Tornado Warning

Another terrible made-for-TV disaster flick from director Tibor Takacs. This one starts out EXACTLY the same as another I saw, with a young girl losing her parents to a twister and then growing up to become a storm chaser some 20 years later, although - unsurprisingly - I can't remember the title of that previous film. They all roll into one anyway.

TORNADO WARNING might as well have been called 'Storm Chasers the Movie', because that's exactly what this is: a film that follows the adventures of various rival storm chasing groups as they attempt to tackle the big one. The running time is mixed between lame scenes of actors overacting and really low budget storm set-pieces. Needless to say, rubbishy-looking CGI is the order of the day here.

The cast is headed by various ageing actresses who once had fame in the likes of KNOT'S LANDING before being reduced to this level of fare. The performances are over the top and almost as unbelievable as the special effects. In the end, they roll out the old cliché of having a stuborn mayor refusing to cancel the annual town festival/fete/event/gathering, and suffering for it. Inevitably, TORNADO WARNING is a waste of time, a play-it-safe and completely forgettable TV movie of the week.

I read one comment about this movie and...

The poster is right about ONE thing. Joan van Ark act is excessive, thus not believable enough.

But if you know America - and I mean REALLY KNOW - then you must have come across town mayors that really behave quite similarly to what she portrays. If you know America, you know that in some towns/areas/professions one is not allowed free speech, and people like van Ark's character really use their powers to silence people or news.

Special effects wise, this movie is quite good, though it is obvious that its budget was very small. Tornadoes are shown with solid, firm, believable special effects.

The characters are solid (exception made of van Ark's and perhaps of the Storm Chasers leader) and are engaged in real world problems.

Plot is, perhaps, the main problem. It's as if this movie was made by a group of scientists or storm chasers who vowed to put on screen their troubles related to: - chasing and predicting tornadoes - and, probably, the funds for their activities.

It is a VERY SIMPLE plot.

And because of this, it is predictable AND believable at the same time. Some people watched this as if they were watching a Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers big episode with a more intimate, behind-the-camera closer look at the main players.

Acting is...a mix.

Gerald McRaney is OK, quite solid in his portrayal of a discredited scientist.

Steve Braun is a good surprise. A timid, sensitive and wise young scientist/student. Good acting.

Thea Gil swings back and forth between convincing and non-committed acting. Good actors are known to be convincing throughout the repertoire or their characters - and that's what separates them from the average actors/actresses.

David Millbern's act was not convincing, hesitant, foolish at times. I have seen better from him, I'm sure.

The rest of the cast is good enough, though Joan van Ark's actions seem exaggerated and unbelievable.

In terms of the science behind it, this movie is one of the few that portrays the "attack" of tornadoes as they really are - short, loud and violent. The physical content (cloud formation, wind speeds, debris hurling, sky colors, pressure gradients, etc) is pretty much spot on.

Is there something that differentiates this movie from others of similar vein? Yes. Simple, dry and direct plot and the crude atmosphere of small towns and tornado attacks.

It could have been better, sure. But the striking thing is, it could have been MUCH, MUCH WORSE.

Sorry, but if I try to give people info that'll save their lives, and not only do they NOT wanna hear it, they take a dismissive attitude toward me, I'm not gonna risk jail or my own safety to keep trying to save them from themselves! Letting people like that die due to their own stupidity is natural selection at its very finest! In my version of the movie, the folks who do take the warning seriously shelter, and all the rest are pulled limb from limb by the twister. I'd certainly have all sorts of mannequin limbs with ketchup and other goo as part of the special effects *lol*. Gerald McRaney's talents were definitely wasted on this turkey of a film!

Made-for-TV movie TORNADO WARNING and its sister film produced for the same network and in the same year, ATOMIC TWISTER (2002), share identical special effects and cinematography. Both have one "stand out" female breast scene to help with youth marketing. Both contain stealth tornados that pop down in partly sunny skies and dissolve equally as quick.

Real tornados are born inside the rather specific storm cells produced by clashes of warm air masses and cold fronts. Severe thunder and lightning surround the funnel clouds whirling down from inside the DARK storm clouds.

These blue sky, lightning-free stealth twisters blowing down barns but unable to release drying laundry from a clothsline a few feet away (TORNADO WARNING) suffer from a lack of realism.

This movie was so bad, I loved it! It's one of those movies that you know is going to be just awful, yet somehow you can't bring yourself to change the channel. So you resolve yourself to see it to the end just to see if it's going to really get as bad as you think it's going to be. And your prayers are answered by Joan Van Ark in snakeskin pants, fringe suede jacket and cowboy hat with an awful accent playing the crazy mayor of the town that's going to get hit by the F5 tornado, who's in denial about it really happening. (Much like the viewers of this movie are in denial about what they are watching!) Gerald McRaney and Thea Gill are good actors who stand no chance against this really horrible, painful script. But they give it full effort and bless them for trying! My only real disappointment with this was that when the F5 did hit, it was entirely anti-climatic. If you delight in awful, made for TV movies, this movie is a must see!