Storm

This is a film whose plot showed potential. Ok it's far fetched but no more than a GREAT many films that were a success. The tiny budget is obvious, with poor special effects and synthesized orchestral mood music (which never comes off). Martin Sheen is average, but he was never going to give his best performance in this kind of film. Perry does his best to hold the lead with an admirable performance, but it's the way the movie is handled that lets everybody down. It looks like the B movie it is; like some second rate TV series. The movie also contains the most poorly acted scene I have seen in any movie ever; it is not one that contains any of the lead actors though. Done properly, the plot could have carried this movie to success at least as great as Twister, but it was obvious from the outset that it was never going to happen that way.

The Storm is so cheesy, so fake that it's not even funny to watch. Terrible special effects, not only feeling fake, but looking fake too. Aside of terrible acting, we get to watch unconvincing plot too. To summarise: a disaster movie with almost no casualties, and with a happy ending.

"Meteorologist Ron Young (Luke Perry) has been recruited to assist renegade Air Force General Roberts (Martin Sheen) in a top-secret government operation to manipulate the weather. On board a specially rigged plane, they launch their device into the eye of a massive weather front off California, which quickly accelerates to hurricane winds over 400 mph. But when an onboard struggle for control ensues, the race is on to secure the storm device and stop the unbridled rampage about to wreak havoc in L.A. This time, the City of Angels doesn't have a prayer!" according to the DVD description.

Apparently re-titled "Storm Tracker" to distinguish it from other storms.

This was obviously made for the home video and/or cable TV market. Still struggling to break-out of "Beverly Hills 90210", Mr. Perry pulled in some viewers, with Mr. Sheen adding his well-respected name to the cast. Both actors dip generously into their bags of acting tricks, and give the script all they can for the money. Sheen's daughter Renee Estevez (as Andrea McIntyre) appears as Perry's TV reporter love interest. The structure and "controlling the weather" story recycled for "Storm" is quite good, and it could have been a big-budget cinema hit. Perry and the plot re-surfaced in 2009.

***** Storm (8/11/99) Harris Done ~ Luke Perry, Martin Sheen, Robert Knott, Renee Estevez

Dr Ron Young is a leading expert on storms and weather systems. When he loses his job at an University due to his reckless experiments he is recruited by the military to be involved in work to develop a system to control storms. Once involved in this work he begins to suspect that the desire to control storms may not be designed simply to move them away from endangered areas but instead to use them as weapons against other countries.

The set-up is quite interesting but is spoilt by several things, the main thing being the low budget that means the film can only afford cheap sets and poor special effects. The plot is for the most part a bit silly, and it misses great opportunities to look at the value of foreign lives v's American lives in the scene where the media have no interest in a hurricane heading towards Mexico but suddenly drop all other news when it turns towards America; this scene just rushes by when it could have been lingered on to make a strong point. Of course all disaster movies are silly but most are saved by great effects and great spectacle. Here the main effects are two fold - either stock footage of windswept houses and cheap visual effects. Even the scenes that could have added spectacle value are poor - one scene of a huge tidal wave bearing down on LA as two character run from it ends as the two characters dive over a 4 foot stone wall to get cover.....the huge wave then splashes harmlessly up against the other side of the wall. Compare that to the tidal wave in Deep Impact and you can see the wasted opportunity.

However in some cases bad effects can be saved by a good plot and good performances. Here the plot is daft but the performances are also weak. Perry is a terrible choice for an expert in anything, he plays it like he's a reckless scientist but it goes totally against what you feel his character should be. Other small roles are poor, such as Robert Knott as the "sinister" agent ensuring the project's security is ok, David Moses as Dr Platt hams it up as his character gets a conscience, and Alexandra Powers is terrible for the most part as the very un-major-like Major Goodman. Only Martin Sheen comes away with a good performance, but really he only gives the military tyrant role that he has done so many times before.

The film has some minor twists towards the end, you see most coming from miles and they're not exactly earth shattering but they at least bring some interest back into the film. Overall poor casting, poor effects, poor plot, poor movie - even for a TV movie.

I have said this many times before, this time I'm more serious than ever, this is one of the worst films in existence. I have also said before that films like this, should stretch the laughable script a bit further and make it spoof. You could even bring the Neilsen in. This film reminds me of Airborne - that one with the Guttenberg in it. Airborne was atrocious as well, but I actually quite enjoyed Airborne partly because the Kim Coates was in it.

There is a great scene at the end of Storm where the hero, Luke Perry (don't laugh), has been dragged out the end of an aeroplane (the plane is about 20,000 feet in the air, about 800 mph) and manages to hold on to the missile which is attached to the plane with his bare hands. He then manages to crawl up the missile and drag himself back into the aeroplane, unscathed.

Ridiculous.