Not to be confused with Super Storm or Storm Surfers or that Nirvana cover band that you never quite got off the ground, Seattle Superstorm is the latest in a roster of Roger Corman-style SyFy Channel genre offerings, but this one doesn’t even have the advantage of a distinguishing quirk or two to go along with its meat-and-potatoes plotline of landmark destruction.
After an unidentified flying object is shot down by the American military over the waters of the Pacific Northwest, rising winds and rain wreak havoc in the city of Seattle, where Major Emma Peterson (Ona Grauer) is tasked with identifying the threat and securing the city. With help and input from her teenage daughter, Chloe (MacKenzie Porter), and NASA scientist boyfriend, Tom Reynolds (Esai Morales), a determined Emma puts this seemingly otherworldly turbulence in her crosshairs.
Relative brevity aside, there’s little here to recommend Seattle Superstorm. There’s some mixed-family antagonism, in the form of friction between Chloe and Tom’s son, Wyatt (Jared Abrahamson), that comes across as a water-treading waste of screen time more than interesting character development. Then there’s the awkwardly handled issue of kids having special knowledge integral to saving the day and, of course, some rather lackluster special effects. In short, there’s just an awful lot narrative overreach here considering the available resources, and screenwriters David Ray and Jeff Renfroe don’t come up with enough convincing or entertaining fixes to make this yawning patchwork affair worth one’s time or attention.
Housed in a regular plastic Amaray case stored in a cardboard sleeve with complementary cover art, Seattle Superstorm comes to DVD presented in 1.78:1 widescreen, with chapter stops and an English language Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound audio track that doesn’t make particularly full, robust use of its dynamic upper registers. Bonus features, you ask? Alas, there are no explanations from the actors as to their involvement. To purchase the DVD via Amazon, click here; to purchase via Half, click here. D (Movie) D (Disc)
