Amazon.com: 2012: John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt: Amazon Instant Video

2012

From Roland Emmerich, director of THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW and INDEPENDENCE DAY, comes the ultimate action-adventure film; a thrill-ride of human survival, exploding with groundbreaking special effects. Starring John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson and Danny Glover.

Starring: John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Directed by: Roland Emmerich
Runtime: 2 hours 38 minutes
Release year: 2009
Studio: Columbia Pictures

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Synopsis: From Roland Emmerich, director of THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW and INDEPENDENCE DAY, comes the ultimate action-adventure film; a thrill-ride of human survival, exploding with groundbreaking special effects. Starring John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson and Danny Glover.

Starring: John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Supporting actors: Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, George Segal, Tom McCarthy, Danny Glover, Woody Harrelson

Directed by: Roland Emmerich

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Runtime: 2 hours 38 minutes

Captions and Subtitles: English Details

Release year: 2009

Studio: Columbia Pictures

Studio required notice: Content is protected by U.S. copyright law. Learn more

MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense disaster sequences and some language

ASIN: B0035G0U2O

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Purchase rights: Stream instantly and download to 2 locations. Details

Format: Amazon Instant Video (streaming online video and digital download)

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20 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Visual Treat October 22, 2010

By Brian C. Smyth

Format:Blu-ray

Usually I have major problems with disaster movies because the characters and plot get lost in all the action packed special effects. Even most of the acting takes a backseat but with 2012 it's a little different. At times it can be very silly and over the top but to be honest this movie was so intense I didn't pay attention to the faults of this film. I just didn't care. 2012 honestly kept me on the edge of my seat most of the way through and let me tell you the special effects were mind blowing! Absolutely remarkable! It's worth watching just for the visuals alone, seriously. This is the real purpose of CGI. Everything nowadays is too much CGI and it's ruining films in my opinion because it's over-used in films that don't need it. For something like this that goes beyond anyone's imagination is just perfect and done correctly. Critics will find a lot of things wrong with this movie because it's not perfect, nor is any movie but this is just pure entertainment at its best. It's intense, sad, and quite sickening how selfish some people can be when the world has turned into complete chaos. Kick back and enjoy this jaw-dropping visual treat!

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25 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Mocked when it came out, but now.... February 22, 2012

By T. A. Wauldron

Format:Blu-ray

...this will be a sci-fi classic watched over and over.

2001 was trashed when it first came out. Starship Troopers, Armageddon, 2010, so many others...were all given poor reviews when they first came out. All became insanely CLASSIC flicks watched by sci-fi fans every time they appeared on cable.

This movie is no different. Fantastic, and I mean FANTASTIC (if not totally science correct)special effects ROCK in this film. Don't let some of the cheesy Hollywood type theatrics (ending) get in the way. There are so many big names in this film that make this film fun to watch. Everything except the kitchen sink is thrown in to make this movie one of the best `end of the world' films ever made. The Woody Harrelson scenes (as the lunatic who transmits live as Yellowstone explodes) are eye-popping (and the spot where he pulls his pants up to cover butt crack when the caldera finally blows is a nice comic bit). I love the Chinese working faster and more efficiently to create immense life boat arks....makes a sideways slap statement about the USA lacking the ability to respond to disasters in the current world environment. The Tibetan mountain scenes, the destruction of L.A. the west coast cities sliding into the Pacific Ocean, the pyroclastic cloud taking out Las Vegas while CG, are done so brilliantly, the destruction of Washington D.C. and the Vatican....so graphic they look real. By the way, Cusack is excellent in this flick. So is Danny Glover as the U.S. president who goes down with his country (crushed by an aircraft carrier atop a HUGE tidal wave). Oliver Pratt plays a great A-hole politician, and George Segal tugs the emotional strings.

You've all seen the movie by now. My review is years late, but I just wanted to put my 2 cents out there.... Read more ›

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars 2012 (Blu-ray) March 5, 2010

By Tony Khamvongsouk

Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase

Movie - 3.0

When I first saw this in theaters I had somewhat high expectations. The only previous Emmerich films I'd seen prior to this were Independence Day and Godzilla. Given my limited experience to his work, but with remnants of nostalgia from ID4 (loved it as a kid), I went in expecting this same kind of formula: an element of doom that threatens humanity (malevolent aliens, or in this case the end of the world), people uniting in response to that threat (after the damage had already been done, of course), and in the process exposing humanity's faults for what they are, therefore, eliminating our differences and bringing us closer together as a people. I caught on to this back in the theater, but naivety got the best of me and I think my change in tastes over the years (it's been about a decade since I've seen either of those movies) has caused me to over-analyze Emmerich's latest film. To be blunt, I hated this movie the first time I saw it. The cheese, campiness, ostentatious melodrama, and writing problems bugged me. Now? I don't think it's as bad as before. Despite this movie being a little longer than I'd like, I actually found some very profound themes on a subsequent viewing: mortality (how we take life for granted), selflessness (or vice versa, if you look at all the snobbery throughout some of the characters), and just the very fact of how disconnected we are as a species (which Emmerich tries to build through the many, many characters and their relationships throughout the film, but never really succeeds in fleshing out). The special effects are spiffy and I'm really starting to like Chiwetel Ejiofor as an actor. Maybe I found these themes by accident, but turning my mind to "popcorn mode" actually made said themes a little more impacting overall.... With that said, these themes are still too unfocused than can make up for all the cheese and "fun," but I can say I actually like the movie at least a little more than I disliked it before. If I had to summarize the movie, I'd say "go popcorn, but expect a few surprises."

Video - 4.5

Sony presents us with an excellent 1080p picture in an original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 framed at 2.39. Colors are especially prominent and diverse throughout the film ranging from very accurate skin tones to lush landscape views and, of course, meteorological destruction. This is complimented by outstanding contrast levels making explosions, smoke, and all that other CG anarchy look flawless. Black levels are also handled near-perfectly, though I think I saw a little color banding through some of the darker-lit scenes. Sharpness, details, textures, and line delineation are also spot-on, adding a great sense of depth and HD pop to the film's presentation. Water during the tsunami scenes in particular stand out to me the most and, despite the weak writing, are amazing to look at from a visual and aesthetic point of view. All the crumbling buildings, fireballs, and earth-splitting are certainly a sight to behold. If at least not for the corresponding reference audio, this is a demo-worthy disc to showcase your HD home theaters for video as well. Which brings me to...

Audio - 5.0

These days in Hollywood, mayhem usually begets a very strong and active sound field. 2012 is no exception to that as Sony's DTS-HD 5.1 track is every bit as frenetic and chaotic as what you're seeing on the screen. High and low ends are reproduced perfectly. Grinding gravel, shattering glass, the rumbling earth, molten lava, gargantuan tidal waves, vehicle engines, and every other discernible sound effect add an extra level of realism that make the special effects so much more enjoyable. The sub-woofer stays relatively quiet pre-Apocalypse, but when that crust displacement thing starts kicking in, you'll be happy to know that sub you bought is earning its money's worth. Dialogue also stays clear throughout the entire film, never losing consistency in volume level. Separation of said dialogue and all the special effects noises are never a problem either, with directionality giving a very spacious feeling to said destruction all across the sound board. Again, like the video, this would make an especially good reference BD to wow and showcase to your friends.

Extras - 3.5

As much as I like to give commentaries a listen for whatever kind of extra information on production or writing that they have, I'm going to be honest and say I don't think I have it in me to sit through this movie two more times for both a P-i-P and audio commentary track. After watching the standalone featurettes on disc 2, I find Roland Emmerich to be something of a paradox. He seems like a very detail-attentive director who takes pride in his craft; that craft for this particular movie being a spiffy visual feast of destruction, mayhem, and a sort of child-like imagination in the way those ideas come to fruition. However, unlike a Michael Bay or Jon Turteltaub who both possess that "big kid director" kind of approach to movie-making, I feel Emmerich lacks in general enthusiasm as a whole, at least that's the feeling I got from the interviews here. And to sit through two and a half hours of that blandness twice is just not something I'd rather use my free time for. That being said, I give Sony a lot of credit for putting these extras together. A good majority of them focus a lot on production and the ego of Emmerich and his "master technique" for making epic disaster films (of which only one really stands out to me at this time), while the rest of the features are tied into the whole Mayan Calender and impending Apocalypse craze. I found these parts to be interesting at some points, but then blatantly insulting at others. For a movie about the end of the world that supposedly uses scientific "truth" and reasoning for a believable premise, the "experts" interviewed here are more than adamant to the point of either saying "it could happen," or as that one scientist said "it will happen [and that I've been right all along because this movie is so well-crafted by Emmerich, how can it not be the truth?]." On top of that, he goes on to use the excuse that the reason most regular people won't believe his theory is because of a subconscious defense to the "fear" that our lives will, indeed, end when he says it will according to the Mayan Calender. Take from these segments what you will, but after such a brazen display in ideological put-downs that nearly defeated the purpose of the movie for me, I have to say it's a strange array of extras that gets an A in effort, but a C in continuity and bias.

Overall - 4.0

I didn't like the film so much the first time around, but was surprised upon a repeat viewing. For me, I like movies that manage to have a little bit of everything: good production values, an engaging story and/or characters that, when aptly put together, make for some semblance of entertainment or thought-provocation, and a good cast of actors/actresses. 2012, while on the extremely high end of production values, also has a surprising amount profundity with more or less cookie-cutter archetypal characters, though with a good performance by one Chiwetal Ejiofor. Consequently, the presence of many an absurdity represented by some of the supporting/unnecessary characters, cheesy screenplay, silly script, and unfocused attention to some of the finer details in the writing ruin what could've made this a much more fulfilling and epic Apocalypse film. I wish I could say this is more than another popcorn flick and a definite must-own title outside of its reference A/V presentation, but I consider this a rental at best. However, if you're happy enough with the popcorn mentality and aren't bothered by some of the movie's faults, then this is definitely worth adding to your collection. Read more ›

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining August 21, 2010

By nodice

Format:DVD

3.5 stars. I was highly entertained, but then again I was sipping on Lemoncello while watching. I agree with other reviewer that this film is a combination of every catastrope film that you have ever watched before. But truth be told, I sort of enjoyed all those that came before this as well. I like that the last suspenseful moments are from our heroes screwing up, but I really didn't like losing the step-father in all this and am not at all sure that our main hero, Jackson, deserved winning his family back. I think an ending of father and step-father accepting each other would have played better. I mean, did the wife even miss her husband? She just bounced back with the first husband like it wasn't nothing. My main problem is the selling of tickets for such a major amount. I mean, the currency won't mean anything in a world of no goverment. Seems like having each continent invest in thousands of Noah Arks would have boosted the economy for the three years that they knew of the approaching end of days and they could have save a whole lot more people. 3 three years and 50 states building arks. How is this a bad plan? Some assistant being listened to as head of state? There were a lot questionable decisions, but like I said with the right buss you will still find this great entertainment.

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