''Tornado!'' is a 1996 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

disaster film that is directed by Noel Nosseck and starring Bruce Campbell and

Shannon Sturges Shannon Sturges is an American actress and acting coach, best known for her role as Reese Burton in The WB Television Network, The WB primetime soap opera ''Savannah (TV series), Savannah''. Life and career Sturges was born in Hollywood, Californ ...

and was aired on the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

television network on May 7, 1996.The New York Times
/ref>

Plot

Jake Thorne ( Bruce Campbell) is a storm chaser whose friend and former graduate school advisor, Dr. Joe Branson (

Ernie Hudson Earnest Lee Hudson (born December 17, 1945) is an American actor. His roles include Winston Zeddemore in the '' Ghostbusters'' film series, Sergeant Darryl Albrecht in '' The Crow'' (1994), and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's '' Oz'' (1997–2003) ...

), has developed a machine that may be able to provide earlier

tornado warning A tornado warning ( SAME code: TOR) is a severe weather warning product issued by regional offices of weather forecasting agencies throughout the world to alert the public when a tornado has been reported or indicated by weather radar within the ...

s. Samantha Callen (

) is a government auditor who must determine whether Dr. Branson's project warrants more funding. Jake has to try to convince Samantha that the machine is worthwhile. During the process, Jake and Samantha become romantically attracted to each other, but powerful

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

es threaten the lives of all the major characters. The film ends with Jake's grandfather, Ephram, sacrifices himself to drive machine's disabled leg into soil. The tornado takes Ephram, while everyone in the storm cellar starts to clean up. Jake becomes upset that his grandfather died, but Samantha tells him that he saved their lives by fighting this tornado, and that Jake must never let anything like this happen again.

Cast

* Bruce Campbell as Jake Thorne *

as Dr. Joe Branson *

as Samantha Callen *

Bo Eason Bo Eason (born March 10, 1961) is an American actor, playwright, author, motivational speaker, and retired football player who played safety for four seasons for the Houston Oilers. Early life Eason was born and raised in Walnut Grove, Calif ...

as "Tex" Fulton * L. Q. Jones as Ephram Thorne *

Shannon Woodward Shannon Woodward (born December 17, 1984) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Sabrina Collins on the FOX sitcom ''Raising Hope'' (2010–2014), Elsie Hughes on the HBO science-fiction thriller series ''Westworld'' (2016 ...

as Lucy

Filming

''Tornado!'' was filmed primarily in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, including scenes at local

Fox Broadcasting Company The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an Television in the United States, American Commercial broadcasting, commercial terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by Fox C ...

affiliate KTBC. The film runs 89 minutes, and has been released on VHS,

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

. It is rated PG for some perilous weather sequences, mild language, and sensuality.

References

External links

* 1996 films American disaster films Films with screenplays by John Logan Films about tornadoes 1990s disaster films Disaster television films Fox network original films Films shot in Austin, Texas American television films Sonar Entertainment films Films directed by Noel Nosseck 1990s American films {{action-drama-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Filming

See also

References

External links