Tornado Alley

March. 18,2011      
Rating:
6.5
Trailer Synopsis Cast

Tornado Alley documents two unprecedented missions seeking to encounter one of Earth’s most awe-inspiring events—the birth of a tornado. Filmmaker Sean Casey’s personal quest to capture the birth of a tornado with a 70mm camera takes viewers on a breathtaking journey into the heart of the storm. A team of equally driven scientists, the VORTEX2 researchers, experience the relentless strength of nature’s elemental forces as they literally surround tornadoes and the supercell storms that form them, gathering the most comprehensive severe weather data ever collected.

Bill Paxton as  Himself - Narrator

Similar titles

Mystery of the Maya
Mystery of the Maya
Filmed in IMAX, a young Mayan boy who lives close to the ruins becomes acquainted with an archaeologist (Guerra) and asks her to tell him about his ancestors. The crew travelled to over 15 locations in Mexico and Guatemala, including Tulum and Chichén Itzá.
Mystery of the Maya 1995
Alaska: Spirit of the Wild
Alaska: Spirit of the Wild
Alaska... Here, in this vast and spectacularly beautiful land teeming with abundant wildlife, discover the "Spirit of the Wild." Experience it in the explosive calving of glaciers, the celestial fires of the Aurora Borealis. Witness it in the thundering stampede of caribou, the beauty of the polar bear and the stealthful, deadly hunt of the wolf pack.
Alaska: Spirit of the Wild 1998
Amazon
Amazon
Explore the mysterious Amazon through the amazing IMAX experience. Amazon celebrates the beauty, vitality and wonder of the rapidly disappearing rain forest.
Amazon 1997
Cosmic Voyage
Cosmic Voyage
The Academy Award® nominee Cosmic Voyage combines live action with state-of-the-art computer-generated imagery to pinpoint where humans fit in our ever-expanding universe. Highlighting this journey is a "cosmic zoom" based on the powers of 10, extending from the Earth to the largest observable structures in the universe, and then back to the subnuclear realm.
Cosmic Voyage 1996
Journey to the South Pacific
HULU
Journey to the South Pacific
An underwater voyage to Indonesia to learn about its inhabitants such as giant rays and whale sharks as well as efforts being made in the region for ocean conservation.
Journey to the South Pacific 2013
Space Junk 3D
Space Junk 3D
50 years after launching our dreams into space, we’re left with a troubling legacy: a growing ring of orbiting debris that threatens the safety of earth’s orbits. SPACE JUNK is a visually explosive journey of discovery that weighs the solutions aimed at restoring our planet’s orbits. Experience mind-boggling collisions, both natural and man-made. Soar for the stunning depths of Meteor Crater to an unprecedented view of our increasingly crowded orbits – 22,000 miles above earth. Join us as foremost expert Don Kessler, the “Father of Space Junk,” guides us through the challenges we face in protecting them, forging a new age of space discovery.
Space Junk 3D 2012
Bears
Prime Video
Bears
From polar bears in the arctic tundra to black bears in the Northern Rockies, you'll see some of the most spectacular footage ever shot of these enterprising omnivores. Catch salmon with a group of hungry grizzlies on the McNeil River in Alaska. Crawl inside a den with a mother black bear and her cubs. Learn about the challenges facing each of these species as their habitat diminishes.
Bears 2004
Majestic White Horses
Majestic White Horses
This equine odyssey travels such little-known turf as General George Patton's involvement in a daredevil World War II coup called "Operation Cowboy" that rescued 500 of Austria's famous white Lipizzans. It is a stunning behind-the-scenes production on the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, spiced with legends even linked to the prophet Mohammed.
Majestic White Horses 2001
Speed Racer: Welcome to the World of Vic Chesnutt
Speed Racer: Welcome to the World of Vic Chesnutt
A portrait of Athens, Georgia singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt.
Speed Racer: Welcome to the World of Vic Chesnutt 1994
Mystery of the Nile
Prime Video
Mystery of the Nile
Filmed in IMAX, a team of explorers led by Pasquale Scaturro and Gordon Brown face seemingly insurmountable challenges as they make their way along all 3,260 miles of the world's longest and deadliest river to become the first in history to complete a full descent of the Blue Nile from source to sea.
Mystery of the Nile 2005

Reviews

Diagonaldi
2011/03/18

Very well executed

... more
Afouotos
2011/03/19

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

... more
Dirtylogy
2011/03/20

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

... more
Mathilde the Guild
2011/03/21

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

... more
SDAim
2011/03/22

On an unusually rainy May day here in San Diego, we recently took some friends visiting from Pennsylvania to the impressive Reuben H. Fleet Space Center's domed IMAX theater to see Tornado Alley. The admission was a steep $14.95 per person, but included all of the exhibits in the museum -- which, frankly, I could have done without. The museum is definitely of interest to school kids, or parents with kids -- all fine, of course, but it would have been nice if there were a "film only" price for those of us only interested in seeing the movie.Once we waited for what seemed an incredibly long time for them to empty the theater from the previous showing (although the place was not crowded), we finally got seated. While I found the film interesting, and appreciated the "behind the scenes" look at what the tornado chasers do, I have to say that the overall impression was that the end credits started rolling just when the action seemed to get going. I realize this is a documentary and not Hollywood's version of tornado chasing, but for all the build-up, there were just a few seconds of actually being surrounded and inside a tornado, and then boom -- film over.Don't get me wrong -- if you are a science lover, or have kids and love those kind of exhibits and museums, this is a great thing to do. But for four adults, I'd have to say we felt a little short-changed.

... more
f-korambayil
2011/03/23

Just saw this movie at the San Diego Science center IMAX dome and boy was I disappointed. Instead of seeing massive twisters and fully utilizing the giant dome of the theater, it was like watching an episode of storm chasers on a large screen. Mind-grindingly boring. 99% of the film is watching cars being driven from A to B and hearing stupid radio transmissions using storm-chaser lingo. Paxton should patent his voice as a sleeping aid. I was so disappointed that I asked for my money back.This movie should not be put on the large screen and tickets should not be $16. It is as dry as sawdust.

... more
Cepheid_Soul
2011/03/24

I was looking forward to seeing Tornado Alley for quite some time. During the course of the Discovery Channel Series, it was made clear that Casey was filming for another movie that was going to take the footage we typically see on Discover to the next level by throwing it up on IMAX. Chasers was essentially a "Behind the Scenes" of Casey's film. Using a revolutionary Tornado-Proof Car, Casey promises unprecedented Tornado footage.But the so called Tornado documentary wasn't really a documentary about Tornadoes at all. Instead, the documentary is really about Casey and spends a majority of the film showing his vehicle, its construction and his efforts to get the golden shot of the interior of a tornado. Given that the resources of the car and his camera equipment were put into capturing tornadoes, I was surprised how little tornado footage is actually in the film. And for a vehicle that is supposed to be able to go where no car can go, I wondered how there were so many exterior shots of the car chasing down funnel clouds. Are they being followed by a second tank? In the end, Casey gets his shot. It is the interior of a relatively small tornado by comparison of some other funnels we've seen on Chasers and lasts a brief few seconds...it is hard to even tell that the vehicle has passed into the threshold of the funnel cloud itself. The audience member beside me echoed my sentiment when she whispered "that's it?" when the climax of the film had passed. I would have been more satisfied with a typical Storm Chasers episode just put up on IMAX.I think my frustration stems from feeling misled. If I knew the film was about Casey chasing the perfect shot, I wouldn't have felt that I spent way too much money for this 45 minute film that I thought was going to depict tornadoes in the glory of IMAX, not scenes of the back end of a (albeit cool looking) chase vehicle for 30 minutes.

... more