Provide a brief description of the film/program's story plot for our readers
A scientist discovers in 2009 that the Earth's core is heating up as a consequence of increased solar activity and predicts that in three years time the planet will be destroyed by the movement of the continental plates producing earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis. The film shows world leaders planning their strategy to save their own lives and when 2012 arrives so do the major earthquakes which trigger the destruction of the planet and massive loss of life apart from those elite who could afford to buy tickets on a fleet of special 'arks' commissioned by the G8 leaders and hastily constructed by the Chinese to keep the chosen human and animal species safe from harm!
What is your personal opinion of this film/program, as entertainment?
The standard Hollywood disaster movie recipe has been applied to an ancient prophecy and because I have a great deal of knowledge about the subject I think it is either a bit of irresponsible movie-making or an extremely clever way of making people believe that it is so far-fetched as to be impossible. As entertainment it stretches the bounds of plausibility too far in my mind especially when our hero and his family are trying to escape the earthquakes, ash clouds and molten rocks.
What is your personal opinion of this film/program as a social and/or cultural message? Does it succeed or fail in this regard?
It fails to deliver the message that I believe it should have been delivering because it dwells on the experiences of just a few main characters who are subjected to virtually every calamity possible. It starts off by making some factual reasons for the events of 2012 but they are lost in the storyline e.g. the hero is woken from his sleep whilst a TV report discusses the prophecies and then degenerates into just another disaster movie albeit I like the fact that the world's elite, including the Queen, are seen to be saving their own necks whilst 'Obama' shows that he is really a people's man after all.
What impact do you feel the movie will likely have on the way people worldwide will perceive the Mayan Calendar?
Since I feel that the references to the Mayan Calendar are too fleeting to be discernible I don't think it will have too negative an impact on how people perceive it especially as it is just one of many various prophecies which are now supported by growing scientific evidence that the planet is going to experience major changes albeit hopefully not as dramatic as the movie depicts.
If you had the chance to remake this film/program, what would you do differently?
I would start or end the film with more detail about the Mayan calendar, other prophecies and messages in the crop circles. I would make it less centred on the USA and I would remove the stereotype characters of the new age madman and the British scientist. I would have no love interest and the happy ending - all too predictable and if anything the events of 2012 are anything but predictable.
Would you recommend this film/program to your family, friends and colleagues? Why or why not?
No - it's simply too far removed from reality and is too long to be considered enjoyable when the plot is so predictable. The special FX are overdone and some of them are totally implausible. Far better that people research the subject and watch films like 'Beyond Two Worlds', 'The Shift of the Ages' and 'Time of the Sixth Sun' - these last two are struggling to get the funding that Hollywood can make available.
What would you like to say to the film's director, and/or the production studio?
Wish I could praise their efforts to increase public awareness of the 2012 prophecies but instead all I can do is criticise them for producing a potentially fear-mongering movie that can not be distinguished from any other disaster movie thus leaving many to dismiss this date as just another Y2K scare story when the reality is likely to be very different.
("2012" only) Roland Emmerich is allegedly planning a television series "post 2012". What do you think of this idea?
If the film's hypothetical interpretation of the Mayan prophecies is anything to go by I would say it is not a good idea as the people who could afford to board the 'arks' would not make a post 2012 world any more attractive to live in. Hollywood is all about making money and if the movie succeeds at the box office then the TV series is inevitable.
