Shattered City

Author(s): George
Location: Atlanta

"Shattered City"

Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: John Logan
Music by: Trevor Rabin

Main Cast

Josh Lucas as Samuel R. Kelly
Jaime Bell as Roger
Jon Voight as Mayor Schmitz
Billy Zane as Chief Lane
Maria Bello as Meredith Kelly
Dakota Fanning as Dawn Kelly

Tagline: "It was the worst disaster of the 20th century"

Synopsis: 4:58 am…
Samuel R. Kelly awakens in his bed. His wife Meredith and his daughter Dawn should be home any minute from their train ride. Meredith and Dawn went to Chicago to visit her parents while Samuel stayed to manage his restaurant chain. He waits for his family and puts on his gold wedding ring…

5:01 am…
Roger awakens on his street corner where he usually sleeps. He thinks about who he will steal from today to get food. He can see the light from the sun coming up. Another homeless day waits for him…

5:10 am…
Mayor Schmitz is drinking coffee. He usually wakes up this early. He looks at his glorious town outside his window. A beautiful day is dawning.

5:11 am…
Meredith and Dawn get off the train. Meredith thinks of Samuel and seeing him again. But in one minute this quiet city of San Francisco will be forever changed…

5:12 am…
Samuel feels the first shudders of the earthquake. He looks outside and sees buildings toppling down. It’s getting worse. He rushes out of his house just in time to see it fall right in front of his eyes. The quake doesn’t last more than ten seconds. He looks around and sees a city he does not know. His whole block is toppled over. He looks more and sees the Palace hotel is still standing. He walks down the street to the stores. People are staring in shock. Could this really be happening?

Roger doesn’t look up until the shudders have past. He surveys the city. Where is he? Ten seconds ago he looked at tall buildings, now it is all rubble. Then, a bright idea dawns upon him. He goes to the store to see people doing what he is already thinking. He goes inside the store and starts taking things he likes.

Schmitz is out of his house and is rushed into City Hall. He is informed that people are looting the stores and calls in the Chief Police officer Archie Lane . He orders anyone who is looting to be shot. Lane smiles…

The first thing on Samuel’s mind is his wife and daughter. Are they all right? Where are they? Are they close to him? He moves closer to the Palace hotel, he looks at it and is proud that it withstood the quake. Then, it bursts into flames. Samuel looks around and sees explosions everywhere, fires everywhere. The Palace crumbles. He runs to the main street to start looking for his wife and daughter…

Roger is having the time of his life. He is getting everything he has ever wanted for free. He looks out the window and sees troops lead by some strange officer shooting looters. He sees people all around him fall down. They’re shooting at him! He runs. He sees dead bodies everywhere. He stops to pick up a few rings off the fingers of people. He barely misses a bullet. As soon as he looks up he sees a man looking shocked and unshaven and sees a gold ring on his finger. Easy money for a trained thief.

Schmitz stands in the City Hall. He smells something strange and turns around. The place is burning. He runs out of City Hall and is taken to the Hall of Justice…

Lane looks at all the looters. He smiles and shoots an African-American burglar. He smiles again and shoots a Chinese man. He looks behind and sees some of his own troops looting themselves. He screams and shoots some of his own men…

Samuel looks around and sees a town disintegrating in front of his eyes. There is no sign of his wife and daughter. Then, all of the sudden, a hoodlum runs up to him and tries to take his money. He tries to fight him off. Samuel is fighting for his life when all of a sudden the hoodlum stops fighting. Samuel sees that the hoodlum has been shot in the head. He looks up and sees Lane smiling with a gun still smoking. Have they declared Martial Law? If not this is illegal. Samuel picks up the Roger’s gun and keeps looking and sees the Hall of Justice. He’s desperate. Could they help him?…

Lane watches the man leave. He sees people carry their things from a burning building. Or are they? Lane decides to shoot them anyway.

Schmitz is wondering if he should declare martial law. If he does nobody will take notice anyway. He wants to go outside to look out at his city. He opens the door. Then a man comes up to him. He asks him if he has seen his wife or daughter, he is very desperate. Of course, Schmitz does not know what he is talking about and pushes the man away. He closes the door and leaves the town’s problems out there…

Lane sees fire all around him; he orders the fire department to put the fire out. The fireman goes to a hydrant but there is no water. They used water from the Palace before it went down. Lane doesn’t know that the quake shattered two of the three water lines that run into the city. The fire spreads and Lane goes back to shooting looters.

Samuel sees that the fires aren’t stopping he looks at the train station behind him. He sees his wife and daughter trying to pull luggage out the train!

Lane sees a blond woman and a child stealing from the train. He raises his gun to shoot. Samuel sees his wife’s scared face. He looks where she is looking and sees Lane about to shoot. He screams and shoots Lane through the head. He hugs his wife and daughter and they go to a refuge camp…

Schmitz starts a relief effort to raise money for the thousands without homes. Schmitz is able to send a telegram to Washington D.C. to tell them about the situation in San Francisco . The nation starts to send extra water and troops to relieve the city as the chaos is dying down. The damage of the quake cost over a billion dollars…

What the Press would say:

“Spielberg has disappointed some with MINORITY REPORT and WAR OF THE WORLDS, but comes through with flying colors in SHATTERED CITY. This amazing film brings to life a disaster never captured in the motion picture era. With a great cast including an extraordinary performance by Billy Zane, playing a crazed, trigger-happy police chief. This film is much more than just a disaster film; it shows how far one man will go to rescue his family, how far a hoodlum will go to survive, how the leader of a city reacts under extreme conditions, and how someone can crack under the pressure. Spielberg never makes movies with only one layer of thinking. This film brings to you the question, what would I have done? And, Would I have gone that far to rescue my family? Deep layers of complex characters make this film a very intense and interesting piece of film to watch.

Awards:
Best Picture
Best Supporting Actor, (Billy Zane)
Best Director (Spielberg)
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Art Direction
Best Score
Best Sound
Best Sound Effects
Best Visual Effects