'Something is definitely not right', that quote is taken directly out of the movie, and it can very well be used to sum up the entire movie.
As soon as I saw 'The Asylum' written on the screen at the very beginning of the movie, I feared that this was going to be bad. That The Asylum had returned to their horribly bad disaster movies after a couple of actual decent non-disaster movies in the past couple of years. And boy was I right, this was bad on so many levels. I have seen a lot of really bad and questionable disaster movies, and "Super Cyclone" definitely is right up there in the top 5 fighting for the number one position.
For starters, there are so many continuity errors in this movie that you just sit there and shake your head in disbelief. For example, for a super cyclone of that magnitude to be in effect, the ocean was unbelievably calm, with only lazy waves rolling about. And also the sky in my of the shots, especially aboard the off-shore rig, was changing between dark and storm-like to clear blue and almost cloudless - make up your minds already? Or the fact that the ocean was on fire and the rig was on fire, but then in some scenes neither ocean nor rig was on fire!
Then lets take a moment and talk about the special effects (or lack thereof). The computer animated rain was just horrible, and it was so fake that it wouldn't even fool a blind man. It was without a doubt the worst CGI rain I have ever seen. It could douse the car, but it left the road and nature dry and untouched. And the same with the time it was raining oil! It soaked and drenched the car, but the environment was spotless and clean.
Why is it that The Asylum always have to resort to have a video sequence and then use the same sequence over and over again? It is ridiculous. Especially the scene where a tornado picked up a ship, and then shortly after the ship was returned to the ocean. And guess what? Yeah, you guessed it, they just reversed the video clip and used that. I was laughing so hard at that.
Flaming hail? Seriously? Who comes up with that? Hail is a form of solid precipitation, that consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice. So for hail to be on fire and falling from the sky? Come on, no one is that stupid to believe that for a second. Flaming ice, hilarious!
The scene with the bursting dam should also be mentioned, not only because it looked so painfully fake, but because for some reason that huge amount of water abides to the physics and shapes of roads. I loved how the wall of water was able to turn a curve and come straight for the car, where it would otherwise (had it followed the natural laws of physics) continued straight ahead into the trees. It just have to be seen to be believed. I have never seen anything that stupid.
Or what about where the people were trying to get over a felled tree, and the guy just stopped midway and just stood there extending his arm, thinking 'yeah, I will get across if I just keep extending my arm!' and then got sucked into a sinkhole that just magically popped up and took him. That was just insulting to everyone. That guy's behavior was just so appalling and unrealistic. Not to mention the security officer and his companion aboard the off-shore rig, who just upped and decided to jump into the boiling ocean! What was up with that? Who would do that?
Speaking of boiling water. We were lead to believe that the ocean was boiling! But there was no bubbles in the water to indicate the boiling temperature. Nor did blisters or red markings appear on the skin of those people who were in the water, supposedly being boiled alive. If you go for something like that, at least have the courtesy to make it appear as it is actually happening, make the audience buy into it.
Well, all the ranting aside, then there was good things to "Super Cyclone", not many, but some. The good thing about the movie, and the fact that I actually managed to suffer through the entire movie, was the acting. They had actually put together a good enough group of people. Mind you, it is not award-winning acting here, but it is above amateur level, which makes it bearable to behold. Most memorable in the movie was Ming-Na (playing Dr. Jenna Sparks) and Darin Cooper (playing Colonel Lee Chadwick).
If you enjoy a good natural disaster movie, then stay well clear of "Super Cyclone", because it doesn't deliver and it will not blow you away. Then you are perhaps better off with a choice like "Volcano".
However, if you enjoy a campy and cheesy natural disaster movie in which the biggest disaster is the special effects, then hang around for the approximate hour and a half, because "Super Cyclone" is about to rock your world.
As soon as I saw 'The Asylum' written on the screen at the very beginning of the movie, I feared that this was going to be bad. That The Asylum had returned to their horribly bad disaster movies after a couple of actual decent non-disaster movies in the past couple of years. And boy was I right, this was bad on so many levels. I have seen a lot of really bad and questionable disaster movies, and "Super Cyclone" definitely is right up there in the top 5 fighting for the number one position.
For starters, there are so many continuity errors in this movie that you just sit there and shake your head in disbelief. For example, for a super cyclone of that magnitude to be in effect, the ocean was unbelievably calm, with only lazy waves rolling about. And also the sky in my of the shots, especially aboard the off-shore rig, was changing between dark and storm-like to clear blue and almost cloudless - make up your minds already? Or the fact that the ocean was on fire and the rig was on fire, but then in some scenes neither ocean nor rig was on fire!
Then lets take a moment and talk about the special effects (or lack thereof). The computer animated rain was just horrible, and it was so fake that it wouldn't even fool a blind man. It was without a doubt the worst CGI rain I have ever seen. It could douse the car, but it left the road and nature dry and untouched. And the same with the time it was raining oil! It soaked and drenched the car, but the environment was spotless and clean.
Why is it that The Asylum always have to resort to have a video sequence and then use the same sequence over and over again? It is ridiculous. Especially the scene where a tornado picked up a ship, and then shortly after the ship was returned to the ocean. And guess what? Yeah, you guessed it, they just reversed the video clip and used that. I was laughing so hard at that.
Flaming hail? Seriously? Who comes up with that? Hail is a form of solid precipitation, that consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice. So for hail to be on fire and falling from the sky? Come on, no one is that stupid to believe that for a second. Flaming ice, hilarious!
The scene with the bursting dam should also be mentioned, not only because it looked so painfully fake, but because for some reason that huge amount of water abides to the physics and shapes of roads. I loved how the wall of water was able to turn a curve and come straight for the car, where it would otherwise (had it followed the natural laws of physics) continued straight ahead into the trees. It just have to be seen to be believed. I have never seen anything that stupid.
Or what about where the people were trying to get over a felled tree, and the guy just stopped midway and just stood there extending his arm, thinking 'yeah, I will get across if I just keep extending my arm!' and then got sucked into a sinkhole that just magically popped up and took him. That was just insulting to everyone. That guy's behavior was just so appalling and unrealistic. Not to mention the security officer and his companion aboard the off-shore rig, who just upped and decided to jump into the boiling ocean! What was up with that? Who would do that?
Speaking of boiling water. We were lead to believe that the ocean was boiling! But there was no bubbles in the water to indicate the boiling temperature. Nor did blisters or red markings appear on the skin of those people who were in the water, supposedly being boiled alive. If you go for something like that, at least have the courtesy to make it appear as it is actually happening, make the audience buy into it.
Well, all the ranting aside, then there was good things to "Super Cyclone", not many, but some. The good thing about the movie, and the fact that I actually managed to suffer through the entire movie, was the acting. They had actually put together a good enough group of people. Mind you, it is not award-winning acting here, but it is above amateur level, which makes it bearable to behold. Most memorable in the movie was Ming-Na (playing Dr. Jenna Sparks) and Darin Cooper (playing Colonel Lee Chadwick).
If you enjoy a good natural disaster movie, then stay well clear of "Super Cyclone", because it doesn't deliver and it will not blow you away. Then you are perhaps better off with a choice like "Volcano".
However, if you enjoy a campy and cheesy natural disaster movie in which the biggest disaster is the special effects, then hang around for the approximate hour and a half, because "Super Cyclone" is about to rock your world.