La nuit du cyclone

I've had a morbid fascination with tornadoes for more than 40 years, since my 5th grade teacher, a native Texan, told stories of ones he saw in his youth. Fortunately, I've lived my whole life in the middle Atlantic states, where tornadoes are rare and usually not as violent as the ones in the Midwest, but I have had two close encounters, one in PA and the other in NJ, in the past decade.

I enjoyed the family scenes, particularly the conflicts between Jack and Dan Hatch. When the tornado was close, Dan knew most of what he had to do, and he probably learned this in school, since I know that tornado safety is an important subject in parts of the U.S. where these storms are more frequent. However, characters in the movie did two things that some people think are supposed to be done or are safe to do in tornadoes but are actually not supposed to be done or are unsafe.

When the siren first sounded, Dan and Arthur went through the house and opened the windows. For years, this is what people were told to do, but tornado safety web sites now advise against doing this. Also, people were shown hiding in a highway underpass. This method was made popular by an early 1990s video made by a T.V. crew during a relatively weak twister in Kansas. However, in the most serious tornadoes, people can be sucked out from these underpasses. This happened during a May 1999 outbreak in Oklahoma.

The tornadoes in this movie hit in the fall, which is not a common time for them to happen. (Then again, one of my close encounters took place in late September.) Also, they traveled from northwest to southeast, while most such storms in the northern hemisphere go from southwest to northeast. However, this is not all that unusual. A famous tornado that struck Joliet, IL, in the early 1990s traveled in that direction (as did the one involved in my other close encounter).

I think that the movie should have been set in the spring. This movie was based on a book that in turn was based on an actual event that happened on June 3, 1980. But it was still a compelling story.

As I prepared to watch this film, I expected a cheap spin-off of that "OTHER" block-buster tornado movie. But I was pleasantly suprised and proven wrong. GRANTED, this made-for-television doesn't have the same budget as the Hollywood feature, but it does a GREAT job of story-telling and creating likeable characters. It even has cool special effects considering it was a television film. It was good to see John Schneider (Dukes of Hazzard's) again, even though his acting hasn't improved much. It is the break-out performance of Devon Sawa which carries this family-thriller, he has a natural talent that could bring him to greater things, keep watching for him in future projects. I was also impressed with it's ability to remain a FAMILY film without dipping into profanity and sex, yet still have it's fair share of thrills and tense moments. This is a good movie that is worth your time and rental fee. You can invite you parents over and let the kids stay up for this one. Good Job FAMILY CHANNEL, we salute you!

This film (which is based off the book of the same name) is a great film for the family when it comes to the subject matter of tornadoes. Some people may think this film is a ripoff of Twister due to the timing of the release, but I can assure you it's not, that honor goes to Tornado! starring Bruce Campbell.

Overall, Night of the Twisters keeps you entertained since the characters and disaster aspect has a happy balance and that the film can be enjoyed by both young and old audiences.

I remember watching this movie as a kid and loving it. I was obsessed with it at the times and me and my friend even got a thermos and put coffee in it and acted to make sure there were no cyclones on the way (I live in Australia).

With that being said though, it's not the greatest movie. A typical TV Movie attempting to do something that usually on a big budget can do well (disaster movies)- it has been done much better in Twister and even that crappy movie with Eric Roberts.

If you are bored and need something to waste your time and this is on, then by all means check it out. But don't go out of your way to.

... And in my humble opinion does a better job of it! Okay, so NIGHT OF THE TWISTERS is a family movie, and it does gloss over the realities a bit. Also, because it's set at night, you don't get to see that much of the tornadoes.

But, for all this, I still like it better than TWISTER. At least the tornadoes in this film are comprised of real footage!