Storm Chasers: Revenge of the Twister (1998 TV Movie) User Reviews

Generic Twister copy

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 29 June 2016]

STORM CHASERS: REVENGE OF THE TWISTER - ludicrous sub-title aside - is your generic Canadian-shot TV movie without an ounce of wit or originality to recommend it. It's a sub-standard copy of, surprise surprise, TWISTER, with Kelly McGillis taking on the role of the dedicated storm chaser who doesn't let family bereavement get in her way of going after the big one.

This doesn't even have the decency to be as fun and cheesy as a SyFy Channel or Asylum movie, because there's barely any disaster material to be had from it. For most of the time we get characters chatting and occasionally arguing, which makes for a boring viewing experience. The worst thing about STORM CHASERS is the quality of the writing, which is very bad indeed and mishandles all of the characters in the story. And the special effects are so poor that they're kept off screen for the most part. Nobody will be 'chasing' this film, that's for sure.

felt more like a romance movie than anything else

[disdressed12 · 4/10 · 9 March 2007]

i didn't really like this movie.i found it too boring and slow,without much of a pay off.also,to me it was more of a romance movie than anything.there are a couple good scenes of some twisters,but not enough.the acting was okay,i guess, but not spectacular.of all the movies of this genre i've watched,this is one of the slowest.if you do watch this movie,be prepared to sit through some really slow scenes before the action begins.and once the action begins,it is all too brief.i would'nt say this movie is atrocious,because i have seen a lot of worse movies in my time.however,i will say that this movie just didn't do it for me.i'd have to give 'Storm Chasers:Revenge of the Twister' 4/10

Definitely Different

[FoxWithaCamera · 3/10 · 28 July 2002]

This movie was certainly a unique take on the Twister theme. My question was; How did Kelly McGillis end up in no-budget, made for TV silliness. I could've expected her in a Lifetime Movie of the Week, but this seemed way off target for her. Admittedly, she did do a good job for the role she was given. Along those lines, it was a bit surprising and somewhat funny to see James MacArthur (Danno from Hawaii Five-0) in this movie. The movie itself is not Oscar material by any stretch of the imagination. But if you set your standards low enough, it's actually very amusing. It actually would've worked well as a radio program, if those type of programs were still done. If you like to watch movies that have no redeeming value other than a good laugh, this is a must.

Be patient; it gets better if you keep your expectations low

[vchimpanzee · 15 February 2004]

Jamie Marshall is a storm chaser who loses her husband Jim at the beginning of the movie as both are chasing a storm. Two years later,she is too dedicated to her job; people she trains often quit because she is too tough. She also sees no need for rules and she has a real attitude problem. Yet her superiors still want to send her to investigate a tornado in Colorado, in an area where such storms never happen.

Wallace Houston, who is in charge of FEMA's efforts, is warned about Jamie's behavior, and she soon finds out she was right to be concerned. Independent-minded Jamie hates having to bum a ride from Will, one of the FEMA workers. Will, whose girlfriend Melanie wants him too commit and stay in one place, can't stand Jamie. Jamie despises him too, so...

The writing at the beginning of this movie seemed pretty pathetic. Later, it got better when there is action rather than dialogue, or when the dialogue concerned matters other than weather. Once Jamie suspected the Pine Feather nuclear facility of being responsible for drastic weather changes, I thought things were going to get a whole lot better. There was more action as the movie progressed, but not much until the very end. And something else happened in the second half: more comedy. Some of it may have been unintentional, but it was entertaining nevertheless. Certain events near the end would have made a whole lot more sense if this had been a satire.

The visual effects were pretty good, especially on Jamie's computer. Nothing one would expect to see on Oscar night, and not particularly realistic, but plenty scary. Stock footage of storms and their aftermath, and of a major fire that destroyed homes, added some to what little realism there was.

Still, this wasn't bad enough to be on anyone's top 10 list of all-time bombs. That's about all I can say.

Very Predictable

[Theo Robertson · 2/10 · 1 July 2004]

!!!! POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR ANYONE WHO`S NEVER SEEN A TVM !!!!

The problem with STORM CHASERS is that it`s a TVM which means...

The budget is low . This means that instead of seeing a terrible tornado we`re instead shown the aftermath of a terrible tornado which is composed of film footage and a " Tent City " set up in a car park

The main protagonist/hero is a ballsy woman who doesn`t take any nonsense off men , especially nonsense off well buffed hunky men

The ballsy woman ends up with a romantic interlude with a well buffed hunky man she intially disliked

The ballsy woman saves the day

Very predictable stuff that seems somewhat belated to tie in with TWISTER . The lovey dovey stuff seems to overwhelm the side plot involving a research facility which led me to think that the TVM would have worked better if the producers had upped the conspiracy theory aspects a lot more but the science used is just plain stupid so perhaps they shouldn`t have bothered in the first place

As everyone else is keen to point out it`s fairly inoffensive ( Compared to the previous movie I`d seen tonight THE LIFE OF STUFF it`s CITIZEN KANE in comparison ) but I couldn`t help wondering what Kelly McGillis was doing in a low brow TVM . This the actress who won plaudits in WITNESS , TOP GUN and THE ACCUSED . I guess a lot can happen in ten years

it is what it is; a TVM

[Brucey_D · 5/10 · 7 May 2016]

Well the plot premise was at least interesting, and there are some good actors there (if not quite as much good acting...) but when all is said and done this is a TVM where their grasp is always likely to be more than their reach, as it were.

Kelly McGillis (of 'Top Gun' and 'Witness' fame) at least made this TVM worth watching and I suppose that ladies might say the same of Wolf Larson. The (predictable) love interest between them doesn't seem quite believable though.

The SFX are of the standard you might expect from TVMs of the period, i.e. somewhat unrealistic, but certainly not the worst I have ever seen. It is all quite watchable, if not quite believable.

However I confess that the things that, for me, made this worth watching a second time were undoubtedly the moments of unintentional humour. For example; McGillis' (allegedly outdoorsy, independent, storm chaser type) character manages to pitch only the inner part of her tent, badly, and then seems surprised when it blows away in the first whiff of a breeze.

Later, I confess that Larson's line "I preferred the ball light(e)ning" did made me snigger in a puerile fashion. I may even have ventured that this would be a sentiment shared by many men of a certain age...

There are a few crimes against good movie-making committed here (to which a cry of "book 'em, Danno " would seem strangely appropriate), but it isn't that bad; I mean, I could go on, but I won't; for all it's flaws this is a fairly watchable TVM and if you are a fan of either lead actor, or have an interest in weird weather then you will happily watch this I am sure, even if it might be for the wrong reasons.

Disappointing weather controlling conspiracy flick

[marshalphipps · 3/10 · 8 May 2017]

This is the online plot summary for the film, "When a tornado takes her meteorologist husband's life, his wife and colleague devotes her own life to prove his theories that violent twisters are predictable." The plot summary is misleading, but wait there's more, it turns out there's a HAARP-like facility is manipulating the weather and it creates multiple tornadoes and the two main characters attempts to uncover the dark truth.

When you hear a plot like that you probably want to watch the movie, it heightens your exceptions, my expectations were high when I bought a rare DVD copy for around $30, at the end of the film I was disappointed.

The trailer (which was very vague, short, and misleading) for this film displays a lot of action, action is something this film lacked, instead you have the main characters bickering throughout most of the movie. The only tornado sequence is at the end of the film which was an insult to me.

If you have low expectations, enjoy this film, otherwise stay away.

Best movie ever!

[Xfilecw · 22 July 2002]

This is my favorite movie of all time. Not only is Wolf Larson one of the hottest guys on the planet, but the movie gets better every single time that I see it. This is they only movie that I rent all the time. Thanks for making this great movie!

A 'twist' too few? (Possible MINOR spoiler)

[busstnactgrp · 2 July 2004]

This was the (very) late-night film on BBC 1 last night so I thought I'd give it a go since I'm always up for a witching-hour TVM - sometimes they offer the opportunity to unearth a gem, you never know.

The acting on display wasn't too bad for the genre and came over as 'real', despite the unreality of the situation. I say that because I wasn't sure about the science. I'd have to delve back into my old Climate Geography text-books for that - I am a Human, rather than Physical Geographer in any case.

Regarding the plot, it took some time really to get one engaged but when once it did, engaged - like, potentially, our chief protagonists? - you were, to the extent that there was a run-out-of-film feeling at the end - but as this was a relatively low-budget TVM does that not go with the territory?

All in all 'Twister' it wasn't but a creditable effort for a TVM it was and we could have done with another quarter- to half-hour to fill things out. It was, at any rate, quite an education on the abbreviations of a couple of US organisations - CSSR and FEMA - a marriage between the two, dare I venture to say?