Mike Collar (ledfut360)

Several years ago I was driving a bus through an intense Saskatchewan thunderstorm. I was constantly steering partially right just to stay on that straight prairie road and out of the rain-filled ditches. Suddenly, the wind completely reversed direction. Without missing a beat it slammed from left. I nearly ended up on two wheels but, with more luck then skill, we carried on. Before catching another breath I was staring through the windshield, awestruck, as water rose from the left ditch to blow across the road like driven snow. I should have been praying. Instead, I heard this voice out of my own head: "Belcher! We've got upflow!" No twister dropped that afternoon - at least not on me. Even though I love the movie, I'd rather just watch, thank you. I've seen this movie more times than any other but Top Gun. What keeps me coming back are the characters. Philip Hoffman's Dusty could be a university course on its own and is one of the most likeable characters to come out of any movie. Scott Thompson is perhaps the most unusual of the group as "preacher", but he and Sean Whalen as Sanders or Alan Ruck as "Rabbit" add as much to the movie as the four primary characters. However this takes nothing from Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton Jami Gertz and Cary Elwes and they all work magic together. Dialouge is generally short, snappy and believable while editing moves the story faster than a falling Jeep Honcho. One thing I find most endearing is that for a movie where characters regularly spout lines from other films -- "that's no moon. It's a space station" -- it has left its mark with a few quotables of its own. "Dusty. We got Debris" and "Cow. Another Cow. -- Actually, I think that was the same one". There are some things that annoy me - primarily how a tornado usually lasts until they interact with it and then disappears. Also, since seeing the movie, wind chimes ringing at night have taken a more sinister meaning. But that won't keep me from joining their chase again.

It's got all the key elements to make a great movie -- cars and women. Did I mention plot? yeah, there's some of that too