Polar Storm (2009) (TV)

Director:

Paul Ziller

Writers:

Jason Bourque (co-writer)
Paul Ziller (written by)

Release Date:

28 March 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A comet passes near the Earth and disturbs Earth's magnetic field. |

Cast

Jack Coleman	...	Dr. James Mayfield
Holly Dignard	...	Cynthia Mayfield
Tyler Johnston	...	Shane Mayfield
Terry David Mulligan	...	General Mayfield
Roger R. Cross	...	President (as Roger Cross)
David Lewis	...	Lou Vanetti
Rob Morton	...	Michael
Emma Lahana	...	Zoe
Nicholas Carella	...	Peter
Marsha Regis	...	Pam
Scott Lyster	...	Kevin
Jay Brazeau	...	Dr. Elman
Dean Redman	...	Sergeant
Donovan Cerminara	...	Soldier - Roadblock
Brent Stait	...	Guard Captain

Also Known As:

Pole Reversal (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some disturbing images.

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #45507) | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

NBC Universal Television

Goofs:

Factual errors: There is no way that a diesel powered submarine could make it from the West Coast to the Marianas Trench on the other side of the Pacific Ocean as fast as it did in the film. There is also no way that a diesel submarine could go down to within 100 ft of the bottom of the ocean where the depth is 10,911 meters or 35,798 feet. The only vessel to have reached that depth is the specially built vessel the Trieste.

Not so bad ...

This movie is along the lines of most Sci-Fi Channel movies, but definitely a tad better - mostly because it tackles a different theme (magnetic storms / polar shift) and has a good lead character.

The basic setup of the story is that a fragment of a comet has hit earth and strange electrical storms are popping up in multiple locations. There are two sub-stories: (1) a scientist (Jack Coleman from the TV series "Heroes") tries to warn the government that the storms are going to get worst, not better and (2) the scientist's son and wife are trying to escape an area hit by one of the storms.

One thing that's very impressive is that the story can be effectively told within the budgetary constraints typical to these types of movies. The filmmakers put just the right amount into effects (simple, but passable), locations (small towns/open roads) and the number of characters (very few) to make it work.

Furthermore, Jack Coleman and Holly Dignard (who plays his wife) are decently interesting to watch - so that helps. Both carry an air of seriousness that helps keep the atmosphere of the movie in urgency mode.

If you're sick of the channel's overused themes (mutant undead/rat/insect/etc.), then this is a step up from that. It's not really good or great, but if you're hunting for sci-fi on TV and nothing else is on ... might as well watch this.