Continental Split

Can't put my finger on what it is, but I know a bad movie when I see it. Typical storyline where people don't heed warnings, predictable side stories, bad acting, pseudo-science.

My wife says she can tell by the colors in the movie that it is cheap.

Yet for some reason we still watched it because there is something about seeing things that we've never seen before that is entertaining. Like rubber-necking an accident. Stupid things like leaving the fate of the world in the hands of unqualified people, relying on rookies to fly a helicopter or handle a nuclear bomb.

This movie is the disaster.

Why the choice of little ol Sikeston? The only thing that I have seen that relates to the area is the shots of Jefferson City. Outside of that, the filming locations weren't in the areas talked about. At some point they end up in Nashville? No no no. They make Jefferson City seem REALLY close, it isn't. The CGI is cringe worthy at best. The "close calls" are even terrible. The mispronunciation of the local names was even worse. The whole movie was unrealistic.

Final assessment, do your job on making sure that homework is done to not make yourself look like a fool. Make sure you include areas in your filmmaking that are relevant to your production. And for the love of god and all that is holy and sacred, pronounce the names properly. Bonus: Better CGI/Green Screen would be fantastic.

It's the same plot to TWISTER (1996) with many borrowed elements (unsigned divorce papers, rival teams, unique earthquake prediction model used correctly by one team and not by the other, and a third-wheel fiance) mixed with the usual bureaucratic government obstruction seen in every impending disaster film since JAWS (1975).

The special effects are surprisingly okay in parts, and not-so-much in many others. Jessica Morris does a decent job with her role, as well as a handful of others, but no one is helped by the scriptwriting. While it's not exactly SyFy movie bad, it very much feels like they were shooting off of a first draft that no one bothered to proofread.

-- SPLITTING HAIRS:

So with that out of the way, there are some mistakes I noticed while watching. Unlike the surprising majority of the other reviewers, I'm not from the state of Missouri yet I still couldn't help but notice something off with the use of locations in the film (not with their pronunciations as I didn't know, notice, and couldn't tell so that didn't bother me).

But rather then explain the oddity I have time-coded each mention of locales as they appear (with accompanying dialogue) for anyone reading to just see for themselves...

• (@ around 05 mins) TITLE CARD: New Madrid
• (@ around 08 mins) TITLE CARD: Sikeston. Mobile lab where the main characters operate out of is located at a small airport hanger here. Latest earthquake epicenter is "Two miles south of New Madrid." -
• (@ around 11 mins) Latest earthquake epicenter is in "New Madrid, south of Marston." **
• (@ around 28 mins) While the team is driving toward Marston to access the ex-husband's helicopter, Finn says, "Quakes are centered from the south, near Marston." .... "The epicenter is in Marston. Your sensor is sending you to the wrong spot!" -
• GOOF (@ around 30 mins) The location of the ex-husband's helipad in Marston is the EXACT SAME location the film used (@ around 08 mins) for Sikeston. -
• (@ around 32 mins) TITLE CARD: St. Louis. Team 1 plants the first sensor. -
• (@ around 42 mins) TITLE CARD: Sikeston. Brett's government response team lands to start drilling. -
• (@ around 43 mins) TITLE CARD: Nashville. Team 2 plants the second sensor. -
• GOOF (@ around 45 mins) TITLE CARD: Nashville. Team 3 plants the third sensor in what is supposed to be Memphis. -
• (@ around 54 mins) After successfully triangulating their censors they now know the epicenter is south of New Madrid. ***
• (@ around 1h 00 mins) Cami says, "Have Brett meet us in New Madrid." Why did she say that? -
• (@ around 1h 01 mins) Dan asks Cami, "How was New Madrid?" But when was she back in New Madrid? She was just in Jefferson City talking to the Governor and before that in (what was supposed to be) Memphis (even though the TITLE CARD said Nashville) -
• (@ around 1h 06 mins) The epicenter "...is at the fracking site in Marston, not Sikeston." ...Okay so sounds like it's in Marston again. ***
• (@ around 1h 06 mins) "We gotta get to Marston and stop Brett." But they have said repeatedly that Brett is in Sikeston. -

(** New Madrid is actually northeast of Marston. *** Unless you knew that Marston was located about 7 miles south of New Madrid, suddenly stating definitively that the epicenter is "south of New Madrid" just makes it sound like a whole new location.)

--- SPLITTING HEADACHE MOMENTS:

Right after each of the 3 sensors are planted there is a last minute mad scramble to run out and grab something just as the ground starts shaking. Three times. The movie does this same exact scenario three separate times, back-to-back-to-back: they plant the sensor, get to safety, a sudden earthquake knocks stuff over, then they run back out to save the sensor or retrieve an item scenario.

--- A BANANA SPLIT MOMENT:

LOL, a helicopter pilot is warned that they are about to fly into some telephone wires and he puts his arms over his head to brace himself before deciding to actually try piloting the chopper away from them.

===-=== -- MY RATING SCALE -- ===-===

• 1. Reserved for Poorly Produced/Amateur Video
• 2. Utterly Terrible
• 3. Really Bad
• 4. Mediocre
• 5. Perfectly Average
• 6. Surprisingly Entertaining
• 7. Very Good
• 8. Incredibly Good
• 9. Exceptionally Great
• 10. Reserved for my Personal Favorites.

As another Missourian, and someone who's traveled, please learn how the locals pronounce the town at least. It's like how Kansans know the river is pronounced "Ar-kan-zis" when it's within our borders, but our local news guy, who's been here for decades, still calls the town south of Wichita "Ar-kan-saw City."

Low budget, special effects are not that special. And the plot is literally the same as in the movie Twister. Same sorta-divorced couple, who used to work together, suddenly working together again on an invention to help predict earthquakes. Only difference is she's supposed to be getting married instead of him and they have 2 grown children.

If you're going to make a film about an area, you could at least pronounce the name the way the locals do. It's not New "ma Drid", it's New "MAD rid", Missouri. I used to work in the Southeast Missouri, Southern, Illinois, Western Kentucky area. I visited the New Madrid Earthquake Museum and had customers from that area that did business with the company in Memphis where I worked. I have never heard any of them pronounce it New ma Drid. When you have have an opportunity to grab supporters for you project by filming or basing it in the area of their homes, you don't slap them in the face by pronouncing it wrong. Everyone in the Western Kentucky, Southern Illinois area were proud when "US Marshalls" was filmed in their area and they call that film their own. When they filmed "The Firm" in Memphis, it was the same, a film they could call their own. Next time, research the area the film is about and get the details right for what could be the biggest fans of the project, the people of that area.