If you're ever curious as to how much I love "The Evil Dead" series, know this - I owned this DVD and in my life, watched it at least twice.
Samantha Callen (Shannon Sturges) is sent to appraise the work of a scientist, Dr Joe Branson (Ernie Hudson) who's specialising in the study and hopeful prediction of Tornados. His assistant, Jake Thorne (Bruce Campbell) introduces Samantha to the town and tries to keep her onside despite their inability to get their machine operating correctly. Jake also spars with his town's weatherman, Richie Cochran (Charles Hornet) who went to high school with him, but now doesn't believe in the validity of their work.
What can I say. "Tornado!" is what it is. A cheap, made for TV movie that was designed and released entirely to piggyback on the advertising for "Twister" and make a bit of money by osmosis. The performances aren't staggeringly awful, but there's nobody pulling up any trees (get it !) either. Campbell is likeable, as is Ernie Hudson - but nobody has anything to do in a film that precious little actually happens in. It's oddly close to "Twister" in terms of plot, especially at its ending, but lacking in the scenes building up to the climax. Most of the time, we just see the aftermath of a Tornado on a town because actually showing the event would have cost more money than the production had available to them.
Interesting to see that John Logan, the writer, would go on to have a long and distinguished career, writing numerous hit movies (he'd write "Gladiator" four years after this). Director Noel Nosseck wasn't so lucky, and a career of TV movies was starting to wind down here.
Neither good, nor so bad as to be entertaining, "Tornado!" is for Campbell completests only.
Samantha Callen (Shannon Sturges) is sent to appraise the work of a scientist, Dr Joe Branson (Ernie Hudson) who's specialising in the study and hopeful prediction of Tornados. His assistant, Jake Thorne (Bruce Campbell) introduces Samantha to the town and tries to keep her onside despite their inability to get their machine operating correctly. Jake also spars with his town's weatherman, Richie Cochran (Charles Hornet) who went to high school with him, but now doesn't believe in the validity of their work.
What can I say. "Tornado!" is what it is. A cheap, made for TV movie that was designed and released entirely to piggyback on the advertising for "Twister" and make a bit of money by osmosis. The performances aren't staggeringly awful, but there's nobody pulling up any trees (get it !) either. Campbell is likeable, as is Ernie Hudson - but nobody has anything to do in a film that precious little actually happens in. It's oddly close to "Twister" in terms of plot, especially at its ending, but lacking in the scenes building up to the climax. Most of the time, we just see the aftermath of a Tornado on a town because actually showing the event would have cost more money than the production had available to them.
Interesting to see that John Logan, the writer, would go on to have a long and distinguished career, writing numerous hit movies (he'd write "Gladiator" four years after this). Director Noel Nosseck wasn't so lucky, and a career of TV movies was starting to wind down here.
Neither good, nor so bad as to be entertaining, "Tornado!" is for Campbell completests only.