Product: Polar Storm (2009)
Rating: 3.0
Polar shenanigans
For a low-budget disaster movie, this is not bad. Jack Coleman plays a geophysicist who lives in Washington state (most of the outdoor stuff seems to be in Washington, and some in Alaska--very beautiful landscapes). He's got a moody adolescent boy who hasn't adjusted to dad's remarrying and having a stepmother (Holly Dignard) who is also a teacher at his high school. Coleman, the hero, is estranged from his father, a general stationed in Washington (which connection helps our hero attract Presidential attention and save the world). Coleman is not exactly a charismatic actor but gives a good working performance.The movie has an interesting, not so often seen story trick--the very beginning is a flash-forward but NOT to the end of the movie (the usually seen); no, it's a flash-forward to about the MIDDLE of the film, when all hell is popping loose--then after a couple minutes the film goes back to the beginning and stays linear all the rest of the way through from there. Halfway through, you see the beginning sequence again and say "Oh THERE it is! Oh, and this is what happens next..."What happened was: a large fragment of a big comet hit the earth in Alaska and somehow managed to shift its axis of rotation 10 degrees--without causing planetwide damage (that's about the most difficult part to swallow). This causes the axis of rotation to be significantly mis-aligned with the magnetic axis, which causes the magnetic polarity of the earth to destabilize and start breaking up. Earth-threatening consequences, ensue as cosmic radiation is penetrating down to the earth's surface and also tends to build up and cause huge electromagnetic pulsations, which destroy pretty much all functioning electrical equipment in the area. Eventually, if something isn't done, radiation effects will destroy civilization, and probably most of mankind. Not to worry; Coleman is going to save the day. Can you guess? Yes, with some nuclear weapons strategically-placed.The computer-generated effects are decent--a little overdone in part, but generally good, and they do not overwhelm the story. It's your typical mixture of family dynamics and concerns, and the threat of worldwide disaster. This is no "Armageddon" or "Deep Impact", but it managed to stay interesting all the way through. Don't expect too much out of it and you may find it enjoyable enough.Minor point: the subtitling needed more editing-there are some typo mistakes, and occasionally it simply does NOT say what the actors/actresses are saying--just something very close...