Lateralist Disaster Movie

I don't really know why, but I quite like disaster movies. Watching some (if not all) of the planet get torn apart by some almighty force in high definition is, for me, a good night in. (I'm a home theatre kind of guy - and sooner or later, I'll explain why.) I'm not saying I put Roland Emmerich into the same directorial league as either Stanley Kubrick, Clint Eastwood or a host of other directors, but he does what he does with considerable aplomb, as far as I'm concerned.

Years ago, when there was a particular run of disaster films being released, the thought occurred that there was one major form of disaster that was getting short shrift from the Hollywood machine. We had floods, fires, volcanoes, asteroids, hell, even the earth's core somehow managed to lose its mojo, and despite the clear love for the genre amongst audiences worldwide, no one thought to put drought in the stage centre position it clearly deserves.

I'll make my case in simple terms. One of the key problems with any disaster film is the script. Not that the scripts are often inane, vacuous or shallow; no, the problem is the need to have one at all. Whilst it is possible to have dialogue in the midst of glaciers melting or islands splitting and sinking, it can be somewhat distracting for audiences. In a move sure to gladden the hearts of all would-be Emmerichs (and hopefully the great man himself), I've managed to get the script for Drought down to a single dialogue exchange, which in itself comprises just three words.

The script:

Rained yet?

Nup.

Simplicity itself.

Now, I'll grant you, as a natural disaster, drought may not initally appear to have the flashy insouciance of a 9.2 magnitude earthquake, but in the hands of the right director, don't underestimate its allure. Picture it; no water. Anywhere. No water at all. Bone dry. No "H", no "2" and certainly no f*cking "O". Once you start opening your mind to it, it just gels, doesn't it? Or rather, I should say "clicks" rather than "gels", as gel is a bit too liquidy for our theme.

Drought. Give it a chance, and it'll rock your world.