Mushroom Cloud (film)

''Note: A mushroom cloud is a cloud of fire and debris caused by large, intense explosions. See Wikipedia for more.''

Mushroom Cloud is a 2011 American science fiction disaster film, directed by Joe Dawchime, produced by Wilma Brown, and released by Fortune Features.

Plot
In Chicago, USA, at 8:27 pm local time, explosions began springing up everywhere. Cars are destroyed, people are fleeing, and everybody is in panic. Eventually, an explosion in the WIllis Tower destroys the tower, glass shards raining down. The WIllis Tower is seen once more, almost all the glass gone and the top of the skyscraper missing. Miles away, weather reporter Matilda Thatcher (Lucy Liu) reports on the weird explosions in Chicago. She advises that residents stay away from any flames and use minimal heat to avoid another disaster.

At a weather station in Washington DC, Jean Franklin (William Edifo) tells his cubical-mate, Carl Carter (Gordon Bran), about the destruction of Chicago. Carter tells Franklin they need to find out what's happening immediately. Together the two head for the lab.

Meanwhile, news reporters follow the story about the explosions. Residents start to panic if it will happen in their communities. Some religious groups tell the press that God was striking humankind. But everyone agress they must stop whatever is going on.

Back at the weather lab, cameras detect a disturbance in the rock underneath Jakarta, Indonesia. The station deploys a warning to the the citizens of Jakarta, but few had the chance to escape. Once again, buildings began to fall, trains were derailed, and in the end another city is left in ruins. The explosions were worse than they were in Chicago, and a mushroom cloud rises over downtown Jakarta. Due to such disturbances, nearby volcanes begin to erupt.

Carter and Franklin are now in the lab, realizing it was too late to save another 9 1/2 million people. The meteorologists discover that the explosions were caused by gas lines exploding. The gas lines exploded because of the increasing heat due to global warming.

Realizing this is a global event, presidents from around the world gather in Sydney, Australia for a conference about what to do. Remembering how the explosions start, residents in Sydney were told to keep their gas use minimal. but some chose to use their gas normally. It was winter in the southern hemisphere, and it was cold. Only a fifth into the conference, Sydney begins exploding. The Sydney Harbor Bridge collapses, and the Sydney Opera House is blown to bits. The strong reinforcement of the conference building kept most of the leaders safe, but the leaders of Belgium, Thailand, and Egypt weren't so lucky. With the sirens still wailing, the last of the Sydney Opera House is shown sinking into what used to be Sydney Harbor.

Upon the return of (fictional) President Frank Marland (Owen Smith), the United States government is now shifting attention to protecting Los Angeles and New York (the largest cities in the nation). President Marland knew that they needed to save DC from the explosions or the government would come down. Congress passes a bill, saying that natural gas lines will be cut off from the states of Alaska, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Kansas. The cities of Omaha, Cheyenne, and Anchorage are allowed to keep their distribution of gas, but only in the case of super cold where many potential people could die. The government decides to cut off gas lines from big cities later on.

Meanwhile, out in the UAE, Dubai was being destroyed. Palm trees going up in flames, the Burj al Arab hotel sinking, beaches deserted. The explosions in Dubai were worse than ever because of the area's rich source of oil. Residents seek shelter high in the Burj Khalifa, where all fossil fuels are completely cut off due to the emergency. Once the explsoions were over, the intact Burj Khalifa is sticking up in yet another devastates city. The government in Abu Dhabi estimated that the explosions were as powerful as 5 Hiroshima bombs.

By now, the whole world has realized the explosions are becoming more frequent. The explosions were causing even more heat and gas to escape, meaning even more frequent explosions. President Marland orders to cut all gas lines from Manhattan to protect the city, and this payed off: only 3 explosions occured, and were all in Harlem. Grand Central Terminal was destroyed by one last explosion, collapsing the nearby Chrylser Building in the process.

Marland, seeing how cutting off gas lines from New York saved most of its people, decided to cut off gas lines from all areas east of Las Vegas. Lines in Vegas were shut down too, and were only to be used in winter months. But Marland was still worrying about the West Coast.

He was right to be worried. Los Angeles was doomed; the US Bank Tower exploded, and explosions started tearing up the city. Santa Monica ended up sinking, and the La Brea tar pits caught fire.

Marland immediately ordered cutting off all lines pumped through or received by the US. The rest of the world did similar actions. This would prevent explosions, but who knows...