IT'S ALMOST as unlikely as the plot of most big-budget films but it's true - this really is a blockbuster that's thought-provoking and intelligent as well as being darn exciting.

Indeed, unlike the majority of summer blockbusters, like The Day After Tomorrow director Roland Emmerich's earlier film, Independence Day, the excitement of this movie is compounded by the fact that the doomsday scenario it depicts could well happen.

What's more, thanks to its German writer-director who wasn't interested in churning out the 'America saves the day' message that is so often behind big-budget disaster movies (including his previous work), this film has a refreshingly left-of-centre quirkiness.

As is often the case with disaster movies, The Day After Tomorrow, combines its major story - super storms which make much of the northern hemisphere totally uninhabitable - with several interconnected personal stories of the people caught up in the disaster.

Unlike some films which fudge over the details of how the disaster at the heart of the film came about, this movie gives plenty of background and takes the development of the super storms slowly enough to give you time to think about what's happening.

It also takes time to explain the science behind the developing storms, giving you the feeling that Emmerich really cares about his story and doesn't want to just cut to the disaster.

He's also given a lot of thought to what the knock-on effects of a super storm would be. As well as having flooding, well below freezing temperatures, tsunamis washing over New York, tornadoes ripping buildings apart and hail stones the size of rugby balls falling out of the sky, we also have ships washing up in the streets of New York, wolves escaping from a zoo and Americans becoming refugees in Mexico as they flee the worst of the weather.

The majority of the special effects are very impressive (with the exception of the CGI wolves) which is particularly important given that we all know what storms look like and shoddy special effects would ruin a film like this.

But although a huge amount of attention has been paid to the special effects, the human side of the drama hasn't been glossed over. The story of climatologist Jack Hall's (Dennis Quaid) determination to find his son, Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal) and make up for all the times he hasn't been there for him and Sam and his friends' struggle to survive in the New York Public Library are compelling.

Fine acting from everyone involved in the film's numerous sub-plots gives this film real depth, making it all the more watchable.

But perhaps the best thing about The Day After Tomorrow is that it might make viewers think about our environment and what we have to do to stop a disaster like that in the film from happening. In fact, if we want to save our planet The Day After Tomorrow should probably be compulsory viewing.

Rating: 8/10