Airplane vs. Volcano (2014)

"Airplane vs. Volcano" is brought to you by the amazing folks over at The Asylum studios.
This movie starts off with two Vulcanologists studying a ring of volcanoes. The volcanoes begin to erupt and one of the Vulcanologists dies while trying to escape.
Meanwhile, a commercial airplane carrying well over 100 passengers gets stuck in the erupting ring of volcanoes. The two pilots flying the plane are killed after the plane experiences severe turbulence. A man named Rick (played by Dean Cain) tries to take control of the plane. He is joined by a stewardess, an air Marshall, and a colleague of the Vulcanologists (the two from the beginning of the movie). The surviving member of the Vulcanologist team is at a military base assisting everyone in planning evacuations and courses of action. When they learn about the commercial airliner being stuck in the ring of volcanoes, they try to figure out a way assist them, much to the chagrin of their boss.

The folks aboard the airplane try working together to avoid tragedy, but not all of them are seeing eye-to-eye. Can they get to safety before the volcanoes kill them, or they kill each other?

My Review:
If you haven't already noticed, I'm a huge fan of Asylum movies. Many of the movies I review are Asylum movies, and I will continue to add Asylum movies to this blog. Sure, I encounter movies from Asylum that absolutely stink, but this movie wasn't one of them.
This movie kept me on the edge of my seat! It was non-stop action, with a hint of gore. The special effects were pretty good for a movie that wasn't a blockbuster. The acting was pretty good as well.

Would I recommend this movie to my readers? Absolutely! If you love disaster movies that keep you on the edge of your seat, you will LOVE "Airplane vs. Volcano."

This movie also stars Robin Givens, Tamara Goodwin, and Anthony Marks.
Check out the trailer here:

Snowmaggedon (2011)

Normal is a small mountainous village in Alaska. On Christmas eve, a mysterious present is left on the doorstep of the town sheriff and his pilot wife. Their young son sees the present at the door and brings it into the house. When he unwraps the present, he sees that it’s a globe of the village. As he starts shaking the globe and winding it up, the village begins to experience strong earthquakes, fires, and underground spikes begin to wreak havoc on this tiny hamlet.

Could the snow globe be causing these natural disasters, or could it be something else entirely?

The movie stars: David Cubitt (of “10.5”) and Laura Harris ( of “Dead Like Me.”)

  

To purchase this movie, click on the photo. You will be redirected to Amazon.  

My Review:
What drew me to watch this movie was the synopsis. I found it to be intriguing and original. While watching the movie, I kept a close eye on camera techniques, special effects, and acting ability. I think the stars of the movie did a great job. The camera techniques were well done. The special effects were what you’d expect from a Sy-Fy original movie.
All in all, I definitely recommend this movie, especially if you’re looking for originality.

 (Photo credit: RapidMoviez)

100 Degrees Below Zero (2013)

 To purchase the movie, click on the photo.

"100 Degrees Below Zero" is one of the latest Sci-Fi disaster flicks released by The Asylum production company. They are best known for disaster movies, such as, "500mph Storm," and "Super Cyclone." (source: www.imdb.com/title/tt2538128/)

100 Degrees Below Zero is a chiller of a movie. After a volcano in Iceland erupts, it sends an ash cloud into the atmosphere. The ash cloud collides with a "freak" storm, causing the climate to turn colder. Several volcanoes in Europe begin to erupt, and the continent is plagued with large earthquakes. The climate in Europe begins to deteriorate and temperatures nose dive to well below zero. Snow falls all over Europe, and ice cyclones destroy the Eiffel tower.
A man from America and his new wife are eager to reunite with his children in Paris. However, with conditions turning dangerous, the journey becomes a race against time. Will mother nature prevent this family from reuniting?
Those who know me know how much I love disaster movies. The storyline was consistent. However, the acting was sub par. At certain points of the movie, the acting was cringe-worthy. The camera was shaky. It almost gave you the feeling that 16 year old "Dawson Leery," from "Dawson's Creek," was filming it with his camcorder. Actually, he probably would have done a better job at filming the movie.

There weren't any "A-list" stars in the movie, but, if you like indie flicks, or made-for-tv movies, you may know who Jeff Fahey is. John-Rhys Davies also stars in the movie. If you are a seasoned Sci-Fi disaster movie fan like me, you may also recognize Sara Malakul Lane.

Anyways, if you can let the sub par acting and rookie filming mistakes slide, you might actually like the movie. Like I said, it was a pretty good storyline.

[photo credit: www.hayhaytv.vn] 

Judgment Day (1999)

I went through a lot to get this movie from Netflix, so when I saw it in my mailbox this afternoon, I hoped that it would be good.

Before I get to my review of the movie, here is a synopsis of what this movie is all about:
The movie is about an asteroid that is heading toward Earth. The only man that knows how to destroy the 14 mile wide behemoth, Dr. David Corbett, was just kidnapped by a group of Christian cultists. There are only a couple of days until the asteroid destroys Earth, and NASA is desperate to find this man. They enlist the help of an FBI agent (Jeanine Tyrell) to release a man from prison (Matthew Reese), who may hold the key of the whereabouts of Dr. Corbett. Reese has bad blood with the Christian cult and has a score to settle, so he joins in on the search for Dr. Corbett.
Together, Tyrell and Reese track down the whereabouts of Corbett and doesn't let ANYONE or ANYTHING stand in their way.

After all, time isn't in their favor.
Can they find Dr. Corbett in time to save Earth from destruction? You'll have to see the movie in order to find out!

This movie stars Ice-T, Coolio, Suzy Amis, Mario Van Peebles and Linden Ashby.

My review:
This movie wasn't exactly what I expected. Usually when I watch a sci-fi disaster movie, I expect a lot of destruction and carnage. This movie did not deliver any of that. In fact, the asteroid didn't really make much of an appearance, except for the beginning and end. The meat of the movie was about finding Dr. Corbett.
Despite the lack of what I love about disaster flicks, I still found the movie to be enjoyable. Ice-T and Suzy Amis had amazing on-screen chemistry and were hilarious working together.
Watching Ice-T's character being released from prison and being on the outside was entertaining. He ran into some people he knew and asked for information about the cult (so he could find Dr. Corbett). His antics where hilarious.

At first, I thought this was going to be a faith-based film, and that's okay, since there are some disaster flicks that are faith based (I will be reviewing those soon). But, this was nowhere near being faith-based. A lot of strong language and violence.

The acting was decent. The camera work was satisfactory. The special effects were terrible, especially scenes involving the asteroid.

I do recommend this movie. It is funny, entertaining, and it will keep your interest. It isn't as much a disaster flick, as it is an action movie.

To purchase this movie, click on the above photo. 

[photo credit: www.dvd-bluray-reviews.com]

Quantum Apocalypse (2010)

Today, a copy of Quantum Apocalypse arrived in my mailbox, and I decided to take a look to see if this movie was any good.

Synopsis:
The movie starts off with Dr. Rhodes discovering that a comet has went off course (due to an anomaly) and has hit Mars. Now the comet is on a collision course with Earth, along with some of the debris from Mars.
A crackpot science team which includes: Tom, Trish, and Dr. Sadoughian must work fast to find a way to stop the comet from destroying Earth.
Meanwhile, at Mayor Ben Marshall's house, it's business as usual. His autistic brother Terry is making pancakes from scratch for his niece. The Mayor's son gets a ride to school from his father and drops him off in front of the school. The anomaly begins to cause weather disasters across the globe. Earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis, and more wreak havoc and kill millions. Terry had been talking to a friend of his online about the anomaly and has been tracking everything. He believes he knows how to stop the comet and the anomaly from destroying Earth. However, he needs to get to the Space Center in Houston.

Can Terry get to Houston in time to help the scientists save Earth from ultimate destruction? You will have to watch the movie in order to find out.

My review:
I love a good comet-heading-toward-Earth movie. The special effects in this movie were okay. The camera working was pretty fluid, especially for the budget that they had (I believe it was around $2 million). As far as the acting is concerned, the only name that I recognized was Rhett Giles, who played Terry Marshell, Ben Marshall's autistic brother. He did an amazing job in this movie. Most of the actors in this movie did a great job.
Would I recommend this movie? Sure.
Keep in mind that this is just a movie. This type of anomaly can't happen in real life. I've read reviews about these kinds of movies where viewers talk about how unrealistic this genre is. Well, for the most part it is unrealistic. If you know your science and astronomy, you know what could happen, and what could never happen.

So, if you are subscribed to the Netflix DVD program, add this movie to your queue, pop some popcorn, and enjoy!

Amazon has this movie at a really good price! To check it out, click on the above picture.

[photo credit: www.cinetube24.com]

Super Cyclone (2012)

 "Super Cyclone" is another Sci-Fi disaster flick that I recently watched on Netflix streaming. It is about an oil rig that digs deep down into the Earth's crust. They stumble upon lava, which bubbles up, warming the Pacific Ocean, rapidly. The warming of the ocean makes the atmosphere unstable. The instability creates a super cyclone. the super cyclone does massive damage to the oil rig, and also threatens a vessel nearby. When the wind and waves become too much for the vessel to handle, men fall into the boiling ocean.

Meanwhile, researchers from NOAA, and Meteorologists continue to monitor the situation. They notice that the super cyclone is headed straight toward the coast of southern California. The leading edge of the storm rolls on shore, creating tornadoes, hail, heavy rain, and fire hail. Researchers race against time, figuring out a way to weaken this cyclone. With a few detours along the way, can these researchers save the west coast in time, before the storm destroys it completely?

My Two Cents:

I had seen this movie a few months ago, but, it was one of those viewings where I was not paying attention, and eventually fell asleep. Today, I decided to take a closer look at the film, so I could review it for you all. 

First off, the acting was much better than in "Age of Dinosaurs." However, when it came to a dramatic scene, the acting was a little over the top. The special effects were satisfactory. You could tell that this was a low-budget B movie. The camera movements bothered me, especially towards the end of the movie. The way the camera was moving made me a little dizzy.

The story was a bit far fetched, but, what Sci-Fi disaster flick isn't? While the main characters did an okay job acting, the secondary characters were awful. At times, certain scenes were just long and draining. 

The word that comes to mind, when I think about this film, is, "blah." You could watch it, and not completely hate yourself for wasting 90 minutes of your time. I can't completely recommend it. If there is nothing on TV and you're looking to put a quick movie on, you could watch this. Depending on your taste in disaster flicks, you could completely hate this movie, or just think of it as satisfactory. 

To purchase Super Cyclone, click on the above picture.

photo credit: http://static.cinemagia.ro/img/db/movie/57/83/77/super-cyclone-230378l.jpg

Age of Dinosaurs (2013)

My favorite movies are Sci-Fi disaster flicks, so I keep my eye out for the newest films. I recently stumbled upon "Age of Dinosaurs."
The movie is about a biotech firm creating dinosaurs from dinosaur DNA. A man creates a dinosaur museum to showcase this work. However, something goes wrong. During an experiment, one of the dinosaurs gets out of control, and attacks the scientists. The man in charge decides to gas the room in order to kill the dinosaur. People were still in the room. Everyone in that room died.

The next day, the man in charge decides to open the doors to the dinosaur museum. A former firefighter, played by Treat Williams, accompanies his teenage daughter to the museum. As the man in charge is showcasing the live dinosaurs, something goes wrong, and 16 dinosaurs escape their cages. They begin attacking and killing those in the room.

The firefighter gets separated from his daughter, and goes through great lengths to find her. Even though the museum went into immediate lock down, after the dinosaurs were released, the dinosaurs make their way out of the museum, and begin terrorizing Los Angeles, California. The police and SWAT teams think they have the situation under control. However, back at the museum, the Biotech lab had created more dinosaurs, and they, too, escape.
Will man prevail over the dinosaurs? Only one way to find out: Check out Netflix streaming.

My Two Cents: 

This movie left me with a lot of mixed feelings. First off, it was a cheap "Jurassic Park" knockoff. With the popularity of "Jurassic Park," I believe the director thought he could get a piece of the money pie, by building off the premise of the popular franchise. Sadly, he failed miserably.
Treat Williams was the only well-known actor in the movie. The rest of the cast couldn't act their way out of a paper bag. It was awful. The dinosaurs did a better job acting. "Age of Dinosaurs" is a tad more graphic than "Jurassic Park," so if you're into gore, and bodies being ripped apart, you may enjoy this film. That is, if you can deal with the terrible acting.

To purchase Age of Dinosaurs, click on the above picture.

photo credit: http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTY3NzY3MTU3N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNDc2NDk3OQ@@._V1_SY317_CR6,0,214,317_.jpg

CAT.8 (2013)

Those that know me, will tell you that I have a love for sci-fi natural disaster movies. When I heard about CAT.8, I was excited that another disaster flick was going to be on. I quickly DVR'd the movie, and watched it the next day.
Here is my review for this latest disaster flick:

Using a satellite dish, scientists, possibly the government, attempt to use the power of the sun to deflect NEO's from harming Earth, and also control global warming. However, something goes terribly wrong when the dish triggers a massive solar flare. The solar flare disintegrates the dish, causing it to enter the earth's atmosphere, along with the solar flare. The solar flare, causes massive earthquakes around the world. Fireballs burn towns and city landmarks, and planes begin to fall from the sky.

The solar flare causes disruptions in communication across the globe. As the solar flares continue, it also destroys a space station, which enters the earth's atmosphere, impacting Chicago, Illnois. a civilian, played by Matthew Modine, realizes that the government is hiding something, and races against time to solve the problem, and save the planet.

Scientists have a measurement scale to measure disasters. The scale numbers increase throughout the movie. Going from category 5 to category 8.

Things go from bad to worse, when the sun develops a sunspot, and sends radiation toward earth.
Can earth be saved?

Despite the fact that the movie had an interesting story concept, viewers may be distracted by occasionally shoddy camera techniques. The camera becomes a bit shaky. However, I found that the actors did a satisfactory job in this movie.
As a viewer, I give this TV movie a 6/10.

To purchase this movie, click on the photo and shop in my sci-fi store. DVD and Blu-ray are available!