An observation on cinematic catastrophe

I went to see The Day the Earth Stood Still on the IMAX yesterday.  Overall, good film.  Don't understand why Rotten Tomatoes has given it such a low rating.  Wanted to make one observation -- that we may be witnessing the beginnings of an expression of the American relationship to catastrophe in a very particular sense.  Hard to put my finger on it but just as I was learning about anime's relationship to the A-bomb in Japan Society's Little Boy exhibition a few years ago, I found myself watching the dust cloud rush forth from that sphere yesterday and I knew just what that meant to me.  We saw a similar dust cloud enveloping everyone last summer in Cloverfield.  Now I doubt that the imagery and symbolism will ripple through here quite as thoroughly as they did in Japan but I do see these signs and wonder if they aren't signaling something that will be studied and commented upon in the future.  Rushing dust.  It still scares me.