When a ground-breaking industrial experiment, which is said to change the way we look at energy, goes awry, the energy overflow manifests itself into a deadly swirling magnetic field that sucks up anything and everything magnetic. As the funnel of metal grows in strength, it rips and shreds anything in its path to destruction and as most of the scientists and workers scramble to safety, Steven Winters, Michael Edwards and Rebecca Adler race against time to stop the extraordinary threat that threatens to grow bigger and stronger every passing minute. Will they be able to stop the metal tornado that’s on the path to becoming one of the biggest catastrophes of our time? Only time will tell… and there’s not a lot of time left.
Metal Tornado was a made-for-TV movie, which in itself already declares that it probably wasn’t a good idea to go along with a sci-fi plot due to the lack of funding for CGI, which usually goes along with made-for-TV film budgets. As a viewer there are certain things that you can overlook in a movie (even when it’s a made-for-TV one), but CGI is rarely one of them. Seeing as Metal Tornado was so CGI based, it was difficult to overlook it… What’s more is that you wish SyFy got involved (the CGI is that bad in some cases) in the making of Metal Tornado. However, with the horrible part out of the way, let’s look at the other things that made Metal Tornado what it is. First off, we have the acting… Now, Nicole DeBoer is a household name when it comes to bad films, but to be honest, I quite like her and she can actually act when the opportunity presents itself. That being said, you can’t expect one actress to carry a whole cast, or in the most part just Lou Diamond Phillips’ bad acting. What?! Yes, sadly the La Bamba actor simply got on my last nerve in this flick, because every single thing that came out of his mouth sounded condescending and I won’t stand for it. Whenever he spoke to any of the other actors, it sounded like he was talking down to them… You may have a few good flicks out, Mr Lou Diamond Phillips, but you’re no Brad Pitt, so cut down the condescending tone already!
That being said, the plot to Metal Tornado was actually not too shabby. SyFy would have been able to do so much more with it though, especially when it comes to the CGI (sorry, but the CGI was just so bad). I’m no scientist, but I’m nerdy enough to go look up certain things after I’ve been intrigued and the writers did actually do their homework when it came down to a plausible storyline with the magnetism. I’m not going to say that I believe a Metal Tornado could exist, but there are some theories in the script that aren’t farfetched at all. Actually, this movie would have made a great addition to disaster films, if the budget was set in place.
All in all, I’d say give it a miss. My ultimate reason is not the CGI; I can handle a bad CGI film, heaven knows I’ve reviewed a lot of them in the past and found them quite enjoyable (Scream of the Banshee is a great example)… My reason for disliking Metal Tornado is ultimately because of Lou Diamond Phillips’ diva approach to his character. However, if you’re into condescending tones and a lack of giving a damn about humility, then this might just be the movie you’re looking for. In my books though, Metal Tornado will get no more than a 3/10 star rating out of me.
