Geostorm (2007)

If Geostorm was made 10 years earlier.

Directed By: Roland Emmerich

Plot
In 2019, following many catastrophic natural disasters, an international coalition commissions a system of climate-controlling satellites called "Dutch Boy", named after the story of Hans Brinker. After Dutch Boy neutralizes a typhoon in Shanghai, a Senate sub-committee reprimands chief architect Jake Lawson for acting without authorization and replaces him with his brother Max, who works under Secretary of State Leonard Dekkom.

Three years later, as a UN team stationed in the Registan Desert comes across a frozen village, Makmoud Habib, an Indian engineer working on the International Climate Space Station (ICSS), copies data from the Afghanistan satellite onto a hard drive before being unexpectedly ejected into space. After convincing President Andrew Palma to conduct an investigation, Max persuades Jake to go to the ICSS to investigate. Another satellite increases temperatures in Hong Kong, causing gas explosions that nearly kill Max's college friend Cheng Long, the head of Dutch Boy's Hong Kong department.

Jake arrives at ICSS to examine the malfunctioning satellites (which are damaged afterwards and their data erased) with station commander Ute Fassbinder and her crew. They recover the hard drive, but hide it from the crew, suspecting a traitor, and examine the data, discovering that a virus has wiped out everyone's login access to the satellite and is causing the malfunctions. Suspecting Palma is using Dutch Boy as a weapon, Jake tells Max he needs to reboot the system to eliminate the virus which requires the kill code held by Palma. The ICSS staff neutralize malfunctioning satellites by deliberately knocking them offline via collisions with replacement satellites.

Back on Earth, Cheng discovers he and Max have lost login access and warns Max of a global cataclysm known as a "Geostorm" if the malfunction continues. Cheng is pursued to Washington, D.C. by a team of rogue government agents, who ultimately cause his death in a traffic incident, but not before he says "Zeus". Discovering Project Zeus simulates extreme weather patterns to create a Geostorm, Max enlists his girlfriend, Secret Service agent Sarah Wilson, to acquire the code.

During the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at Orlando's Moxley Arena, Max discovers Orlando is next to be targeted after a massive hailstorm hits Tokyo and part of Rio de Janeiro freezes over.

The ICSS team loses control of all operations as the virus initiates the self-destruct program. As more disasters strike around the world (including tornadoes in Mumbai, a heatwave in Moscow and a megatsunami in Dubai), Jake realizes software engineer Duncan (Robert Sheehan) is the traitor. In the ensuing confrontation, Duncan accidentally ejects himself into space while Jake escapes. As the crew evacuates, Jake stays behind to ensure the reboot completes.

Max requests Dekkom's help, but Dekkom instead tries unsuccessfully to kill Max, unveiling himself as the saboteur; Max immediately informs Sarah. The two kidnap Palma to protect him from Dekkom's agents and secure the kill code, which is Palma's biometrics. As they escape from the DNC stadium before a lightning storm destroys it, Max reveals their activities and Dekkom's treachery to Palma. After outsmarting Dekkom's mercenaries, the three arrest and confront Dekkom about his intentions: to decimate the other elected officials in America's line of succession, giving him the chance to dominate the world while eliminating America's enemies at the same time. Max and Sarah escort Palma to the Kennedy Space Center, where they transmit the code but learn that the self-destruct sequence can't be stopped.

Jake and Ute, who also stayed behind, work together to reboot the system, eliminating the virus and transferring satellite control to NASA, preventing the Geostorm at the last second. The two take shelter in a replacement satellite as the self-destruct sequence completes and use its thrusters as a beacon. A nearby shuttle piloted by crew member Hernandez picks them up. Six months later, Jake works as the head engineer for Dutch Boy once more, which is now administered by an international committee.