Other mistake: At the end of the film when they arrive in NYC looking for the library, we know that they survived because they are inside with a roaring fire burning. But where is the smoke up above, as Jack Hall approaches? There must be a chimney, or else they would have all died of asphyxiation.
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Directed by: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ian Holm, Emmy Rossum, Sela Ward, Dash Mihok, Jay O. Sanders
Continuity mistake: When Jack is briefing the President, he draws a line on a map of the U.S. and tells the President to have everybody south of that line evacuated. The shape of the line changes three times between shots. (01:04:20)
Factual error: When Sam climbs outside the ship he grabs the frozen metallic pipes and rails with both hands - one half covered with a glove, one is bare. He has no problem gripping the cold metal and he can get his hands free every time. If the moisture froze before contact, his hands would be frozen too, so that can't be the reason.
Trivia: Before the film was released, N.A.S.A. sent a memo out to all of its employees stating that they were not allowed to comment on the likelihood of the events portrayed in this movie.
Trivia: The man who offers a 100 dollars to the bus driver to get on the bus is the same guy who is on MTV's Boiling Points, and hands out 100 dollars if you pass the test. (00:45:20)
Trivia: There is a party at J.D.'s school after the academic decathlon. Most of the students are wearing name tags. Sam's name tag says "Hello my name is Yoda." (00:21:50)
Vice President Becker: I don't accept that abandoning half of the country is necessary!
Tom Gomez: Maybe if you'd listened to him sooner, it wouldn't be.
Vice President Becker: Bullshit! It's easy for him to suggest this plan. He's safely here in Washington.
Tom Gomez: His son is in Manhattan. I just thought you should know that before you start questioning his motives.
Sam Hall: Look, I got every question right on the final, and the only reason Mr. Spengler failed me is because I didn't write out the solutions.
Jack Hall: Why not?
Sam Hall: I do 'em in my head.
Jack Hall: Did you tell him that?
Sam Hall: I did. He said he didn't believe me. He said that if he couldn't do them in his head, then I must be cheating.
Jack Hall: Well, that's ridiculous! How can he fail you for being smarter than he is?
Sam Hall: That's what I said.
Jack Hall: You did? How did he take it?
Sam Hall: He flunked me, remember?
Question: Why would Sam and his friends go to the library?
Answer: Possibly because it was the closest building with height to it as they are about to be hit by a gigantic wave of water. There was no snow yet, so I don't believe burning books or snow was on anybody's mind yet. It turned out to be a great idea as snow soon starts to fall and those books were literally a life saver.
Answer: It was the closest building they could access. While the smarter move would have been to just go back to JD's apartment (which Brian and Laura suggest) it may have been too far a walk to get out of the flooding streets.
Why did they burn the books and not the wooden shelves that the books were on?
As for burning books rather than shelves, it was just easier. They would have had to expend more energy to break down the shelves into manageable size.
Question: I noticed the librarian, Judith, never appears after the retrieval of penicillin, I say this because I missed a tid-bit of the film after they acquired it. Is she there just camera shy or did she freeze?
Answer: She is indeed alive. Take a close look at the scene when Jack Hall arrives. Judith appears in that scene.
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Suggested correction: As already corrected, just because we can't see an outlet for the smoke doesn't mean there isn't one. White smoke against white snow is very hard to see.
Nik Rolls
But they were still burning the books, which meant the smoke should be black, if they stop burning the books, the smoke would have been white, which isn't the case in the movie.
Just looked at a boatload of videos of burning books, including one in a fireplace, and the smoke was indeed white.