Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Nothing particularly terribly awful about this film. After going through all of Luke Perry's movies until this one, The Final Storm seems par for the course for a cheap film. Small hometown cast and location and a kooky story to keep things going.Luke Perry departs a bit from his Dylan persona to bring out his southern baptist evil bible thumping character that he's toyed with on occasion. He does it believably, that's a testament (no pun intended) to his superb and experienced acting skills. The other main characters were all played well, too. The story didn't blow me away like a big budgeter would. Though you can't expect that it should, I don't look at the movie's production price before watching, so I treat all movies equally and they usually cost the consumer equal amounts so it would be fair to stack this movie against Batman, The Godfather, Men in Black, whatever. So, up against those guys, this movie is cheap and is not as much of a thrilling 90 minutes. But for what it is, it's fun, it keeps you guessing, and it has you rooting at the right moments. I almost stopped watching after the first minute because Luke Perry's been in so many movies about storms, I thought this must have been one I'd already seen. Turns out, nope, here came yet another storm film from the former heartthrob.Lots of question remain unanswered after the film's ending, which is annoying, most movies wrap 99% of their story up at Fin time, but the conclusion is satisfactory enough to say, "Cool, that was fun," and, of course, it leaves you wanting more, especially more answers!If you could watch any movie in the world I wouldn't tell you to bother with this one. But if for some reason you had it in your hand and were wondering if it should be played, I wouldn't be compelled to stop you. Grab some popcorn and enjoy, especially on a stormy night!

I saw this movie last night on cable TV (FIOS, actually) and only kept watching it because I recognized a few of the actors. After reading the other reviews and thinking it through myself, I can offer you a synthesized explanation for the plot elements and storyline: 1) Almost everybody disappears from the local community - but not a few ruffians in town.2) There is evidence they disappeared left quickly (half-eaten cookie & coffee in the police station at the dispatcher's seat) 3) It happened during a big storm - which adds to the mystery. Family dog disappeared (doesn't come back) during storm. Power is out, house is cold. After several days, food is low forcing trip to (semi) deserted local town for food - allowing for evidence of disappearance to be seen and for ruffians to attack. Storyline family and Luke Perry flee town after Luke helps defend husband from ruffians.4) Luke Perry originally showed up at (the storyline family's) farm during the storm and gets invited (mostly by wife) to stay with our storyline family after it's over.5) The husband of the family, Steve Bacic, may or may not be the best husband (some rude drinking).7) Lauren Holly (the wife) may or may not be a semi-bored, randy farm wife who's flattered by the attention from Luke at more than one point.8) In the TV version I saw, we get to see some cleavage and she's in her panties in the bathroom with Luke at one point. And while refilling the tub for Luke, his junk may have been visible to her, but she's not shy about staying there to talk.9) If you search online, you'll find out that a side-view of her breast was in the DVD version (while Lauren and hubby were doing it) in one scene.10) Luke has a Bible verse tattoo on his arm and mumbles Bible talk from time to time.11) Later on, we find out that Luke killed people at that farmhouse 20 years before (his father being one) - at the time, it was his family's house.12) We get a few clues during the movie that this might be the end of the world.13) Luke desires Holly and makes a violent play for her - just as the husband comes back from a trip to town (injured and in a weakened state).14) Family son rescues father from Luke's attempted hanging, which sets in motion final battle scene where Luke is killed.15) Stars vanish from night sky - world ends.OK, here's my synthesized storyline for you: Luke is The Prodigal Son who comes home. The family is his symbolic family and he's got Oedipal lust for the wife. The wife is sort of randy and might be unfaithful in her heart (just like mankind is unfaithful in our hearts to God, so too might she be to her husband).So then, Luke is the sin of man, let loose in real form to illustrate that at the end of the world, only those whose hearts are right with God get raptured.The Rapture is why most people disappeared, leaving ruffians in town and a sin-tinged farm family for the plot.The husband has sin because of booze and attitude, the kid because he's a mouth-off, the wife because she accepts intimate flattery from Luke.Luke is sin personified and when the family overcomes him (by resisting and fighting back), the world ends for them because they too are raptured.The movie is better than sleeping pills because it's non-chemical. But the effect is the same: you sleep well afterward.There are no hidden plot messages or twists to think about after it's over, so your mind switches right to sleep mode and you get a nice rest.For late night TV fare, I'd give it a 5 (of 10)

While this movie will not win any academy awards, it was certainly much better produced and acted then 99% of the Syfy produced movies scifi fans such as myself typically end up enduring, etc. I would give it a 5-6 as a vote. The plot summary appearing on IMDb is not at all accurate (the son never disappears amongst other things, but Luke Perry does play a mysterious stranger with a hidden and menacing past which threatens the family amidst the turmoil of the general disaster).The actors all give reasonable performances, they are not wooden or overacting in the manner typical of smaller budget productions. All three principals - Lauren Holly (very attractive), Steve Bacic and Luke Perry were decent.However, one should be aware that this is not a slam bang action flick with all sorts of special effects, battles, etc. There is none of that in this movie. The movie is about a small family living in a rural area against the backdrop of something cataclysmic having occurred, but the hows and whats of that are never really delved into - rather the focal point of the story is how they are coping, the mysteries surrounding a stranger who has wandered onto their property, etc.I would deem the movie to be more of a suspense/thriller against a quasi sci-fi backdrop.On a plus note, it did keep our attention start to finish, and we were not hooting and hollering at grade F special effects and cheesy acting.On a negative note, the ending was somewhat of a mystery to us. We have some theories, but you are better off to watch the movie and come up with your own.I think overall this is the sort of movie actors do to keep paying the bills, but at least they gave it a decent go, and made the 90 minutes of the movie respectable rather then terrible.

There's no real point in discussing the movie, if that's what it is. Just because you see moving images when you press play doesn't mean it's a film. There's money here, you can tell, which makes it even worse. So many daring, imaginative filmmakers out there would love to have had this budget. But no, Boll is given yet another project to insult moviegoers. When Boll makes personal appearances he does get crowds, people just love to have their photo taken with him and get his autograph. I'm personally offended by this practice in that it only encourages him. Truly bad movie making should not be praised or encouraged. There are bad films out there that are fun, we appreciate the effort, especially if the filmmaker was sincere but fell short. But this is just another example of a man's insistence on his talent, confident in his abilities, arrogant in the face of audience reaction, time after time. I see in the trivia he blames the script. OK. This mess should come with a manual and some sort of medication. Boll is making Zombie Massacre due out in 2010. May God Have Mercy On Our SoulsIf you must see this movie, do yourself a favor and wait until it's in the bargain bin at the video store. If there's any justice in the film industry, one of the main actors will be there to rent it to you.