Atomic Twister (2002)

I first saw this film on SYFY (or Sci Fi as it was called) in 2010. I missed the first 2 minutes of the film but walked in on the totally not stolen scene from Twister (1996). This scene got me hooked to watch the rest of the movie. People may say "but it gets nuclear power plants so wrong" or that "the tornadoes don't look like tornadoes". These arguments fall flat. If the nuclear power plant was realistic, the movie would be done in about 5 minutes. And the other argument about the tornadoes falls flat. This was 2002! Twister (1996)'s tornadoes looked somewhat like tornadoes but this was a Hollywood blockbuster. Atomic Twister is a TV Movie by TBS. The tornadoes do change colour and shape but this is realistic. Tornadoes morph and change. Tornadoes look black from one side but white from another as seen in the shot where 2 (possibly 3) tornadoes are heading towards the nuclear plant. They are front lit and appear as a white colour. These same tornadoes from the back appear black. The CGI isn't bad at all but some shots look a bit strange like when Jake is helping Ashley out of her car and Campbell looks onto the tornado and the tornado is bearing close but the sky on the horizon is effected by the close tornado dirt effects. The actors in this are not terrible but not great. Sharon Lawrence pulls a good act and Mark Paul Gooselarr is always a win. Carl Lewis even appears in the film as a security guard. The rest of the cast is alright but nothing new. This film hasn't been on TV in ages and it's a real shame when crap like F6 Twister and Fire Twister are always on. The DVD was easy to find on eBay and Amazon have it too but the Amazon release is slowed down and has the ad breaks cut out leading to and ugly sound and poor quality. The Croatian Double DVD Pack (on eBay) is at the right speed and contains all the Copyright Info and ad breaks/fade to black is shown. So would I recommend this movie. Yes! Go watch it now. It's on DVD but can be found on YouTube. I wouldn't bank on it being on TV but keep a look out.

Since this film was a product made for the Science Fiction channel you would expect to have all kinds of unearthly creatures from space or newly rediscovered earth monsters in it. For Atomic Twister you would be wrong.The title is terribly misleading. No monsters arise from a tornado. A tornado is the cause of things, in fact a couple of them hit a nuclear power plant creating all kinds of problems for acting director of the facility Sharon Lawrence.The plot is completely ripped off from both The China Syndrome and the real life Three Mile Island near disaster from 1979. In many ways Atomic Twister is a throwback to the disaster films of the Seventies.Stars Sharon Lawrence, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, and Corbin Bernson give decent performances in a disaster film that has all the standard clichés of same. Still it's an unusual product from the Science Fiction network and easy to take.

I loved this movie but then again I am a natural disaster freak. Movies like these are my favorite type. I think that it could have been better but when a movie is made for TV people tend overlook the fact that there could have been more done to increase the worth of the movie. I think that Mark-Paul did a good job as a cop and Sharon Lawerence was believable as the shift manager. They could have added a bit more to the movie and made the movie a lot more powerful and gripping. One minute the plant is in complete danger and the next they have the answer and things going to be OK. They should have played up the disaster a bit more. It may not be the most popular movie for adults but for young adults and teens this is a great movie for them to watch and my daughter loves it. Over all the movie was very good and for people 13to 30 it is a great movie and I would give it a B. I would be tempted to give it a higher grade if they would just release it on DVD. Shows worse than this manage to make DVD why can't this one.

I knew when I saw the description in the TV guide that this was a winner, then I forgot it was on. Luckily my friend sent me a text to say "This is SO 'so bad its good', I may pee"What higher praise can there be!This movie was nearly as funny as Speed 2 (we were nearly thrown out of the cinema for that one - did no-one else know it was a comedy?)All that was missing here was George Kennedy. Although it did have Carl Lewis!!and did anyone else pick up on the irony/symbolism of the kids playing 'Twister'? Fantastic.Get in some pizza and plenty of alcohol, you won't have a better evening's entertainment!!