The Final Storm

This movie was actually decently interesting, right up until the last 10 minutes or so. In fact, if I hadn't gone in knowing it was an Uwe Boll movie, I wouldn't have had any idea because it was pretty low-key. It was an end of the world type with definite religious overtones, but in the end, it just got WEIRD! I wouldn't say it went off the rails so much as it was going in a certain direction, veered off course, then overcorrected so badly that it drove itself off a cliff! The ending was so completely weird, I can't even explain what happened, other than total insanity! I would have happily given this movie a 6/10 if the ending didn't confuse and annoy me so much that it lost 3 full points. Save yourself the confusion and just watch the Left Behind movies, at least they follow the same plot from start to finish!

This movie was sort of a deviance from Uwe Bolls usual action-packed movies. Now, I am not saying that this is a bad movie. It just was building up suspense for something grand, but it never delivered.

The movie in itself is fairly average, there are some nice scenes, and a constant underlying sense of dread throughout the movie. But somehow the movie never really reaches a climax. It never peaks, and just then it is all over.

The story was sort of nice, and had sort of a semi-supernatural thing going on, but then suddenly turned in another direction. And then you just sat there and wondered why. That really didn't work all that well for the storyline.

As for the cast and their acting. Well nothing wrong here. Lots of nice actors and actresses, and they all put on good performances. The cast really bore the movie, and kept it afloat.

Now, I am not one to bad-mouth Uwe Boll's movies, and I like his previous work. I just think this one didn't quite make it up to there. But still, it is not a bad movie. Quite adequate for a thriller.

There are many better thrillers out there, but give this one a chance. You might actually just like it.

While this movie will not win any academy awards, it was certainly much better produced and acted then 99% of the Syfy produced movies scifi fans such as myself typically end up enduring, etc. I would give it a 5-6 as a vote. The plot summary appearing on IMDb is not at all accurate (the son never disappears amongst other things, but Luke Perry does play a mysterious stranger with a hidden and menacing past which threatens the family amidst the turmoil of the general disaster).

The actors all give reasonable performances, they are not wooden or overacting in the manner typical of smaller budget productions. All three principals - Lauren Holly (very attractive), Steve Bacic and Luke Perry were decent.

However, one should be aware that this is not a slam bang action flick with all sorts of special effects, battles, etc. There is none of that in this movie. The movie is about a small family living in a rural area against the backdrop of something cataclysmic having occurred, but the hows and whats of that are never really delved into - rather the focal point of the story is how they are coping, the mysteries surrounding a stranger who has wandered onto their property, etc.

I would deem the movie to be more of a suspense/thriller against a quasi sci-fi backdrop.

On a plus note, it did keep our attention start to finish, and we were not hooting and hollering at grade F special effects and cheesy acting.

On a negative note, the ending was somewhat of a mystery to us. We have some theories, but you are better off to watch the movie and come up with your own.

I think overall this is the sort of movie actors do to keep paying the bills, but at least they gave it a decent go, and made the 90 minutes of the movie respectable rather then terrible.

I gave this film an extra star because the camera didn't go rolling down a hill unexpectedly, there's a minimum of shaky cam work (too expensive for Boll?), and you can hear what everyone is saying. As far as plot, story, or acting, I'd give it one star (the IMDb minimum).

I won't even try to explain the story. You would just laugh.

As far as other issues of interest...er...hm...well, there are none. As usual, Boll manages to sneak in just one short scene to justify an "R" rating. (It's a bit of Lauren Holly in bed, but it's completely irrelevant to the story. Fortunately, Boll gets it out of the way in the first five minutes. You can go on watching the rest of the movie with confidence that you won't see anything nearly as exciting again.)

As we're all tired of pointing out, there are fresh new directors out there who could use a little money to get a start on films with imagination. It's a sin and a shame that Boll still gets backers for turkeys like this.

Not recommended.

THE FINAL STORM is a cheap, end of the world thriller from German director Uwe Boll. This one was made in Canada and features a fiery DVD cover promising all sorts of apocalyptic action. Unsurprisingly, it never delivers on that promise.

Instead, this turns out to be a straightforward (read: predictable) three hander about a married couple and their kid holed up in their dingy farmhouse. One day a mysterious stranger comes along and proceeds to turn their lives upside down. What follows is completely without merit; this kind of cheap situation has been done to death in the past and Boll offers absolutely nothing new to the scenario. A film set in a single location with few actors needs really good writing and direction to make it work, and you just don't get it here.

Instead what we do get are a bunch of has-been actors going through the motions. Former pretty boy Luke Perry plays the mysterious stranger and does a frankly poor job of it. Lauren Holly's appearances in mainstream Hollywood films are long in the past. And main actor Steve Bacic is one of those 'never was' guys, devoid of charisma to boot. In all, THE FINAL STORM is a waste of time.