Polar Storm (2009) Movie Review, Trailer, Film Still and Poster

USA 2009
Director: Paul Ziller
Cast: Jack Coleman, Holly Dignard, Tyler Johnston, Emma Lahana, Roger R. Cross, Terry David Mulligan
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: March 28th 2009
Running Time: 1 hour 27 mins 54 secs

The Movie Review

Polar Storm film still 1


POLAR STORM
Storyline:
Cast:
Ending:
Overall:

I always try to keep an open mind over any movie that have been told by many people as Bad and even labeled as "Avoid It". Including about Polar Storm. So, I just sit back and watch it with modest expectation, not too high and not too low, just merely want to see a disaster flick. And to my surprise, Polar Storm, despite its many flaws, the storyline didn't even bore me. It's a nice low-budget flick.

Polar Storm is a made-for-TV disaster movie produced by Sci Fi channel, it tells about a comet named Copernicus that flies over the earth and its projectile struck an area where Dr. James Mayfield, a respected astro physicist, and his family are living. Coincidentally, James (Jack Coleman) is currently working near the point of impact site and the only living witness of the real deal. The impact of this incident is that the earth magnet is gradually becoming off-balance and storm of electromagnetic pulses are often swipe out the neigbouring areas which instantly destroying every electric or modern stuff such as mobile, cars, lamps and of course kills anyone who touch it. The government is covering this up because of their lack of knowledge over the actual danger. But James, his wife Cynthia (Holly Dignard) and their son Shane (Tyler Johnston) witness the following incident firsthand and it's now up to Dr. James to make a solution to deal with the grave danger of the shifting pole of our planet earth...

Polar Storm film still 2

Some people who have scientific background may frown upon the science behind it, but I think most of general moviegoers wouldn't even mind to the scientific accuracy behind it. Most people I know might ask about two things, is the story interesting? And how about the special effects? Yes, the science may suck, but the effects shouldn't. Unfortunately, the effects are pretty hurtful for avid disaster movie fans. But I understand the limited budget, so I didn't really mind that much. What truly hurts this movie is... the acting. For goodness sake man, how awful! Not all of them (of course not!), but Tyler Johnston is just awful, he is unbelievably wooden that I didn't have the slightest idea how he passed the audition. He doesn't look shocked when his friend crushed to death, he doesn't look relieved when finding out that his dad is still alive, and he doesn't panicked when his step-mom experiences something horrible in a sudden, his lines are weak. And it doesn't help that his character is hard to believe as well. With the small size of his body, he could lift a person bigger than him only with one hand and... only with his belt. Does the polar storm turn normal person into superman perhaps? And another important character suffers horrible script as well, after her relative dies, she falls down on her knees sobbing, only to be cheerful again a few minutes later because her car is fixed. Yeay...! Doh!

But despite all my objections above, it's strange that I could actually enjoy viewing Polar Storm, probably because of the pacing which is good and it's tight. Overall, Polar Storm is more enjoyable than another Sci-Fi film that I have reviewed a few days ago, NYC: Tornado Terror (2009). Polar Storm doesn't try to 'cover' the world, just a certain area, but it really focuses on depicting the disaster in that selected area, unlike NYC: Tornado Terror (2009) which has more ambition but sadly failed to accomplish it.

Polar Storm is just what it is, a low-budget film that is. If the story is intriguing, sometimes it helps the overall quality a lot, and the flow plus the pacing of the story of Polar Storm is not dragging. I didn't regret watching this movie, but if you prefer the big budgeted ones with all the cutting edge techies on board then I suggest you to see other titles.