Arctic Blast (2010)

Memorable, crazy movie

Better Late Then Never

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

I watched it because of all the jokes and "worst ever bad movie" claims.However I found this one quite decent and gripping and the cold fog more menacing than what other disaster movies come up with. I normally find disaster movies tedious, but this worked for me.As for those who feel 'suspension of disbelief' (required for virtually every movie ever made!) is beneath them, they end up writing reviews that are almost troll like.And as for the scientists writing here, um, you're not supposed to think that Darth Vader and Jedis or Wonder Woman or Superman actually exist....or might be capable of existing...My only criticism is the gratutitous moralising "Man did this!" when it was supposed to be solar flares (yes, pick holes, that's fun, but don't make out you're such an amazing sensible person compared to the film makers).

British director Brian Trenchard-Smith has directed some great B-movies in the past including THE MAN FROM HONG KONG, FROG DREAMING, and TURKEY SHOOT, but ARCTIC BLAST is far from one of his best. It's an Australian SyFy Channel disaster movie just as poor as it sounds, and with a script by derivative go-to guy Jason Bourque it's just as near-unwatchable as the rest of SyFy's disaster-themed output.The story sees a hole in the ozone laying sending a freezing wave of arctic air down to the world and destroying everything in its path. As is usual with these offerings, the events start off small scale with a few extras being frozen up before London ends up being destroyed at the climax. The special effects clearly emulate THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW yet they're laughably cheesy, especially when we see characters freezing. The film is the usual mish-mash of pseudo-science and bad acting from the Australian cast members, and even Trenchard-Smith's steady direction can't save it.

This movie is not meant to be an A movie you would go to see at the theaters. It is meant solely for entertainment value. I really get tired of people who review and constantly say this is "the worst movie I have ever seen." There sure are a lot of worst movies in IMDb, even some that made tons of money. I have seen hundreds of science fiction movies and this one in no way is in the worst category. Be realistic about science fiction. It is not meant to be accurate science and most often show something that man did or nature to start the beginnings of what could be a holocaust on earth. In the case of this movie, it was pollution by man. It doesn't have to be scientifically accurate because it is science "fiction." Mr. Shanks and Mr. Davison are very good actors mostly known for television movies. If this movie did indeed go direct-to-video it most likely had a low budget and was meant only to be for entertainment value and it did indeed supply that. You only need a premise and something to overcome what is happening. If it deals with scientists generally there is one they never listen to until forced, overruled by another scientist or the military, government, etc. This was the basic premise of this movie and a malfunction in the ozone layer. I wouldn't say it is formulaic really. The only other thing that could have happened is aliens arrived to save the day. They wanted people to take the movie somewhat seriously. Suspend all your science knowledge and enjoy movies like this where man survives devastation. A lot of them are made and people seem to enjoy them. Nitpicking them apart solves nothing because they aren't made to win academy awards but merely give an hour or two of entertainment even if limited in some people's viewpoints. This one is another freak of nature type of movie where man overcomes the odds. If you like movies like this you will like this one because there is actually some very good actors in this movie.

"Jack Tate" (Michael Shanks) is a meteorologist who is totally devoted to his work--at the expense of his family. As a result he is pending a divorce from his wife, "Emma Tate" (Alexandra Davies) and their 16 year old daughter "Naomi Tate" (Indiana Evans) blames him as well. Yet even though he plans to spend more time with his family a solar eclipse suddenly triggers a hole in the ozone which produces a deadly arctic blast which he believes endangers the entire planet. Unfortunately, nobody believes his dire predictions and while he races to find a solution to the problem he finds that his credibility is seriously being questioned by his superiors and family alike. Now rather than reveal any more of the plot and risk ruining the film for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a rather preposterous but still mildly entertaining movie all the same. I say this because, although I liked the overall concept of the movie, the science behind it was more than a little dubious to say the least. In any case I've definitely seen worse "natural disaster" films and for that reason I rate this movie as only slightly below average.