It is a made for TV movie, in the genre that has been overdone to some extent. It does have some interesting moments, like the ride in the Hurricane Hunter. It is not a bad movie and certainly better than some of the late night, or early morning fair.I have certainly seen much worse. The actors made the best of the script given and yes, some of the footage would be better using older stock footage, buts lets all remember that this is a lower budget made for TV movie and is certainly not a waste of time. It is not a movie I would buy a copy of, but certainly better than a lot of what is out there.It has some interesting twist, no pun intended where it certainly diverges from Twister and Night of the Twisters.
15 Reviews
Twister xtra-lite
bitbucketchip17 March 2023
A tornado kills a man's wife. Not just any man. Pete Jensen, a meteorologist turned cop with the supernatural ability to experience flashbacks from an event he wasn't present at. Lucky for the producers of this cheapie his flashbacks are the exact same footage we saw earlier while he was in another part of the state.
Despite returning to the site of the disaster ten years later for his estranged daughter's college graduation, he promptly dumps his grumpy offspring for a standby seat in the disaster cabin of a hurricane hunter plane. Father of the year material then risks his life chasing tornadoes and doing pretty much anything other than spending time with his daughter. Along the way he befriends Nicole Eggert, who is well cast as the most cliche news reporter since Lois Lane. I won't spoil what happens next, but the news reporter is easy, there's an irresponsibly managed communicable disease lab in the path of a storm, and our hero saves the day impressing his daughter along the way.
This made for TV cheapie is fairly good given the obvious budgetary limitations. The actors do the best they can on claustrophobic sets and in front of a green screen of a tornado while the sky is blue overhead. Like everything else the story isn't half bad, despite having kids on a field trip while a hurricane is bearing down on them. Five stars all the way around.
Despite returning to the site of the disaster ten years later for his estranged daughter's college graduation, he promptly dumps his grumpy offspring for a standby seat in the disaster cabin of a hurricane hunter plane. Father of the year material then risks his life chasing tornadoes and doing pretty much anything other than spending time with his daughter. Along the way he befriends Nicole Eggert, who is well cast as the most cliche news reporter since Lois Lane. I won't spoil what happens next, but the news reporter is easy, there's an irresponsibly managed communicable disease lab in the path of a storm, and our hero saves the day impressing his daughter along the way.
This made for TV cheapie is fairly good given the obvious budgetary limitations. The actors do the best they can on claustrophobic sets and in front of a green screen of a tornado while the sky is blue overhead. Like everything else the story isn't half bad, despite having kids on a field trip while a hurricane is bearing down on them. Five stars all the way around.
A good job of weaving CGI into real storm formations
SimonJack17 December 2019
Although CGI was needed for a film like this, "Devil Winds" manages to weave it in seamlessly with considerable real film footage of forming storms. The result is some action with nature on the rampage that comes very close to reality. The reality of CGI is still in the back of one's mind, but it doesn't overpower the video action taking place. So, one has a sense of watching the real terror of nature on the rampage in a tornado.
And, that is the best thing about and reason for watching this film. The cast are all okay, but nothing special, and the plot is so-so. It's too bad that the producers couldn't use some real funnel footage - it's out there, and I've seen it on news casts and on videos. I've also watched real tornadoes myself from a distance. Still, the storm action and tracking scenes are the reason for watching this movie that was made for TV.
And, that is the best thing about and reason for watching this film. The cast are all okay, but nothing special, and the plot is so-so. It's too bad that the producers couldn't use some real funnel footage - it's out there, and I've seen it on news casts and on videos. I've also watched real tornadoes myself from a distance. Still, the storm action and tracking scenes are the reason for watching this movie that was made for TV.
A terrible movie and worse SFX.
Baylond1 August 2004
Warning: Spoilers
This could be one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I rented it a few nights ago with no knowledge of this movie. I understand TV movies aren't the highest budgeted in the world, but I'm fairly sure if they'd used stock footage of tornadoes instead of special effects the movie would have been a lot better.
Basically(possible spoilers) the movie is about a man who loses his wife to a tornado in Oklahoma. He moves to Seattle, WA, and his daughter grows and goes to school back in Oklahoma. 10 years after the tornado kills his wife, he comes back to see his daughter, who has now grown up, graduate college(I think). The man has since given up his storm chasing days, but when he gets to Oklahoma and is reunited with his old storm chasing buddy he soon rekindles his spirit for tracking storms. The man soon realizes another storm is going to produce killer tornadoes again. He's right. Eventually this one tornado, an F5, comes after him. His daughter works in a disease control facility and the building isn't up to code. It's now up to him to overcome his dispute with his daughter and save all of central Oklahoma.
Seriously, the worst special effects in the world. Also, the music was ripped off of Twister, only they played the music through a Nintendo and called it original. If you're looking for a good tornado movie, I'd recommend Twister. If you want one that was made for TV I'd recommend the Night of the Twisters. It's not great, but it's better then Devil Winds.
Basically(possible spoilers) the movie is about a man who loses his wife to a tornado in Oklahoma. He moves to Seattle, WA, and his daughter grows and goes to school back in Oklahoma. 10 years after the tornado kills his wife, he comes back to see his daughter, who has now grown up, graduate college(I think). The man has since given up his storm chasing days, but when he gets to Oklahoma and is reunited with his old storm chasing buddy he soon rekindles his spirit for tracking storms. The man soon realizes another storm is going to produce killer tornadoes again. He's right. Eventually this one tornado, an F5, comes after him. His daughter works in a disease control facility and the building isn't up to code. It's now up to him to overcome his dispute with his daughter and save all of central Oklahoma.
Seriously, the worst special effects in the world. Also, the music was ripped off of Twister, only they played the music through a Nintendo and called it original. If you're looking for a good tornado movie, I'd recommend Twister. If you want one that was made for TV I'd recommend the Night of the Twisters. It's not great, but it's better then Devil Winds.
Sucks harder than an EF-5
ikaros-325 April 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Adherence to current meteorological theory and good storm-chasing practices was not a hallmark of Twister. The science was atrocious and real storm chasers doing the bonehead things that our heroes did would've ended up smeared across vast stretches of the Great Plains. However, it more than made up for its factual flaws by being one hell of a great roller-coaster ride.
And in comparison to 'Devil Winds', Twister is Citizen Kane, and a National Weather Service documentary to boot.
It isn't so much that the science is bad in Devil Winds.
It's non-existent to the point of being insulting to one's intelligence.
It isn't bad enough that an allegedly professional meteorologist attempts escaping a poorly-CGI'd tornado by trying to out-run it. For the record: if one is caught on the road, drive at a right angle to the tornado, so that as quickly as possible it's not heading toward you anymoreit's passing behind you and moving away.
But no. Not only does Our Hero drive directly away from the digital funnel cloudwhich is about forty or fifty feet behind him at mostit follows him around an s-curve in the road.
Let me repeat that: it *follows* the *curve* in the *road*.
Upon reaching his destination, the tornado takes a twenty minute coffee break. It has been some fifteen meters behind him the whole time, and when he stops the car and gets out to protect an endangered building, the titular Devil Wind is suddenly nowhere to be seen. Why? Maybe it stopped off for a Slurpee. It would make as much sense as anything else in this movie.
There's more, but it all seems so very irrelevant. It's all formulaic and predictable. It should come as no surprise that the building where the tornado's coffee break occurs is an Incredibly Dangerous Disease Storage Center at which the obligatory Estranged Offspring® of Our Hero worksand of which, of course, the boss is a crook.
About the only cliché left out was having it built on an ancient Indian burial ground. Sheesh.
This was first run on Pax (now ION), so unsurprisingly the Estranged Offspring® and Our Hero have by the end of the movie a Tearful Reconciliation© wherein All Is Forgiven (pat. pend.). And It couldn't have been more perfectly telegraphed by Samuel F.B. Morse himself.
In short, Devil Winds is poorly thought out, poorly written, and poorly executed, and a bigger waste of a disc than anything outside of an AOL free trial.
Save this for a MST3K Home Game.
And in comparison to 'Devil Winds', Twister is Citizen Kane, and a National Weather Service documentary to boot.
It isn't so much that the science is bad in Devil Winds.
It's non-existent to the point of being insulting to one's intelligence.
It isn't bad enough that an allegedly professional meteorologist attempts escaping a poorly-CGI'd tornado by trying to out-run it. For the record: if one is caught on the road, drive at a right angle to the tornado, so that as quickly as possible it's not heading toward you anymoreit's passing behind you and moving away.
But no. Not only does Our Hero drive directly away from the digital funnel cloudwhich is about forty or fifty feet behind him at mostit follows him around an s-curve in the road.
Let me repeat that: it *follows* the *curve* in the *road*.
Upon reaching his destination, the tornado takes a twenty minute coffee break. It has been some fifteen meters behind him the whole time, and when he stops the car and gets out to protect an endangered building, the titular Devil Wind is suddenly nowhere to be seen. Why? Maybe it stopped off for a Slurpee. It would make as much sense as anything else in this movie.
There's more, but it all seems so very irrelevant. It's all formulaic and predictable. It should come as no surprise that the building where the tornado's coffee break occurs is an Incredibly Dangerous Disease Storage Center at which the obligatory Estranged Offspring® of Our Hero worksand of which, of course, the boss is a crook.
About the only cliché left out was having it built on an ancient Indian burial ground. Sheesh.
This was first run on Pax (now ION), so unsurprisingly the Estranged Offspring® and Our Hero have by the end of the movie a Tearful Reconciliation© wherein All Is Forgiven (pat. pend.). And It couldn't have been more perfectly telegraphed by Samuel F.B. Morse himself.
In short, Devil Winds is poorly thought out, poorly written, and poorly executed, and a bigger waste of a disc than anything outside of an AOL free trial.
Save this for a MST3K Home Game.
Lacked the Necessary Intensity
Uriah4330 May 2021
This film begins with a storm chaser in Oklahoma by the name of "Peter Jensen" (Joe Lando) and his colleague "Robert Booker" (Pete Graham) actively monitoring a weather system which has the potential of developing into a tornado. The conditions eventually get to the point where Peter advises the local weather bureau to announce a tornado warning. Unfortunately, he miscalculates the exact location and even though a twister does indeed touch ground it's in the wrong vicinity-and his wife "Mary Jensen" (Kirsten Robek) is killed in the process. To that effect, even though he is not a fault, he takes it quite badly and moves out west to Oregon to start a new life. The scene essentially shifts to ten years later where he has come back to Oklahoma to see his daughter "Kara Jensen" (Erica Durance) when another weather system develops and he volunteers to help track it as well. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a rather tepid picture which didn't really impress me all that much. In particular, a couple of the subplots were totally irrelevant and to make matters even worse the CGI wasn't all that impressive either. In short, those looking for a film of this sort might want to check out "Twister" or possibly its low budget clone "Tornado!" as this one lacked the necessary intensity.
More tornado tosh
Leofwine_draca19 January 2013
DEVIL WINDS is the latest in a string of TV disaster movies I've seen. This one's quite obviously a spin on TWISTER, except of course it's nowhere near as good as that (average in itself) production. It's a film packed with grotty soap opera and boring dialogue and not nearly enough disaster.
I knew this was going to be poor when I saw the attempted acting of the mother in the opening scene, which is laughable to say the least. It gets worse from there. The male lead is invariably wooden, the female lead an ageing has-been who was once on BAYWATCH, and the family drama type stuff is intensely grating.
Scenes involving actual tornadoes are limited to the beginning, middle and end. There's a funny scene of a twister chasing a jeep, and later on a bit where a twister destroys a building. With nobody inside it, who cares? The CGI effects are pitiful, and looked like something out of THE SIMS at one point.
No real reason to bother with this one, even genre aficionados will be sorely pressed to find something of merit.
I knew this was going to be poor when I saw the attempted acting of the mother in the opening scene, which is laughable to say the least. It gets worse from there. The male lead is invariably wooden, the female lead an ageing has-been who was once on BAYWATCH, and the family drama type stuff is intensely grating.
Scenes involving actual tornadoes are limited to the beginning, middle and end. There's a funny scene of a twister chasing a jeep, and later on a bit where a twister destroys a building. With nobody inside it, who cares? The CGI effects are pitiful, and looked like something out of THE SIMS at one point.
No real reason to bother with this one, even genre aficionados will be sorely pressed to find something of merit.
Painful to watch
jimdavidson-1953214 May 2020
Poor scripting, poor acting, poor directing and poor special effects come together into a rare F-5 cataclysm that dwarfs the devil winds arising from a diet of chili and cheese compounded by three days of constipation.
WTF
dickinsonjason-340812 June 2020
A tornado TV movie that will blow you away
marshalphipps9 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This is not bad for a TV movie, the special effects and acting overall are pretty good compared to other tornado TV movies, this film is up there with Night of the Twisters since it keeps you glued to the screen wandering about what's about to happen next.
If there are two things that stood out in this film is the use of unused footage from Twister (which I've found very interesting) and the ridiculousness of putting a disease containment facility in Tornado Alley.
I also have to ask the question of why the producers used similar looking tornadoes in each sequence, did they run out of budget or was there a tight deadline? I found the similar tornadoes to be distracting.
In retrospect, this film is good and does have some re-watch value.
If there are two things that stood out in this film is the use of unused footage from Twister (which I've found very interesting) and the ridiculousness of putting a disease containment facility in Tornado Alley.
I also have to ask the question of why the producers used similar looking tornadoes in each sequence, did they run out of budget or was there a tight deadline? I found the similar tornadoes to be distracting.
In retrospect, this film is good and does have some re-watch value.
Devil Winds was cool!
Fieldsp34121 September 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I loved this movie. I thought the CGI's were good. Sometimes it looked like a real tornado was happening. I thought the actors did a great job with the content of the script. It is a made for television movie after all, not a blockbuster movie like Twister. I own this movie on DVD and love to watch it on lazy weekend afternoons. Personally, I thought Joe Lando, who played Pete Jensen, was fabulous. I loved the connection he had with his partner who chased tornadoes. And Nicole Eggert and Joe sparked some too. The special effects people did great with the budget they had. All in all, I think Devil Winds is really Cool. I recommend it for anyone who is interested in disaster type movies. It is no worse than any other budgeted television movie.
Winds
mitchellrharl8 July 2022
The casting in this movie is really bad why are all the younger women so arrogant and such smart mouthed.
Put the men down any chance they get not good for film making .
Realize streaming is cheaper but audience deserve good quality for their money This male/female badgering is not accomplishing anything but losing viewers.
I love the graphics of disaster movies really good but please cast better actors and actresses.
Put the men down any chance they get not good for film making .
Realize streaming is cheaper but audience deserve good quality for their money This male/female badgering is not accomplishing anything but losing viewers.
I love the graphics of disaster movies really good but please cast better actors and actresses.
Boring
januszlvii15 September 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I thought It is impossible to make a boring disaster film, but Devil Winds is just that: Boring. The storm chaser, the estranged sister, and second rate special effects we have seen it all. Did I forget to mention Nicole Eggert who used to be beautiful wearing too much makeup. Basically a great movie to watch if you have insomnia at 2:00AM and want to go to sleep. 1 Star out of 10
huh?
mrrebel-803824 August 2019
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