Tornado! (1996) (TV)

Director:

Noel Nosseck

Writer (WGA):

John Logan (written by)

Release Date:

7 May 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

Hell has no fury like a twister.

Plot:

An accountant sent to produce an evaluation of a tornado research project, and the scientist running the project pursue tornadoes and each other.

Plot Keywords:

Tornado | Disaster | Research | Scientist | Storm

Cast

Bruce Campbell	...	Jake Thorne
Shannon Sturges	...	Samantha 'Sam' Callen
Ernie Hudson	...	Dr. Joe Branson
L.Q. Jones	...	Ephram Thorne
Bo Eason	...	Tex Fulton
Charles Homet	...	Richie Cochran
Carrie Boren	...	Mattie Peck
Aaron Izbicki	...	Oliver Nessle
John Mansfield	...	Andy Ward
Jeannie Fitzsimmons	...	Margie Ward
Julie Erickson	...	Zeena
Steve Flanagin	...	Mr. Peck
Mona Lee Fultz	...	Mrs. Peck
Carmen Nogales	...	Lucy's Mother
Shannon Marie Woodward	...	Lucy

MPAA:

Rated PG for some perilous weather sequences and mild language.

Runtime:

89 min | UK:84 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Hallmark Entertainment

Trivia:

The house used in the film is the same homestead used in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Tornadoes don't have a calm center, most have mini-cyclones rotating around the main vortex.

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.

Twisters smaller, lower quality, brother.

At one point in the movie, Bruce Campbell is told that he is not god. Realism aside, however; for a TV movie, this isn't too bad. It loses out to it's bigger budget 1996 big brother; Twister on just about every front, but there is still reason enough for this movie to warrant your time. Bruce Campbell is the main reason; he's a B-movie legend. His performance here doesn't echo the fantastic work he did on The Evil Dead films, in fact; none of his other films have anything on those great performances and I continually get the impression that Bruce's heart just isn't in a lot of the stuff he makes. However, it's always a pleasure to see this great man in a movie and although, as I said, his performance isn't great; it's good enough, and he alone is more than enough reason to see the film. The rest of the cast isn't noteworthy...the majority of the acting is typical TV fare; not rock bottom, but not exactly good either. Campbell is more than enough to keep it afloat, however.

The effects in Tornado! aren't brilliant. Not even good, in fact. They're very low quality and don't even come close to the lovely effects in Twister. The effects here are mostly just tease stuff; there's wind and people shouting, but rarely do we see a tornado, and even when we do it's usually a cut from a real tornado, as opposed to an actual effect. This is good in a way, but bad in another; as although it's more realistic, it loses credibility as it means that we don't get to see the tornado ravaging houses and cars etc. The story of Tornado! is really rather dull, as it tries to draw parallels with the current global warming situation. This is a waste of time, and the movie would have been better served not bothering; as nobody is going to listen to a message in a low quality TV movie. Also, just like in Twister, Tornado! has some extremely terrible human drama to go with the tornados. Unfortunately, unlike in Twister; the drama here is central to the story, as opposed to secondary like it was in Twister. And this is unfortunate because the drama is bad.

Overall, I'd have to say that Twister has far more going for it than this movie does. But then again, Twister doesn't have Bruce Campbell; so I'd recommend this movie because Bruce Campbell is in it, and he's actually starring this time; unlike in most of his non-Evil Dead films in which he only has a small cameo appearance.