Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Into the Storm Blu-ray Movie Review

Coulda, shoulda, woulda...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown December 5, 2014

Any other studio would have slapped the words Twister 2 across Into the Storm's title card and called it a day. But not Warner Bros. The powers that be either completely missed an obvious opportunity to cash in on a 14-year old guilty pleasure or, more likely, realized just how awful Into the Storm was and chose not to tarnish Twister any more than age already has. Director Steven Quale's quasi-found footage disaster dud isn't just cheesy, it's plain ol' bad, from top to bottom, funnel to storm cloud. The setup is thin, the found footage angle is shaky (pardon the pun), the characters are one dimensional and comically familiar, the script is the stuff of CinemaSins gold, any sense of realism is laughable, and the dialogue... *shudder*. If there's any redeeming value it's that Into the Storm could -- could -- be the film that finally inspires studios to do something different with their next disaster flicks. Not that I'm holding out much hope...

"Look out! That CG is coming right for us!"

In the span of just a few hours, the city of Silverton is ravaged by an unprecedented onslaught of the most furious twisters they've ever seen. The entire town is at the mercy of the erratic and deadly cyclones, even as storm trackers predict the worst is yet to come. Most people seek shelter, while others run toward the vortex, testing how far a storm chaser will go for that once-in-a-lifetime shot. Told through the eyes and lenses of professional storm chasers, thrill-seeking amateurs, and courageous townspeople, 'Into the Storm' throws you directly into the eye of the storm to experience Mother Nature at her most extreme.

Like the studio's official synopsis, Into the Storm's theatrical trailers are surprisingly devoid of actors. Not because there aren't any recognizable faces and names in the cast -- Richard Armitage sheds his Hobbit prosthetics to play a vice principal and single father of two boys, The Walking Dead's Sarah Wayne Callies (Lorie) is the meteorologist in distress he inevitably falls for, and Veep's Matt Walsh is a cutting-edge storm chaser -- but because this is an Event Film. Capital E, capital F. And Event Films aren't driven by actors but by the jaw-dropping, town-leveling catastrophes threatening to crush, drown and destroy anyone in its path, regardless of celebrity status. It's a broken Event Film, though. It's titular storm isn't all that frightening, its impact on the characters' community is handled with kid gloves, and the displaced, distressed people hit by the fallout don't feel like real people at all. The leading cause of mediocrity in disaster films is paper-thin protagonists. Spectacle trumps authenticity. Visual effects trump performances. Grand scale destruction trumps small scale drama. And believability goes right out the window, along with whatever debris the FX team can throw into the car-flinging wind.

The found footage approach isn't convincing either, requiring an increasingly awkward series of lame explanations as to why so many smalltown citizens (with such steady hands and capable cinematic vision) are investing so much time and energy into keeping their HD cameras rolling. You'd think they were recording the aftermath of a local fender bender for the Evening News, not the traumatizing, panic-inducing carnage and calamity happening all around. Yet they dutifully hit record without fail, and I guess eventually find someone to edit it all together in an improbably complete, impossibly sanitized 90-minute documentary. (One that also somehow incorporates footage not captured by any of the townsfolk. Not sure how that works.) More effort is put into selling the found footage bits and pieces, though, than in selling the storm, the wreckage, the frequent brushes with death, and the men and women scurrying from building to building just to survive. I laughed out loud. I shook my head. I cringed, and cringed for all the wrong reasons at all the wrong times. I'm sure someone out there will dig the quote-unquote fun of it all, or find its cheeseball camp utterly delicious, in a SyFy movie sorta way. Not me. I need to believe that the people darting between tumbling CG buses and collapsing CG buildings are real, and nothing about Into the Storm struck me as remotely real. I'd rather take in another three or four iterations of Sharknado. They at least know what kind of film they're making.

Into the Storm Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Even though the residents of Silverton are properly prepped with HD cameras, Into the Storm's 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation is still beholden to a few found footage gimmicks; just not as many as you might expect going in. Yes, grays, dark grays and even darker grays dominate the at-times borderline monochromatic palette. And yes, the digital photography's black levels offer their own brand of not-quite-pitch gray. Hints of color part the clouds, though. Primaries are decently represented, skintones are relatively well-saturated, and contrast, while often murky, is fairly consistent. Detail is pretty good too, despite some lapses into shakiness, softness and general nausea. Edges are surprisingly crisp and fine textures are uncharacteristically abundant, without as many of the stylistic trade-offs found footage films typically embrace. What little macroblocking, banding and other anomalies appear are inherent to the source, and there isn't much in the way of distractions, other than those that trace back to intention. Into the Storm may not be much to look at, but its encode doesn't disappoint.

Into the Storm Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The highlight of the disc is, without a doubt, Warner's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. While it's strange that Dolphin Tale 2 earns a 7.1 mix while Into the Storm is left wanting, the track remains wonderfully immersive, dropping listeners into the middle of some very convincing, very enveloping sonic chaos. LFE output grabs hold of every thunder crack, splintering oak, hurtling vehicle, toppling building, deluge of water, roaring wind and collapsing debris, adding some much-needed strength and power to all the destruction. Rear speaker activity is aggressive and intense, directional effects are fierce and precise, pans are perfectly transparent, and the soundfield is involving. Dialogue is a bit overwhelmed by it all, although most likely by intention since any key lines are prioritized without flaw. Regardless of how you feel about the film, you'll come away from its lossless mix with a smile.

Into the Storm Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Tornado Files (HD, 11 minutes): An overview of the real tornados that inspired the twisters in Into the Storm is combined with a look at the FX team's development and creation of the CG destruction.
• The Ultimate Storm-Chasing Vehicle (HD, 8 minutes): Buckle into Titus, the film's armored vehicle.
• Fake Storms / Real Conditions (HD, 6 minutes): The cast deals with the filmmakers' practically realized storms, winds and rains on the sets and locations of Into the Storm.

Into the Storm Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Into the Storm offers nothing new, offers little in the way of found footage innovation, and doesn't do much of anything well. Armitage works to convey the realism of the super-storm, but too many elements of the film ring false, contrived or painfully conventional. This is a SyFy movie with a budget; the potential just makes the results that much more irritating. Warner's Blu-ray release is on solid ground, though, thanks to a strong video presentation and even stronger DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. The special features leave a lot to be desired, but then so does the film. If you can't get enough disaster flicks, have at. You might even enjoy yourself. If you have the patience to wait for one worth its weight in destruction, keep waiting.