Johnny_Hing I was prepared to rate this movie somewhere between 6-8, while watching the first 2/3rds or so of this 2-part made-for-TV film. But then, things began to fall apart for me. First, one of the pilots in the Air Force plane said, for dramatic effect regarding the hurricane in the Great Lakes: "Off the charts!" Then he says it again a short time later... really a weak and lazy attempt to build the doomsday tension. Then, they comment on how the waves are 15 meters high, but when we actually see the waves a short time later, they are maybe... oh, 3 or 4 feet high? Huge let-down. They're using CGI, so surely they could simulate some sort of gigantic wave 15 meters high?? And the clincher... not ONCE during the movie was the death toll even hinted at, which was quite odd, given the heavy destruction all over the place. They never once gave a ball-park guesstimate "perhaps tens of thousands of people killed", or even "millions", which might be more accurate. Not that I wanted to see people die. But to make it more realistic in a movie about "catastrophe", surely someone would have mentioned the possible death toll?! All we really got was at the closing scene, where the weather chief says that it could be "several weeks" before we have an accurate count of the "fatalities." Well, duh. No one's asking for an "accurate count" right now. Just give us something, anything! Also, again with the Air Force pilots: one of them makes a remark regarding the upcoming tornado and hurricane colliding, "Either one will be destructive ...together they will be deadly." Hmmm. I'm pretty sure that the tornadoes were already quite deadly, given the massive destruction that had already taken place. Seems the movie's dialog was mostly concerned with property damage, not fatalities. Keep in mind this was made during the cable news era, where you get updates every 5 minutes on the possible death toll (think Haiti and Joplin, Missouri for starters.)But if you can suspend belief during some of these gaffes, (which I tried my best to do), the rest of the movie is actually quite good. Decent subplots, decent acting, interesting characters, the CGI was okay for the most part. I might have given this a 7 or 8, if not for the conspicuous flaws mentioned above.

Amy Adler Mitch (Thomas Gibson) is an executive with a power company serving the Chicago area. Although he has a loving wife and two wonderful kids, he is having an extra-curricular affair with a public relations officer at his company named Rebecca (Chandra West). How unfortunate this is for everyone, naturally, especially since one of the children, teenage Lindsey, is also dealing with boyfriend issues. Meanwhile, television news reporter Amy (Nancy McKeon) is determined to find out why the city is experiencing a number of blackouts but Mitch and Rebecca are not being very forthcoming. Also, a top climate scientist (Brian Dennehy) is getting many bizarre readings at this Windy City office, making him equally anxious about the coming week of weather. Indications are that a strong northern cold front and the present hot temperatures are about to bring on massive storms. His staff is working overtime but no one knows what to expect. Also, Amy's pregnant sister is close to delivery and her pilot husband may be away from home, making Amy's presence valuable. Not far away, in Kansas, Tornado Tommy (Randy Quaid) takes tourists on storm chases but he, too, is fairly worried about current conditions in the region. So is the United States Department of Energy Secretary (Dianne Wiest) If a bad storm, stronger than any known tornado, does hit, what will happen to these fine denizens of Second City? For fans of disaster films, this one works quite well. The large cast is very capable and the special effects are done well. One scene, in particular, involving Quaid and his run-in with "the big one" is quite intriguing. Since much of the film is devoted to the problem of global warming, too, science fiction lovers and ecology-minded individuals will also be interested in a viewing. Therefore, if you fall into any of these categories or just want to see something "different" tonight, look for this interesting movie.

randyandsharon-125-426229 This movie is so funny. It amazes me how many famous actors/actresses are in it. It's hilarious that they try to make it look like Chicago and various parts of the storm footage show palm trees! Some funny parts: Nancy McKeon saying vulnerable instead of vulnerable, the brother walking into the bank and asking quite matter of factly "what happened to Lindsay?", various images of obese people running from the storm, and pretty much everything Randy Quaid does. The special effects do not look real at all. If you watch this movie, go into looking for a laugh or two! It is pretty long going on for 174 minutes. Sometimes you think it won't end. But, all in all, it's fun for a cheesy film. If you're not looking for Academey Award winning quality acting - enjoy!

Mat If you thought Day after tomorrow was implausible, wait till you see this.Okay so the premise of most disaster films is usually a 1 in billion event occurring, compounded by other circumstances. In this case, the even is the joining of two huge storm systems. Fair enough so far. Oh but hold up, no, the "event" is the sabotage and subsequent destruction of the power grid.Next throw in loads of human interest elements - in this case a cheating husband, a psychotic gun-wielding boyfriend, a rebellious daughter, a hacker with a point to prove, a senator trying to push an agenda, a reporter trying to stand up against "the man", and a pregnant women stuck in an elevator.Finally add a handful of taster events to add excitement.Jeez if the director tried to fit in any more meaningless plot lines, there would have been no time less for the actual disaster, which, given the pitiful state of the computer graphics, was almost certainly the intention.Jeez, if you can't even model a truck convincingly, you really should not be taking on twisters, exploding power stations, Las Vegas getting ripped apart, or destroyed oil stations.In case you didn't already gather how appalling this movie is, let me just add that all three bad guys get killed in separate, and wholly ungratifying, implausible manners, that stunk more of moralising that good film-making.I'm have no problem with first month film students writing jaded, hackneyed, cliché-soaked scripts, but for god's sake, that doesn't mean anyone has to make them into movies!It manages to make the abysmally implausible 10.0 Apocalypse look not quite so dreadful. Avoid them both.