THE FILM:

Who doesn't love a good disaster movie? Or a bad one for that matter? Into the Storm falls into the latter category, but there is still fun to be had with this lean, weather-disaster roller coaster. The previews for New Line's Twister wannabe were not great, so I opted to skip Into the Storm in theaters even though I really do love disaster flicks. I later watched the Cinema Snob's Midnight Screenings segment on the film, which is both hilarious and completely spot-on, and decided I would seek out the film to review. You get what you pay for here, mostly, including a whole slew of crazy tornadoes, cardboard characters, and 89 minutes of general mayhem. Into the Storm is worth watching on a huge screen with the volume cranked way up, preferably with booze.

You won't really care about any of the human drama, but Into the Storm follows a group of storm chasers, played by Matt Walsh, Sarah Wayne Callies, Arlen Escarpeta, and Jeremy Sumpter, studying a deadly storm system in and around Silverton, Oklahoma. Elsewhere, high school vice principal Gary Fuller (Richard Armitage) and his sons, Donnie (Max Deacon) and Trey (Nathan Kress), prepare for an outdoor graduation ceremony despite the risk of deadly tornadoes. The weather sirens soon begin screaming, and Silverton quickly becomes a war zone for ridiculously over-the-top tornadoes and related collateral damage. The most impressive CGI villain comes as a pair of fire tornadoes that ignite after an explosion outside a gas station. There are also dancing dust devils and a miles-wide, super-killer tornado to blow away the lackluster dialogue and unnecessary exposition.

Director Steven Quale (the not-bad Final Destination 5) and screenwriter John Swetnam incorporate found footage by making one of the storm chasers a documentary filmmaker. Also convenient is the video yearbook project Donnie and Trey are working on for their dad that allows more handheld footage. There are also a couple of rednecks (Jon Reep and Kyle Davis) filming tornadoes on their cell phones. This footage is only sporadically implemented, which is OK with me, as I much prefer the traditional filmmaking elements used here. The CGI is hit or miss, but it delivers where it really matters: the tornadoes. Into the Storm doesn't come close to creating the dread and terror of the unseen found in Twister, and instead chooses to assault the audience with a nonstop medley of tornadoes. This is kind of fun, and the pacing is certainly breakneck after the initial character introductions.

The film does a shoddy job with its fictional setting, and viewers never get a sense of space and direction. In spots the town looks like Mayberry, yet there is a giant airport full of 747s five minutes away for tornadoes to tear apart. The wildly approaching weather is entertaining, but Quale does little to build suspense. Where Twister and other disaster films ratchet up the tension throughout, Quale blows his load early with daylight action scenes where his characters survive in unbelievable situations. The best suspense comes early on when a group of students, teachers and parents takes shelter inside the high school, which quickly becomes a deadly wind tunnel as a tornado passes overhead. The final, climactic super tornado is visually impressive, but Into the Storm is so laser focused on its heroes that viewers never get a sense of the storm's gravity.

The actors certainly have fun with the material, but I doubt a single person involved with the film would tell you they were impressed with the story. Armitage plays his ice-cold daddy with a startling lack of emotion but plenty of intensity, and Callies is an affable but inadequate replacement for Helen Hunt. No one is watching Into the Storm for the melodrama, and it at least offers enough junk-food thrills to entertain for its scant running time. Quale proves adept at working with giant set pieces and CGI but could use some help with narrative framing and world building. Into the Storm aims at a teenage audience with its high school leads and found-footage gimmicks, but the big-screen disaster effects are universally appealing.

THE BLU-RAY:

PICTURE:

The 1.78:1/1080p/AVC-encoded image is constrained to a single-layer Blu-ray, but that does not seem to cause any compression problems. Into the Storm thankfully does not look like a typical found-footage movie, and, other than a few short segments with crazy handheld work, the presentation is pretty polished. Sharpness is good throughout, and I only noticed a bit of softness in wide, effects-heavy shots. Fine-object detail is good, and wide shots are generally deep and clear. I noticed no edge enhancement, shimmer or aliasing. Colors are well saturated, though the digital source does take the punch out of the black levels in spots.

SOUND:

The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is incredible, and shows off the film's strong sound design. Calling the mix immersive is an understatement, and viewers are thrown directly into the path of oncoming tornadoes. Range and clarity are both good, and the mix appropriately delivers the action and quieter, dialogue-heavy scenes. Dialogue is clear and without distortion, and the film's score is appropriately mixed and fully realized. The ambient and action effects are the real stars here, and each surround speaker is used to deliver the entertainment. Sirens shriek from the rear of the sound field, and wild winds whip across the room. Rain and hail pitter-patter through the channels and screams echo from back to front. Impressive! French, Portuguese and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks are also available, as are English SDH, French, Portuguese and Spanish subtitles.

PACKAGING AND EXTRAS:

This two-disc "combo pack" includes the Blu-ray, a DVD copy and an UltraViolet Digital HD access code. The plain black discs are packed into an eco-case, which is wrapped in a slipcover. Warner Brothers' typical static menus make their expected appearance. In the Tornado Files (10:48/HD) Quale and his crew discuss the effects and the different kinds of tornadoes in the film. This is a brief but interesting piece that also includes real-life storm footage. Titus: The Ultimate Storm Chasing Vehicle (8:23/HD) spotlights the hero car that is very un-storm worthy in real life, and Fake Storms, Real Conditions (5:37/HD) further explores real weather disasters and how they were recreated on screen.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I am always excited for a disaster movie - especially a weather disaster movie - and Into the Storm at least offers popcorn entertainment. The human drama and characters are forgettable at best, but the film offers 89 minutes of tornado-related mayhem. That alone is enough for me to recommend that you Rent It.

William lives in Burlington, North Carolina, and looks forward to a Friday-afternoon matinee.