Category 6: Day of Destruction - Page 2  

My expectations were low, I mean we are watching a 'made-for-TV' movie which hasn't be aired anywhere, so based on my expectations I was pleasantly surprised with the story line and cgi effects. I was also surprised with the minimal commercial interruptions. I was expecting way more. Good job CBS for providing some alternative programming in HD.

CBS prefeeds Sunday primetime in HD on Sunday mornings. Most O&O stations and some other affiliates have the gear necessary to catch and playback that feed in situations such as this. But not all.

I think some people expect too much out of these types of movies. It's all about the special effects, nothing more. The plots are secondary.

If you view these types of movies this way, you will be less disappointed.

With that in mind, I somewhat enjoyed the movie. The effects looked really good in HD.

Growing up on Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake, Towering Inferno, Airport, etc. I'll watch pretty much any disaster movie they come out with. The more destruction and calamity, the less important the plot. :)

I caught about 10 minutes of this... just to see the PQ...

After I read the description of the show.. "three weather systems, combining into one super storm.." Yep, it's another "Day after Tomorrow" Can't people come up with there own original story line for the basis of a movie anymore? :)

Beyond that, terrible plot/story, even in the 10 minutes I saw... :D

But yes, I realize these movies are not for story/plot...

Thanks for the info. I can't remember seeing a delayed local HD brodcast before so this was a new one for me. Hopefully the rest of my local affiliates will catch up. Note: WUSA mentioned above is owned by Gannett.

Yeah, but the "nice" thing about those movies were that they were "pure" disaster films for the most part; now everything has to be the fault of the government ("it's all due to global warming, those idiots in government won't listen to me") and big business (oooh, see the evil power company screw customers, and remember folks, no matter how much it might make sense, nuclear power is dangerous...)

I wonder what the same critics will say about pornographic films shown on HDTV. :D Will they complain about the plot?

Yeah, I noticed that. I told my my wife the head of Lexar Corp. was missing his handlebar mustache so he could twirl it when he said with glee that "it will eliminate 100s of jobs" :rolleyes:

......... and it couldn't simply be a hacker - it had to be the power company's dumbing down of the computer security to save money that enabled the system to be hacked.

But remember, in Towering Inferno, it was the idiot son-in-law that cut corners to save some cash - so even the evil corporation isn't an original plot point. :)

I too grew up on these. Poseidon Adventure was one of the first "blockbusters" I saw and this movie sort of reminded me of it.

In fact, I expected to hear a rendition of "There's got to be a morning after" break out towards the end. Probably updated and performed by some of today's more popular artists...Britney, Eminem, or 50 cent, although I prefer U2.:D

Maureen McGovern is the disater queen. She got the Oscar for "The Morning After" featured on Poseidon Adventure. Then she debuted "We May Never Love Like This Again" on Towering Inferno and it also became a hit. Oddly, nothing of significance came out of her role as the singing nun on Airplane! (the Leslie Nielson spoof) :D

Well, I agree with CPanther95...bring on the mindless CGI :D
and Randy Quaid (now super-sized) brings his manic intensity to a very funny running bit with the Japanese tornado-hunter wannabees.

I'd have to say, some of the special effects looked a little cheesy, but they probably would have looked cheesy in SD, too.

And Brian Dennehy as a rough-and-tumble ... meteorologist?

Yeah, I had to chuckle a bit. But hey, a made-for-TV movie in HD -- that's one more barrier broken. Maybe soon they'll shoot reality shows in HD (and, unlike ABC, actually AIR them that way.)

I thought the HD looked pretty good especially the HD day shots of the city of Chicago. The special effects were pretty cool except the guy that got sucked out of the Las Vegas hotel window; now that was a little tacky.

Randy Quaid will FOREVER be "Cousin Eddie" for me....and the "National Weather Administration" is another great misnomer that you usually see in a movie like this....:confused:

Is it "illegal" to use National Weather Service in a movie like this ??

Ah, c'mon, you know everything is regurgitated now-a-days. At least the ending of this movie HAS to be better than the ending for Day After Tomorrow. Man, was I pissed how it ended.

I think they just don't want any hassles, especially if one of the employees is a total jackass. They did mention the FBI and Homeland Security departments.

What was really bad if you ask me was the shot of the boats they said were in Chicago and they were flying the Canadian flag. Also the shot of the train trestle and it had the big CN logo (Canadian National) on it. THe outside scenes were shoot in Winnipeg I think. I mean they could have least edited that stuff out to make it somewhat believable.:confused:

Yeah, that would have done it. :rolleyes:

Lots of CN boats travel the Great Lakes, although probably not many make it into the Chicago River.

I liked how they wove humor into the plot (the visiting Japanese tornado tourists and the farmhouse couple retrieving bills from Las Vegas in the wind). Otherwise, I'm watching purely for the HD special effects - which I presume really kick in on Wednesday.....

I thought the fuel truck being caught by the tornado looked like a cartoon. I guess the studio is not willing to pay for decent CGI for a made-for-TV move.

Yea, that was definitely the worse one I saw too!!!

My problem with this movie was insufficient stupidity. Remember the quake movie a few months back that featured a quake chasing a train? Now *that's* good disaster schlock!

I'm waiting for someone to make a movie or mini series out of Greg Bear's Forge of God. Now THAT's the ultimate disaster flick! Although the total destruction of the earth may be deemed too depressing to be marketable.

I work in downtown Chicago. I hope my building 1) gets hit by a giant wave from Lake M, 2) is sucked up in a hurricane and 3) lands in Gary.

Ya gotta love this flick it's got ...

- that Facts of Life chick
- Randy Quaid on cheeseburger steroids
- Thomas (this thing killed my movie career) Gibson
- Brian D (portrayed JW Gacy) exclaiming "millions of people will die"
- evil Enronian business execs
- hot blond chick embroiled in affair
- unknown hacker fingers
- no sign of Mayor Daley

Will we survive? Stay tuned ...

Oh yeah...HD in Chicago on Comcast and OTA.

What an awesome book. When I finished, I read the ending again. Riveting. No script could do it justice. It's one of those books that can only be read to appreciate, like "Dune".

Anyway, I'm liking this more than 10.5, mainly because it's in great HD, and it's moving along pretty well. I remember in "Asteroid" there was a half hour spent on the "heroes" walking through rubble and yelling names: "Ben! ... "George!!!...Bill???...". This has a gist of a plot, a touch of soap, and significant action. So as a connoisseur of tawdry disaster TV flix, I'm having a good time here.

Note also a semi familiar face from another disaster film - the guy who plays the evil head of Lexar Power was the first to die in "The Core". Right at the beginning, before the title, he was all set to make a small fortune before his pacemaker quit and he hit the glass table with a thud.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to Wednesday. All this and Lost!

I watched part 1 and I'll watch part 2 just to see the Arch fall over. I was at the top on a day with 50 MPH gusts. You can feel the arch sway, but it is supposed to withstand "normal" 150 MPH winds.

Aside from rare exceptions such as Duel, not too many made-for-TV movies are worth more than a single viewing. But I didn't expect the plot to get as clogged up as it has. Big Bad Power Company? Has Viacom forgotten that it's a Bid Bad Media Conglomerate? :D And Eric, the JD with the gun, must come to a bad end--he's not even listed as an actor on IMDB.

Well, I'll waste four hours of my life on this, but I won't be waiting with baited breath to buy the DVD.

C

It was in HD in Denver and looked great. The only problem is my local affiliate is broadcasting from a building in downtown and my recievor sometimes has fits locking in a signal. No 5.1 sound. What a shame. I have to agree, the script was aweful. The cinematography was incredible and the image quality was some of the best I have ever seen. Too bad the movie was just garbage.
T.

The Arch falling over is the big draw for me since I live in St. Louis. I have never been up in that thing afraid of heights and the tight train ride up the legs.

For the record this movie can't be that bad especially when my wife, says it it is OK and she wants to watch the second half. Can you believe that?

LOL. You hit the nail on the head there.

Best part of the movie is definitely Randy Quaid. Everything else-- directing, acting, plot, script-- less than mediocre. Special effects and HD presentation are nice, of course.