With the title itself, you already know 'this is going to be one of those movies'. And yes, that is exactly right. Another disastrous disaster movie. But still, there is just something alluring to these cheesy and bad CGI disaster movies that keeps me coming back. Perhaps it is to see just how bad it is that does it.

Regardless, then "500 MPH Storm" is a disaster at 500 mph, indeed. The CGI effects in the movie are horrible - as to be expected. And you don't really buy into this being a 500 mph storm at any given time throughout the movie.

And for some odd reason, as almost every single time, in these type of movies, the destructive forces of the natural disaster follows hard on heel in the wake of our main characters. I guess mother nature has it in for the main characters, throwing just every single bit of poorly animated CGI effect their way.

The story in "500 MPH Storm" is right out of the "let's make a disaster movie" guidebook; people have created some device that wreaks a natural disaster of grand proportions and is unable to stop it. Just who creates a machine without a failsafe shutdown system anyway? Regardless, then it is up to a small handful of people to save the world. Do they? Well, you already know the answer to that.

Yeah, this is one of those excruciatingly predictable movies!

The acting in the movie was wooden and painfully rigid. And the dialogue offered the characters in the movie didn't really help anything along in a good way either.

If you enjoy campy and cheesy movies with horrible CGI effects, then you might find some fun in "500 MPH Storm", otherwise, don't waste your time on this movie.

My mini splurge of Asylum disaster movies concludes with 500 MPH STORM, sadly one of the worst entries I've seen in the series (although nowhere near as bad as AGE OF ICE). This one follows a set plot line that heavily copies the other films (such as SUPER CYCLONE): a determined scientist must lead his friends/family through a series of increasingly dangerous situations, while the guys back at base try to figure out a way to stop the stuff from happening.

This time around, we're saddled with the ruggedly dependable Casper Van Dien, still recognisable from his STARSHIP TROOPERS days. He's the hero, given able support by Michael Beach as the 'back at base' guy, but unfortunately the rest of the cast are rubbish and the script seems entirely full of annoying characters, the worst of whom is Van Dien's son.

The characters end up running the usual gamut of weather phenomenon, and there's yet another one of those ludicrous scenes in which a car is supposed to be spinning through the air while the actors pretend to be thrown about inside it. Sadly, there just isn't much of interest here even for disaster fans; a handful of fun scenes and that's about it. My favourite bit is the DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE-inspired flooding tunnel, but the rest of the production is let down by appalling production values and a resolutely dull script despite the excitement inherent in the premise.

Contains plot "spoilers."

A nuclear reactor somehow gathers natural energy from the earth, you know wind, magnetic, and that plate shifting stuff and channels a beam of light into the atmosphere to create power so we can shut down all the oil rigs. (Message: Renewables bad. Oil good.) Nathan (Casper Van Dien) a man we know less about than the science I just fully explained, is an expect on this reactor and storms too. He is out with his family, which for some strange reason did NOT include Catherine Oxenberg. They are flying a hot air balloon, which makes for great film footage with a 500 MPH hurricane (BFH) headed you way. Can you say Oz Fest?

Sarah Lieving plays the remarkably calm wife, apparently facing death is easier than living with Casper Van Dien. Her lines while facing death include:

"Just calm down and play your game or something." "Honey, There is no Internet." and "I'll make sandwiches."

In this film they can't shut the reactor down because they had a "core meltdown." The script writer must have moved the year they taught science in school. I am not sure what film the DVD cover is from.

Nathan tries to save his family by out running and out maneuvering a BFH by darting around like a jack rabbit, making John Cusack's "2012" driving look like child's play. Don't try this at home. Ultimately his driving ability climaxes when he drives inside the tail end of a semi as it is skidding down the highway and then being thrown out the same end doing donuts, then finally moving forward outrunning said storm. I'm not sure how many laws of motion were violated in that one.

This is a SyFy family production one can rate at 1 star or 5 stars for a bad film.