Disaster Movies

If anyone's read the excellent Graham Hancock book Fingerprints Of The Gods, then they'll understand where Roland Emmerich's latest movie is coming from. 2012 paints a picture of ancient Mayan predictions coming true and a rare planetary alignment causing the crust of the Earth to soften and displace.

As per previous Emmerich disaster movies, this one features a disparate cast, all facing calamity as the Earth starts to swallow up whole cities and civilisation is all but destroyed.

The story begins with the discovery that solar activity is causing a new kind of nuclear reaction within the core of the Earth. As the core heats up, it destabilises the tectonic plates in new and catastrophic ways - as you can see from the movie poster, the San Andreas Fault finally gives way and pitches California into the sea. Suddenly, beachfront property doesn't seem like such a wise investment...