First of all. let me say that if you are looking for accuracy, you will be very disappointed. But in sci-fi movies, people generally look for excitement rather than accuracy. This is achieved in the second half, not only because of the anticipation of the coming disaster, but the storm itself. The visual effects are pretty good for a TV budget. The first half tends to be boring because of irrelevant subplots, including an extramarital affair and a troubled teen romance.
Are there at least good acting performances? A few. Randy Quaid stood out from the pack as storm chaser Tornado Tommy, who was quite a character.I wish he had been on more. Brian Dennehy made us notice him as Andy, the head of the Norman, Oklahoma, office of the National Weather Administration.
The phone conversations between Tommy and Andy were the movie's best dialogue. Also, Dianne Wiest did a great job as the Secretary of Energy, who played a role in getting Chicago's power restored and hoped the problem wouldn't spread to the entire country.
Other performances were not quite as distinctive, but Thomas Gibson did an okay job as power company administrator Mitch, as did Nancy McKeon as the determined reporter Amy. Both made a bigger impression in the second half, as did the actor playing Amy's cameraman.
Stereotypes could be found frequently in this movie, though. Amy got tired of fluff stories and wanted to be taken seriously. She got her chance when computer expert Dan London warned her (asking, of course, that she not use his name) about the vulnerability of the electric transmission system. Lexer, a major supplier to Mitch's utility, cared more about profits than safety, and of course the company's executives had no conscience. Weather Administration intern Sabrina was ignored when she seemed to be the only one recognizing the severity of a freak Arctic storm that gave Alberta snow in August. And both Mitch and Amy had family members involved with the storm in some way. In Amy's case, it was a pilot who flew into storms and was distracted by the fact his wife was giving birth any day.
It was interesting, but I won't say it wasn't 'just another disaster movie'.
SPOILERS FOLLOW:
I loved it when a piano and other debris from Las Vegas landed on a farm 50 miles to the north.
We saw the St. Louis arch crumbling, but we never really saw it fall. A missed opportunity.
I felt kind of a letdown when the storm hit Chicago, because it really didn't seem any worse than any other storm most of the time, especially when our heroes were braving the elements--though that was plenty exciting. Though we did see some spectacular damage as it was happening, and the city looked like a war zone afterward.
Another missed opportunity: if there was going to be a 15-foot storm surge from Lake Michigan, I don't remember it. Either it wasn't shown or it didn't make much of an impression.
The pregnant woman was stuck on an elevator with a sculptor; the actress playing the sculptor gave one of the movie's best performances.
The movie may have been too ambitious: I didn't feel the story of the nation's power going out reached its full potential; we knew it was happening, but didn't really see it.
Some of my favorite lines from Tommy in Chicago: "I've got triplets!" and "We're going for a ride!"
Are there at least good acting performances? A few. Randy Quaid stood out from the pack as storm chaser Tornado Tommy, who was quite a character.I wish he had been on more. Brian Dennehy made us notice him as Andy, the head of the Norman, Oklahoma, office of the National Weather Administration.
The phone conversations between Tommy and Andy were the movie's best dialogue. Also, Dianne Wiest did a great job as the Secretary of Energy, who played a role in getting Chicago's power restored and hoped the problem wouldn't spread to the entire country.
Other performances were not quite as distinctive, but Thomas Gibson did an okay job as power company administrator Mitch, as did Nancy McKeon as the determined reporter Amy. Both made a bigger impression in the second half, as did the actor playing Amy's cameraman.
Stereotypes could be found frequently in this movie, though. Amy got tired of fluff stories and wanted to be taken seriously. She got her chance when computer expert Dan London warned her (asking, of course, that she not use his name) about the vulnerability of the electric transmission system. Lexer, a major supplier to Mitch's utility, cared more about profits than safety, and of course the company's executives had no conscience. Weather Administration intern Sabrina was ignored when she seemed to be the only one recognizing the severity of a freak Arctic storm that gave Alberta snow in August. And both Mitch and Amy had family members involved with the storm in some way. In Amy's case, it was a pilot who flew into storms and was distracted by the fact his wife was giving birth any day.
It was interesting, but I won't say it wasn't 'just another disaster movie'.
SPOILERS FOLLOW:
I loved it when a piano and other debris from Las Vegas landed on a farm 50 miles to the north.
We saw the St. Louis arch crumbling, but we never really saw it fall. A missed opportunity.
I felt kind of a letdown when the storm hit Chicago, because it really didn't seem any worse than any other storm most of the time, especially when our heroes were braving the elements--though that was plenty exciting. Though we did see some spectacular damage as it was happening, and the city looked like a war zone afterward.
Another missed opportunity: if there was going to be a 15-foot storm surge from Lake Michigan, I don't remember it. Either it wasn't shown or it didn't make much of an impression.
The pregnant woman was stuck on an elevator with a sculptor; the actress playing the sculptor gave one of the movie's best performances.
The movie may have been too ambitious: I didn't feel the story of the nation's power going out reached its full potential; we knew it was happening, but didn't really see it.
Some of my favorite lines from Tommy in Chicago: "I've got triplets!" and "We're going for a ride!"