Storm (1999)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Why so much hype?

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

As a confirmed "B" movie lover (and someone who wishes to amass a large DVD collection as cheaply as possible), I regularly haunt the "Dollar DVD" rack at my local Wal-Mart searching for low-budget gems. My latest acquisition is "Storm," (A.K.A. "Storm Trackers," according to the front of the DVD box), a late-90s made-for-TV disaster movie starring onetime teen heart throb Luke Perry (of "90210" fame) and Martin Sheen. (!!) How can you go wrong with that powerhouse combo? I expected a laugh riot when I sat down to watch this one, but I have to admit, it was far better than I expected (barring a few cheesy moments, particularly in the last fifteen minutes or so). Perry plays a meteorology professor (aided by a hippie assistant played by Marc McClure, best known as Jimmy Olsen in the '70s "Superman" films) whose experiments with storm technology are deemed too dangerous by his university and result in him losing his job. Fortunately for him, just as he's packing up his office, he's approached by a government representative who offers him a job working on a hush-hush military project headed by an Army general (Sheen), whose objective is to actually control the direction of powerful storms. Perry joins up immediately and at first thinks he's working on a project that will not only save lives (by diverting dangerous storms away from populated areas) but also bring much needed rain to drought stricken parts of the world. Of course, it doesn't take him long to figure out that the true aim of the project is something more sinister, and that Sheen's character intends to use storm control as a defensive weapon. The last half of the film then descends into predictable disaster-movie chaos, as the research team attempts to steer a hurricane into Mexico but loses control of it so that it heads directly for downtown Los Angeles. Perry then attempts to re-gain control of the storm from an airplane before it can flatten L.A. (and endanger his girlfriend, a local TV news reporter out in the thick of the chaos). Most of the L.A.-set disaster scenes are rather underwhelming due to the low made-for-TV budget (most of it seems to be cobbled together out of old Weather Channel storm footage) aside from one funny bit in which a wind-blown hunk of the Hollywood sign nearly flattens a TV news crew. The climactic battle between Perry and a government goon in front of an open airplane cargo door (with the hurricane raging right outside) is downright silly, particularly when Perry leaps OUT of the plane and ONTO the storm controlling device (!!) in order to re-program it and divert the storm away from Los Angeles. Yeah, okay, suuuuuuuure, that MIGHT happen...if you totally disregard the laws of physics. Aside from the occasionally hilarious lapses in logic and cheap looking special effects, STORM TRACKER was a fast-paced adventure story that had pretty decent performances by its stars (Sheen is totally slumming in this flick of course, but nobody can play a blustering, obsessed military type quite like him) that turned out to be entertaining enough action melodrama, especially since I only paid a buck for it. My fellow Dollar DVD aficionados (and I know there are a lot of you out there) can pick this one up with confidence.

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.

my friend has a shoe box full of Japanese DVD bootlegs. the first 2 we put in didn't work, the 3rd one did tho. that DVD was Storm. we actually got through this masterpiece of crap and our efforts were rewarded. we got to see Luke perry disable a government secret hurricane control device, kick some guys ass and throw him out of a plane, take on some army girl with a gun, then leap out of an exploding plane and parachute into the eye of the hurricane. all in about 5 minutes. i won't bother telling you about the rest of the movie. if you find this DVD some how without paying any money and you have 90 minutes that you need to go very slow, then you might consider watching this. maybe you shouldn't.

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.