Metal Tornado


Metal Tornado is a 2011 science fiction, thriller television movie directed by Gordon Yang and starring Lou Diamond Phillips. The film was generally poorly received.

Synopsis

Helios World in Chester County, Pennsylvania design a system created by ex-employee Stephen Winters that can convert solar flares into electricity. After some testing he finds a flaw in his design that causes magnetic energy to escape, he phones CEO Jonathan Kane to alert him but ignores his warnings. It produces a stronger magnetic field which causes metal to be attracted to it and he is killed in the process.
They run a test using the design from an array of satellites which converts solar flares into a magnetic beam which is directed towards their power station. It is successful and stores it, but it forms a temporary magnetic field that sets off car alarms, but don't think it was an issue. They celebrate their success, and the scientists believe it was completely contained. Jonathan plans a test at their facility in France.
Allysa Winters, Stephen Winters' wife, is interviewed by investigators about her husband's death. She looks into his work and what happened.
Nearby, a lumberjack is cutting trees with a chainsaw when it rises off the ground and flies off. In another scene, a man is riding and stops his motorcross bike, but it flies into a magnetic energy vortex which expands.
Michael Edwards, notices that 2% of the magnetic energy gathered had been lost. He reports it to Greg urging him that more testing has to done but isn't concerned. Meanwhile, Michael's son Nick Edwards is writing a paper about the power system and is interested in the power loss. Allysa Winters phones Helios and tries to warn them that it's dangerous.
15 miles away, Stan, a gas station owner sees the vortex and his glasses are pulled into it. The vortex also starts to damage property. The sheriff Joe Riley investigates the phenomenon and contacts Michael to voice his concerns. Michael and Rebecca arrive to examine it further. They notice that their watches had stopped and their compass is spinning. Rebecca walks with it to see how far the field goes and where it is heading. Michael surmises that the power loss may have created it.
Michael heads to Helios to tell Greg and Jonathan about his theory but neither believe him. He contacts Ron for help. Michael, the sheriff, Ron and Nick meet at a hospital to talk about two farmers who were injured from it.
Michael, Nick and Rebecca hack into the Helios security footage to get the proof they need and show it to Greg too urge him to delay the other test but it goes ahead.
Michael meets Allysa Winters about the flaw and tells him about a potential energy leak and hands the documentation over. He gives it to Greg, who reports it to Jonathan.
Ron figures out that the tornado is following veins of Iron ore and is heading towards Henderson. He tells Rebecca, Michael and the sheriff to evacuate. Michael contacts Greg and Jonathan telling them that its heading towards the town soon after he loses phone signal. He sees the tornado, and quickly get out of his car and is pulled into it. He hides under a bridge and helps a lady on a motorbike as it falls on top of her breaking her arm.
In Henderson, Rebecca and Nick get caught in their car by it and hide in a nearby church basement. It collapses and Nick saves Rebecca from falling debris but fractures his leg in the process.
Michael contacts Ron and finds out it is heading towards Philadelphia. He meets Greg and Jonathan at Helios to find a way to stop it. He thinks an EMP bomb may disrupt it, They contact The Pentagon to arrange two drones to drop them.
The other team report that a similar tornado is heading towards Paris and try an EMP bomb as well. But reaches the city before the drones and destroys most of it including the Eiffel Tower.
Two drones head towards Philadelphia, but one fails. The other one launches the bomb successfully and it dissipates the magnetic field stopping it. Greg reports that it was stopped in Paris.
Michael, Rebecca, Nick and Ron have a meal. In the background, the news reports Jonathan had accepted responsibility and resigned.

Cast

The film received generally poor or very poor reviews. The score card website gave the film 4/10. Crave Online gave it 1.5/10. Disaster Movie gave it 2/5. Starburst gave the film 2/10. BZ Film gave it 4/10 and Radio Times gave it 2/5.