Dark Storm

A movie starring a lesser Baldwin (Stephen, they're all 'lesser' to Alec since he's been around the longest) who spends the whole film looking vaguely pissed off, or as if he's trying to do mental arithmetic (like Joey, Matt LeBlanc, in Friends, was advised to do to show emotion), an expression that probably originates from his manful struggle to spout scientific gobbledegook like 'I've never seen so much dark matter in one place' as if it actually meant something.

He plays that disaster movie cliché, the one sensible person in the possibly (inevitably) catastrophic scenario battling whatever constitutes the powers that be (the mayor/the government/the corporation/the other scientists), questioning their refusal to act in the face of this certain calamity, usually for reasons of the bottom line, insisting that the town/beach/world be evacuated while there's still time (time is always of the essence) because there's going to be a tidal wave/earthquake/tornado/shark attack/solar flare/alien invasion (delete as appropriate).

He will probably be the one to deliver possibly the most used line in any horror/thriller/scifi movie: 'Let's get the hell outta here!' as if anyone would contemplate staying put while the sky falls in.

To top it all, he's absorbed some 'dark matter' himself, as you do, been electrocuted then struck by lightning. No wonder he looks a little peeved.

The plot is nonsensical but the film's a trip. See the image on the front of the box - that's the expression Stephen Baldwin wears throughout. Perplexed. Or maybe that's just his 'intelligent scientist' face.

I am always at a loss of words why so many terrible films are made...this film is no exception. In every single way, this is an embarrassment. Don't get me wrong I love good ol' fashioned GOOD Sci-Fi. (Alien, Aliens, Matrix Trilogy, so on and so forth) But this is embarrassing. The plot is terrible in the worst way, all the characters are cardboard cut-outs, and I would rather watch a High school student film than this piece of garbage. I don't know if the people involved are really trying, or it is all just one big inside joke, or if they get some kind of tax break for bringing in business. I remember when Stephen Baldwin was part of a great film called "The Usual Suspects." I always wonder when actors turn to films they must know are bad going in, and yet still are part of them! I can't imagine that he is paid very well doing this, or maybe the shooting schedule is so short it is worth the money, or if they even care that this So called "Movie" will permanently be on his resume forever. I thought "Bio-Dome" was bad, but at least it was bad in a good way. There is no excuse for this ludicrous waste of space. I shouldn't have watched it, and through most of the movie I felt bad for all of the actors involved. I know they have talent. Hell the General was the great bad guy (The Cigarette Smoking Man in the X-files for many years) and yet he chose to do this ridiculous obviously cheap film anyway. I don't know if it is just the paycheck, or the promise of a theatrical release, or good special effects, or if they just want to keep on working that makes these people do this. Please everyone who reads this (hopefully you don't bother the "Movie" is that bad) why don't you stick yourself w/needles under your fingernails instead; it's less painful. I know that here on IMDb they rate on a scale to 10, but I prefer out of 4 stars. I would give it 1/4 of one star it is that bad, and I only give it that because Stephen Baldwin was so good in "The Usual Suspects" and his brother Alec is so good on the show "30 Rock." Avoid at all costs, you will be glad you did.

I have to admit I watched it to the very end - barely -without falling asleep!

This is not a repulsive bad movie, but an annoying one! The acting is so universally horrible, I said to myself, "I could do a better job - where do I sign-up?" This thought entered my mind so often I started wondering how much these godforsaken actors where paid for their severe lack of skills! For them it must be a thrill to know you at least made it to DVD, even if you never made to the big screen! But for the rest of us watching Darkstorm it was terribly distracting!

The special effects were enjoyable and the fantasy element was interesting. It's a shame who ever directed and produced this film didn't pony-up some more bucks to get some real acting talent! This could have been a half way decent sci-fi/fantasy film!

It doesn't get much sillier than this for the serious sci-fi buff, but as low-expectation, old fashioned "Saturday afternoon matinée" diversion, it's entertaining enough.

A slightly overweight Stephen Baldwin, in a follow-up to an even sillier 2006 sci-fi opus, "Earth Storm" about using bombs to put a crumbling moon back together, invents a weapon using "dark matter" (apparently a more photogenic, controllable version of anti-matter) and generatable thunderstorms. Naturally, things go awry, foolish military men make stupid, ill-considered snap judgements causing even greater problems, traitors steal the weapon and (reaching the heights of "Marvel Comic silliness") Baldwin absorbs some of the "dark matter", making himself a self-generating (but only defensive for some reason - until the villain does it) weapon! The big screen Spiderman films made as much scientific sense (why can't screenwriters give us entertainment with stories JUST as exciting that gets the science right and doesn't insult our intelligence!?) but had more consistent characters and motivations.

If you can ignore the basically incredible weapon which is the McGuffin which gets the plot rolling, the piece is fun on its own terms - no worse than Disney's 1979 "Black Hole" (which famously made its title dark star a glowing whirlpool). The Disney had firmer scientific underpinnings but worse acting and special effects, so it's sort of a fair trade off.

The always engaging Rob LaBelle makes a fine scientific sidekick (who actually does most of the work - not to mention acting), and Gardiner Millar as the chief villain is solid - even when the special effects have him reenacting the last scenes of the first Indiana Jones film.

Undemanding fun, but keep your expectations low.

DARK STORM, a zero-budget TV movie from 2006 starring a down-on-his-luck Stephen Baldwin, has all the trappings of a dodgy disaster-cum-sci-fi movie: a scientist is accidentally exposed to dark matter and soon finds himself with the ability to control the elements.

About halfway through the running time, I somewhat incredulously realised that I was in fact watching a remake of a poverty row programmer called THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN, starring an equally down-on-his-luck Lon Chaney Jr., about a guy who finds himself with the power to control electricity. The two plots aren't exact, but they're similar enough to suppose that the writer must have seen the old Chaney flick.

In any case, DARK STORM is a poor excuse for a film. Half of it is a silly sci-fi outing, with random balaclava-wearing goons going around hassling pretty female scientists and extras getting killed. The other half is a disaster movie, with dark matter storms destroying buildings in Seattle and Romania, of all places. One of the storms destroys a high rise in scenes uncomfortably reminiscent of the 9/11 attacks. Needless to say, the CGI effects are horrible and the acting equally bad, particularly from a slumming-it Baldwin, who really should know better...