Tempestade Magnética

This movie is along the lines of most Sci-Fi Channel movies, but definitely a tad better - mostly because it tackles a different theme (magnetic storms / polar shift) and has a good lead character.

The basic setup of the story is that a fragment of a comet has hit earth and strange electrical storms are popping up in multiple locations. There are two sub-stories: (1) a scientist (Jack Coleman from the TV series "Heroes") tries to warn the government that the storms are going to get worst, not better and (2) the scientist's son and wife are trying to escape an area hit by one of the storms.

One thing that's very impressive is that the story can be effectively told within the budgetary constraints typical to these types of movies. The filmmakers put just the right amount into effects (simple, but passable), locations (small towns/open roads) and the number of characters (very few) to make it work.

Furthermore, Jack Coleman and Holly Dignard (who plays his wife) are decently interesting to watch - so that helps. Both carry an air of seriousness that helps keep the atmosphere of the movie in urgency mode.

If you're sick of the channel's overused themes (mutant undead/rat/insect/etc.), then this is a step up from that. It's not really good or great, but if you're hunting for sci-fi on TV and nothing else is on ... might as well watch this.

As a Canadian, I can only say I am embarrassed and saddened that my country makes such total 100% garbage as this pathetic movie. One would think that after many years of major productions, we could come up with cinema that stands up with the rest of the world. But it's pretty obvious that our film business is a total joke. The sight of Vancouver's perennial DJ and Man-About-Town Terry David Mulligan dressed up as a General, is so utterly hilarious and totally absurd that it defies description. Everything about this movie STINKS. Story, acting, directing, special effects----you name it, on every level it's got to be one of the most God-awful pieces of junk ever.

POLAR STORM is another in a never-ending line of incessantly rubbish disaster movies distributed by the Sy Fy Channel in America. As with the others, this one has far too low a budget to do justice to the sometimes-silly storyline, which involves a rogue comet sending the Earth's magnetic fields out of sync, causing all manner of electric storms and disturbance across the country.

Viewers of this particular genre will know what to expect by now and none of it is good. There are two plots, one involving a heroic scientist trying to figure out how to combat the storms, and the other involving his family trying to evade one of them. What it all boils down to is a whole deal of melodramatic overacting combined with a handful of ridiculous action scenes which seem to involve the same bad CGI effect over and over again of the ground cracking open. Even fans of disaster flicks will be hard pressed finding something to enjoy here.

It was fun watching this movie, as it shows how good, really good movies are difficult to make. In a world that surrounds itself with electronics, movie goers have become familiar with how all things electrical work. It's not good enough to come up with some bad science, illogical concepts or half hearted graphics to satisfy a savvy audience. If the Director can't afford good graphics, get good actors, can't afford good actors, write great dialogue, no great writing, choose beautiful scenery..... but don't combine the least of everything and expect to have a memorable product. Polar Storm is the perfect storm of all the worst that B movies possess. Now that I've unloaded on this half-hearted attempt at a Sci-Fi video romp, It has some redeeming features. Canadians watching this will recognize places they know, we get to see some newbies put in front of a camera and watch earth take a licking and keep on ticking. The best line , and perhaps the funniest ....when sonny shouts to Stepmom hanging on for dear life over a bottomless crevice...." Don't let go!" If you like to see what not to do as a Director, this is the movie for you.

Alright, well first of all I would like to say that this movie is somewhat of a step up for TV aired disaster movies, both in storyline, effects and cast.

Initially, I hadn't heard anything about the movie, so I was expecting something in the likes of "The Day After Tomorrow", because I was thinking in the terms of polar caps, not magnetic poles. But the movie turned out to be quite interesting nonetheless.

The story was actually quite good and takes a hold of you, and you want to sit through the entire movie and see how it ends. Although, and hold on to your hats, you already know the outcome of the movie from the very beginning. Yes, it is one of those type of disaster movies.

Throughout the movie there is a handful of CGI effects that weren't too shabby, truth be told. Of course it is not major Hollywood million dollar effects, but they still managed to pull it off adequately enough.

And the cast of the movie, well the people chosen for the individual roles actually did good jobs with their characters and portraying them. I especially liked the performance of Jack Coleman (playing Dr. James Mayfield) and Holly Dignard (playing Cynthia Mayfield). But the other people in the movie did good jobs as well.

"Polar Storm" is actually a much needed breath of fresh air in an otherwise genre of TV disaster movies that are suffering from horrible effects and laughable story lines. "Polar Storm" manages to captivate and keep your thralled throughout the entire course, despite its predictive nature.

The ending was, well, not really that believable, but hey, it is a movie, and just meant for entertainment. Oh, and one thing did puzzle me, when the chunk of ice struck Alaska and wrought havoc, how did Dr. James Mayfield manage to get transportation back to the USA? Just something to think about...