I was pleasantly surprised at how well the tsunami tragedy was re-enacted. The acting and the writing stand above the other craft.The execution is compelling thoroughly. It boggles my mind to find so many negative reviews on this site. This film in my opinion presents an honest and comprehensive account of the tsunami tragedy and its aftermath, it explores the causes, it attaches blame without luridness, it visits the foundation of the family as a institution in the midst of a life altering crisis, it is emotionally compelling, it is educational, it is thought provoking. This film made my everyday problems feel like a picnic at the park.I didn't know Tim Roth was that good.

This acceptable dramatization to the horrific Tsunami tragedy of late 2004, under-examined still in the States with mind boggling statistics recalling something out of a biblical nightmare, does a fine job at capturing many different perspectives witnessing and withering to global catastrophe, however protracted and misaligned the dignified project can be. In reliable HBO fashion, the made for TV film barely feels like it, boasting arresting production, reliable performances, and a well rounded script. What does misfire though, is a prolonged detailing of these painful aftereffects, even worse when split up on two separate DVD's while only clocking in just over 3 hours. In keeping with the original miniseries, a bland DVD transfer only illustrates an awkwardly resolute second part over the first part's initial effectiveness.Starting with the brief but frighteningly executed Tsunami itself, the film proceeds to detail 4-5 different characters amidst the chaos for it's remaining 3 hours, utilizing plenty of research to intertwine a few fairly developed narratives of varied and conflicting natures to disturbing effect. The result at times feels necessary though in time merely competent. Although a wide array of perspective lends to a sensitive portrayal of so much horrific fallout for all those involved with this unprecedented event, any initial universal appeal the soulful disaster piece warrants became overshadowed by the disappointingly connected subplots insistence to overstay their welcome (and become more Babel then needed). The fact also remains that despite Thailand being represented in the film, the principal characters are a Western filter to understanding this tragedy that is assumed to be more engaging to your typical American television surfer. Anyone who would not feel insulted at it's slightly sensational leanings then should feel enlightened by a detailed, multifaceted chronicle that should remain the definitive movie on the event.It does feel stretched out (getting the first disc is satisfying enough, though would definitely leave a few cliffhangers), but for the haunting location set design alone, Tsunami: The Aftermath will help take comfortable, middle-class citizens into the heart of physical and emotional loss with a click of their remote.

Tsunami: The Aftermath ranks up there with movies such as Titanic, Nicholas and Alexandra, and many other historical movies! This was a great protrayl of the tsunami tragedy that happened in Thailand 2004! The acting was great, everything was top notch! Seeing possible events occur in the film/mini-series was heart wrenching and sometimes made me angry or depressed! Anger at the Hotel Chains for being so greedy, and depressed and sadness at the loss of loved ones! This is a great movie and I hope it gets the recognition it deserves!! And the actors all deserve an award for playing such a diverse set of characters coming together in tragedy, especially Toni Collete, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sophie Okonedo and many others!

The problem with making a film about a well-known disaster is that the obvious line of dramatic development is precluded precisely because everyone knows it before the film starts. In 'Titanic', James Cameron spun a tale about the spirit of the age, which he bound up with the famous event at the heart of the film; but 'Tsumami: the Aftermath' tries no such tricks, and sells us a straightforward catalogue of human misery and suffering. It's all very earnest, and unclear what the point is supposed to be. Countless survivors (with missing relatives) are shown responding with a mixture of dignity and disbelief in reality. This may be one response to tragedy, but it's not the only one, and in this film appears to be celebrated as the highest expression of the human condition: epitomised when one man stands up at a public meeting and is applauded for his heartfelt but impossible demand that his (dead) child is returned to him. Liekwise, the film stresses a view that those on the scene in a non-personal capacity needed to emotionally empathise with the feelings of the suffering, whereas one could argue that, when it comes to the rationing of limited resources, one actually needs officials who can be completely dispassionate, and who can turn down the heart-rending (and conventionally justified) demands of those who cry loudest to meet instead the needs of those with even greater need. Finally, there is a political sub-plot, but this is presented more as a means to the redemption of a cynical journalist (who, as you might have guessed, learns to care) than as an end in itself.The review may sound pretty cynical in itself, and I don't want to belittle the appalling human suffering of the real life tragedy in any way. But this film's obsession with dignified emoting puts a very strange spin on the human condition.