantasies, this is a popcorn thriller with all the bells
and whistles that its genre demands. Sit back, pump up the volume, and enjoy
the dazzling ride. --Jeff Shannon
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Armageddon
(1998)
Bruce Willis , Billy Bob Thornton , Michael Bay Unrated DVD ·
Run
Time: 150 minutes Product Description From the
blockbuster-making team who produced and directed PEARL HARBOR and THE ROCK
(Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay) comes the biggest movie of 1998 --
ARMAGEDDON! |
Starring the explosive talents of Bruce Willis (DIE HARD), Academy
Award(R)-winners Ben Affleck (GOOD WILL HUNTING) and Billy Bob Thornton (SLING
BLADE), Liv Tyler (INVENTING THE ABBOTTS), Steve Buscemi (CON AIR), and Will Patton (INVENTING THE ABBOTTS),
ARMAGEDDON is a meteor storm of action-adventure moviemaking that has you on
the edge of your seat forgetting to breathe! When NASA's executive director,
Dan Truman (Thornton), realizes the Earth has 18 days before it's obliterated
by a meteor the size of Texas, he has only one option -- land a ragtag team of
roughneck oil drillers on the asteroid and drop a
nuclear warhead into its core. Spectacular special effects, laugh-out-loud
humor, great characters, riveting storytelling, and heartfelt emotion make
ARMAGEDDON an exhilarating thrill ride you'll want to experience like there's
no tomorrow.
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