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4.7/10
1.2K
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An accountant sent to produce an evaluation of a tornado research project, and the scientist running the project pursue tornadoes and each other.An accountant sent to produce an evaluation of a tornado research project, and the scientist running the project pursue tornadoes and each other.An accountant sent to produce an evaluation of a tornado research project, and the scientist running the project pursue tornadoes and each other.
Jode Leigh Edwards
- Tara
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i'll start with the positives.i really like the characters that Bruce Campbell and Ernie Hudson played.they were both very likable.Bruce Campbell did a very good job in his role as a storm chaser.not once did i think of him in his Evil Dead persona.Ernie Hudson was also credible in his role as a scientist who had been trying for years to perfect an early warning system he had developed.other than that,there is not a lot to recommend this movie.we see very few tornadoes in the movie.it is more of a drama than anything else.it was boring at times,to say the least.of far as these types of movies go,this one is very low key and sedate at times.there is also nothing original in it.you basically have the same bunch of characters,just with different names.it passes the time,but that's about it.4/10
I was surprised by this movie. Don't get me wrong...this movie is no academy award winner, but it's better (more accurate) than Twister, which had to have the bigger budget by far. There actually was a device that was used by tornado researchers a while ago, called Toto I think, like the device that's in the movie. I don't think that it ever actually came in contact with a tornado though. I was also surprised at how the National Weather Service was portrayed in the movie. They (in particular SPC, which is actually the Storm Prediction Center) seem very inept and ineffective, which is an unfair portrait. The acronym "SPC" is never actually defined in the movie either, I don't think, which is strange considering that I think most people wouldn't know what SPC was. The ending of the movie is a little hokey, but this movie was a lot better than I thought it was going to be.
Samantha Callen is sent down to twister country to assess the financial merits of a tornado research project and, if possible, shut it down to save money. She meets the project manager Dr Branson who is passionate, and his associate Jake Thorne who is very much the cowboy. Her role is to close the project down and Jake knows it but despite this the two find themselves attracted to one another. When Sam sees the effects of a tornado first hand she struggles with the decisions she is supposed to implement but can Branson's technology really make a difference?
On 28th July 2005, a part of south Birmingham was hit by a small tornado, ripping up roofs, buildings, fences and hurting about 30 people. It was also on this day that I decided to watch this TVM, thinking that I might as well do it while it is topical if nothing else. Unsurprisingly trying to ride the coattails of Twister, this film fails to deliver in any way and manages to make the hollow event of Twister look like it is Citizen Kane. The plot is insipid and pointless, failing to make me care about the people or the scenario. The lack of action means that we were clearly expected to get into the plot, something that I couldn't do. The total lack of budget is a bit of a problem since even Twister struggled to be a good film with a massive special effects budget. Tornado has a few very poor effects and some moments of people running around in a wind machine they are laughable rather than exciting and there was nothing here either. I did wonder what it was trying to do (other than cash in) because with both plot and effects poor at best there is no reason to bother.
The cast cannot do anything to stop the rot either, despite the names. Campbell is good in some films but here he is just a big block of wood that delivers his lines with all the charisma of bookcase and the urgency of a dead badger. His attempts to have chemistry with Sturges are admirable enough but he can't do it. He isn't helped by her just turning up and expecting it all to fall into place with no effort she is poor throughout. Hudson is rubbish and LQ Jones only brings some cult appeal. As with the plot, delivery and effects the actors are pointless and poor on the whole.
Overall this is a poor attempt to cash in on the interest in the film Twister in 1996. Of course since we now all know that that was poor as well, it is unlikely that Tornado will do much business as the years pass only watched by those that lack the sense god gave them (me) or real Bruce Campbell fans. No effects, no plot of note, no characters and no performances = no point.
On 28th July 2005, a part of south Birmingham was hit by a small tornado, ripping up roofs, buildings, fences and hurting about 30 people. It was also on this day that I decided to watch this TVM, thinking that I might as well do it while it is topical if nothing else. Unsurprisingly trying to ride the coattails of Twister, this film fails to deliver in any way and manages to make the hollow event of Twister look like it is Citizen Kane. The plot is insipid and pointless, failing to make me care about the people or the scenario. The lack of action means that we were clearly expected to get into the plot, something that I couldn't do. The total lack of budget is a bit of a problem since even Twister struggled to be a good film with a massive special effects budget. Tornado has a few very poor effects and some moments of people running around in a wind machine they are laughable rather than exciting and there was nothing here either. I did wonder what it was trying to do (other than cash in) because with both plot and effects poor at best there is no reason to bother.
The cast cannot do anything to stop the rot either, despite the names. Campbell is good in some films but here he is just a big block of wood that delivers his lines with all the charisma of bookcase and the urgency of a dead badger. His attempts to have chemistry with Sturges are admirable enough but he can't do it. He isn't helped by her just turning up and expecting it all to fall into place with no effort she is poor throughout. Hudson is rubbish and LQ Jones only brings some cult appeal. As with the plot, delivery and effects the actors are pointless and poor on the whole.
Overall this is a poor attempt to cash in on the interest in the film Twister in 1996. Of course since we now all know that that was poor as well, it is unlikely that Tornado will do much business as the years pass only watched by those that lack the sense god gave them (me) or real Bruce Campbell fans. No effects, no plot of note, no characters and no performances = no point.
Sam Callen (Shannon Sturges from the TV series Savannah) gets sent to Texas to basically shut down Dr. Branson's tornado tracking machine project and gives him a few days to come up with some results for him to be able to continue his project while she gets romanced by Jake (Bruce Campbell), a tornado chasing cowboy and farmer, who lives with his grandfather and occasionally comes to blows with his highschool rival Ritchie Cochran, an ambitious TV weather man, who shows interest in Sam as well. Sam decides to stay on a little longer so she can experience a tornado unaware it's a monster tornado.
Twister was better since that was a box office movie. Bruce Campbell was quite cool in this movie, even though this movie had no real effects it is still worth a watch. I rate this 6/10.
Twister was better since that was a box office movie. Bruce Campbell was quite cool in this movie, even though this movie had no real effects it is still worth a watch. I rate this 6/10.
Get real. Any movie starring Bruce Campbell is expected to be a B-movie. The COOL thing about that here is that instead of its counterpart, Twister, they decided on something that looked real, rather than something that looked exciting. I haven't seen Twister since I saw it in the theater. It blew, and I didn't give a crap about any of the characters or the story. As far as I'm concerned, THEY ripped THIS off, and made it a "sensation" of CGI crap. The characters are more believable, as are the effects and the story. I may have rated this a 6, but Twister is about a 2...and only because of the flying cow and Bill Paxton is it not a 1.
Did you know
- TriviaThe house used in the film is the same homestead used in the Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Next Generation.
- GoofsThe Fujita Scale is not a "Wind Damage Scale." Instead, it is used to record the damage intensity done by a tornado; the wind speed is an estimate. This is evidenced further when Dr. Branson shows Sam an "F4." The F4 (which was taken in Ash Valley, KS in 1974) was classified as an F2 based on its damage, not by its size or wind speed.
- Quotes
Jake Thorne: Hey, are we flirting here?
Sam Callen: If we are, we're rusty as hell.
Jake Thorne: Nothing a little oil won't fix.
- ConnectionsEdited into Your Afternoon Movie: Tornado! (2023)
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