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Can't anyone make a good Tornado Disaster movie?
- Thread starter super-heated plasma
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bengraven
Member
There was supposed to be a sequel set in NY.
Also, true story, I lived in the tornado belt and after leaving the theater we learned on the walk to our cars that there were tornado warnings in the area. The winds were heavy, flags snapping violently in the wind, paper blowing everywhere. Everyone who had just watched the movie gave each other a little half-serious chuckle and we got in our cars with a look that said "um, good luck...heh..".
Also, true story, I lived in the tornado belt and after leaving the theater we learned on the walk to our cars that there were tornado warnings in the area. The winds were heavy, flags snapping violently in the wind, paper blowing everywhere. Everyone who had just watched the movie gave each other a little half-serious chuckle and we got in our cars with a look that said "um, good luck...heh..".
super-heated plasma
Member
Sharknado........why did there have to be Sharknado...
Stereogatari
Banned
Read as "Tomato Disaster". What a let down of a thread.
Professor Lich
Member
Commander Jameson
Member
The tornado bits in "The Day After Tomorrow" were pretty impressive.
Crabernacle
Member
Jonas!
Son of a bitch!
"He's in it for the money, not the science!"
super-heated plasma
Member
another hilarious aspect of that movie. What money?? this was well before the days of reality TV.
Lionel Mandrake
Member
ReturnOfTheRAT
Member
Twister is fucking fantastic. Gonna go watch it again.
ItAintEasyBeinCheesy
it's 4th of July in my asshole
Disrespecting Twister... The fuck is wrong with you?. Fun as movie.
theepicoftyler
Member
I think to be fair, there is a divide in the storm chasing community where scientists and researchers are fighting with negative publicity from storm chasers who do tour groups, stream it online or to sell videos to news stations.
That doesn't really mesh with the character in that movie, but it exists.
Fried Food
Banned
I need to watch Twister again. It would be the first time as an adult. Thanks GAF.
Mushroomer25
Member
I like Twister. It's a good Sunday afternoon sort of movie - not perfect, but a lot of fun moments.
I'd watch a tornado movie where somehow, this is the finale.
A "good" tornado movie would not even be about the tornado(es). The disaster would either have to be at the start of the movie and the film ends up being about people struggling to recover, or it happens near the end of the movie and serves as a metaphor for the way character's lives had already been torn apart by interpersonal or social issues. Either way there would just be the one quick tornado event. Twister is the best you're going to get if you want a fun disaster movie.
Elfforkusu
Member
You could probably make a great movie about a giant night tornado.
Because night tornadoes are fucking terrifying.
Because night tornadoes are fucking terrifying.
grandjedi6
Master of the Google Search
Tornadoes come and go too quickly to make a good disaster movie.
The Real Abed
Perma-Junior
It's pretty good. But not as good as the sequel, which is a parody of the first one.
It's like Gremlins 2.
Or Human Centipede 2.
Basically takes the "seriousness" of the original and makes complete fun of it.
9th reply is a bit too long to wait for the correct answer
A Fish Aficionado
I am going to make it through this year if it kills me
Dodge sponsorship.
Holy shit. That's up there with that movie clip where some guy takes a bazooka and shoots a dude on a skateboard who's holding a blowup doll... and then pulls out a second bazooka and shoots the blowup doll for good measure.Not enough love for Sharknado.
Don't you dare disrespect Hard Ticket to Hawaii by comparing it with that rubbish.
For the uninitiated:
EDIT: On topic, I think Twister will be king for a long time to come.
Dr Zhivago
Member
They'll rue the day. I'm talking imminent rueage.
super-heated plasma
Member
I used to like Twister alot more. Now its bordering on The Suck Zone.
tiggerkiddo
Member
Tornadoes and hurricanes are too vastly different beasts. One lasts for weeks, one doesn't last an hour at worst.
Stormwatch
Member
Yeah, and it can be done sorta like Cloverfield where you never really see the tornado until the very end of the movie. You only see the destruction it has caused and the lives it has ruined.
Rhomega Beta
Member
I've heard of this one before and was wondering how it was.
NihonTiger90
Member
It's also based on a real tornado outbreak that happened and was incredibly bizarre: tornadoes rotating counter clockwise, looping on themselves, and an outbreak that lasted for more than 2 hours.
Warm Machine
Member
I said a SUPER TORNADO!
Twister is an absolute classic. Its definitely unrealistic in many ways, but the idea behind putting data sensors into a tornado to develop a better warning system is very sound science at this point and there have been multiple successful tornado intercepts with just such a mission. Not little magical sensor balls but close.
Still one of my all time favorite movies. Above almost anything else.
Still one of my all time favorite movies. Above almost anything else.
TheRedSnifit
Member
Everybody secretly likes Sharknado.
"F....food!"Twister is already the pinnacle of Tornado movies.
There is no point making any more
Also Phillip Seymor Hoffman's best performance
Twister will always have a place in my heart. It was the first movie I saw at an actually decent theatre with THX, and it impressed the hell out of me.
Anyone who dislikes Twister dislikes Diaster movies, imo.
Professor Lich
Member
I'll have to check them both out then. Thanks for the heads up!
Revolutionary
Member
I laughed so hard at the fire tornado death scene in Into the Storm. "No I have to get my camera guys"
Twister was significantly better.
Twister was significantly better.
Twister is the best Tornado movie we're going to get, to the point where I'm pretty confident nothing but a remake is going to top it.
Tornadoes don't stick around long enough to fill a whole movie (average life is 15 mins, average forward speed is 30mph), so you either need to exaggerate their duration to the point of absurdity or have multiple tornadoes. And nobody is going to get hit by multiple tornadoes except storm chasers or people unlucky to the point of comedy.
Even then, like a Godzilla movie, it can't just be non-stop disaster; you're going to have to cut away to "human stuff" occasionally, and while you can get better actors for sure there's still going to be a lot of character drama. The characters you do get are going to fall into pretty narrow roles too; expert (scientist / journalist), thrill-seeker, bystander, and various combinations (all of which are in Twister, you'll note).
And as silly as the idea of getting in front of a tornado and dropping an instrument pack is, it's actually a real thing; for several years in the 70s and 80s, NOAA funded a project to drop instrument packs (called "TOTO") in the path of oncoming storms. Even grounded in reality the plot of Twister still feels far flung; anything more is going to feel like pure fantasy. Twister even has plenty of absurdly silly bits like describing the storms as self-aware ("The storm is thinking! It's coming to get them!").
Tornadoes don't stick around long enough to fill a whole movie (average life is 15 mins, average forward speed is 30mph), so you either need to exaggerate their duration to the point of absurdity or have multiple tornadoes. And nobody is going to get hit by multiple tornadoes except storm chasers or people unlucky to the point of comedy.
Even then, like a Godzilla movie, it can't just be non-stop disaster; you're going to have to cut away to "human stuff" occasionally, and while you can get better actors for sure there's still going to be a lot of character drama. The characters you do get are going to fall into pretty narrow roles too; expert (scientist / journalist), thrill-seeker, bystander, and various combinations (all of which are in Twister, you'll note).
And as silly as the idea of getting in front of a tornado and dropping an instrument pack is, it's actually a real thing; for several years in the 70s and 80s, NOAA funded a project to drop instrument packs (called "TOTO") in the path of oncoming storms. Even grounded in reality the plot of Twister still feels far flung; anything more is going to feel like pure fantasy. Twister even has plenty of absurdly silly bits like describing the storms as self-aware ("The storm is thinking! It's coming to get them!").
Nothing beats Twister. That said, from what I remember I really enjoyed Night of The Twisters.
heliosRAzi
Banned
The most spectacular things I've seen in a movie besides seeing dinosaurs in Jurassic Park
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