Pluskylang Great Film overall

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

jabrbi When you're halfway through a disaster movie and you find yourself rooting for the disaster, then you know that something's gone wrong. As usual for these types of movies I found myself hoping that all the lead characters would just die, the sooner the better. The only person I liked was the cranky artist who gets stuck in a lift. Other than that it's just a bunch of walking clichés that should have been shot at the earliest opportunity.Not only are the characters the usual clichés - whiny teenagers who fall apart at the first sign of trouble, the evil corporation bosses who prize money over safety, the old, exhausted boss due to retire who knows everything and the bureaucratic idiot replacement, the pilot hero who can keep flying for 150 hours straight, the dogged reporter, the bonkers hacker - but the plot holes are big enough to sink Chicago in. And, of course, nobody does anything logical.A huge plot point is that the power goes out in Chicago, and then there's a huge effort to bring the power back online, and then the 'hacker' who took the power out tries to bring the power back online, again. However, he seems to have no ability to see that the power is already on? Why? Don't bother looking for an explanation, there isn't one. So the power goes out, then it's on briefly, and then it's out again - because power plus power equals zero. So there's no power, except when a protagonist HAS to make a vital phone call, or when a siren HAS to go off on top of a building, or a computer connection has to be made, ...The movie looks like it had a decent enough budget, or there's warehouse in America with over a hundred hours of disaster footage. Sadly, the budget wasn't spent on a decent script, or better actors. A lot of lines felt as though they were place markers until a better line was created. Sadly, the better lines never turned up. Were the actors any good? Can't tell as there was no need for anyone to act, they just had to deliver awful lines with wooden faces.Why can't people make a disaster films and concentrate on a single storyline? Instead, you have dozens of sub-plots, side-plots, wasted-plots, irrelevant-plots, and go-nowhere-plots that just fill in the time between the opening and closing credits. This film is like an elongated episode in a naff soap opera. If you find that you can keep up with who all the characters are and what their issues are, then you've watched too much daytime soaps and need to get a life.As a cure for insomnia this is an excellent movie. That's about the only useful thing this film is good for.

Amy Adler Mitch (Thomas Gibson) is an executive with a power company serving the Chicago area. Although he has a loving wife and two wonderful kids, he is having an extra-curricular affair with a public relations officer at his company named Rebecca (Chandra West). How unfortunate this is for everyone, naturally, especially since one of the children, teenage Lindsey, is also dealing with boyfriend issues. Meanwhile, television news reporter Amy (Nancy McKeon) is determined to find out why the city is experiencing a number of blackouts but Mitch and Rebecca are not being very forthcoming. Also, a top climate scientist (Brian Dennehy) is getting many bizarre readings at this Windy City office, making him equally anxious about the coming week of weather. Indications are that a strong northern cold front and the present hot temperatures are about to bring on massive storms. His staff is working overtime but no one knows what to expect. Also, Amy's pregnant sister is close to delivery and her pilot husband may be away from home, making Amy's presence valuable. Not far away, in Kansas, Tornado Tommy (Randy Quaid) takes tourists on storm chases but he, too, is fairly worried about current conditions in the region. So is the United States Department of Energy Secretary (Dianne Wiest) If a bad storm, stronger than any known tornado, does hit, what will happen to these fine denizens of Second City? For fans of disaster films, this one works quite well. The large cast is very capable and the special effects are done well. One scene, in particular, involving Quaid and his run-in with "the big one" is quite intriguing. Since much of the film is devoted to the problem of global warming, too, science fiction lovers and ecology-minded individuals will also be interested in a viewing. Therefore, if you fall into any of these categories or just want to see something "different" tonight, look for this interesting movie.

randyandsharon-125-426229 This movie is so funny. It amazes me how many famous actors/actresses are in it. It's hilarious that they try to make it look like Chicago and various parts of the storm footage show palm trees! Some funny parts: Nancy McKeon saying vulnerable instead of vulnerable, the brother walking into the bank and asking quite matter of factly "what happened to Lindsay?", various images of obese people running from the storm, and pretty much everything Randy Quaid does. The special effects do not look real at all. If you watch this movie, go into looking for a laugh or two! It is pretty long going on for 174 minutes. Sometimes you think it won't end. But, all in all, it's fun for a cheesy film. If you're not looking for Academey Award winning quality acting - enjoy!

mike-ryan455 Summary: A hodge podge of pseudo science, bad special effects and ill fitting stock footage doesn't make a good movie.Details: It stank. It really stank.I have nothing against Canadian made disaster movies set in the USA. Personally I'd like to see a Canadian disaster movie set in Canada some time, just to even the score. But if they are set in the USA they should look and sound like they are set in the USA. This had far worse American accents than usual. Jeff Sutton, who played Garth Benson the teen-age son of the diddling power company manager had such a STRONG Canadian accent that he couldn't keep in American for long enough to finish any of his dialog. I don't mean subtle points - I mean the stereotypical joke "ooot" for "out" sound.The stock clips used to make so much of the storm footage OBVIOUSLY weren't from near Chicago. The style of houses screamed deep South. The palm trees screamed Florida. It was comic.Many of the special effects looked like a computer game. To me the worst was the weather plane. It just looked really fake, like Microsoft Flight Simulator.A movie can get away with poor special effects and ill fitting stock footage if it has a good script and good actors. How many of us have seen wonderful classic movies that have poor staging by today's standards? The whole magic storm from Hades that was a mystic convergence of global warming just never made it. This one also fell flat on its rear end in the dialog department. It was both utterly serious deadpan and utterly unbelievable. It was emotionless. No highs, no lows. Add it horrid acting and you had a lead balloon of a movie.Save your time.