"Anna's Storm" combines the elements of an ER episode with the generic disaster film. A shower of cluster bombs lands on a small town in Colorado, and the threat of Big Bertha arriving means that the everyone in the community will be doomed.
There are no villains in this film other than the indiscriminate forces of the universe. Led by Mayor Anna Davenport, the people of this provincial outpost must rally to support one another in what might be the remaining minutes of their lives.
As appropriate for a Lifetime film, the local police are completely incompetent in their response to the calamity. The crusty old police chief's only accomplishment during the crisis is to give blood at the hospital! Seth, the son of the chief, is in love with the mayor's daughter, Emily. The chief is also running for mayor, hoping to unseat Anna.
The filmmakers set up unlimited opportunities to bring out the kleenex. Anna and her husband "Doc" lost their little boy Ricky when he was run over by a careless truck driver. The family has never been the same and Anna is now planning to move to Florida. Daughter Emily is distraught at having to move away from her friends and her boyfriend Seth. "Doc" has not worked in months and now is brought in to heroically participate in triage at the hospital.
The cast was excellent in conveying the human side of disaster and the ability of the townspeople to work together during the disaster. Mayor Anna took to the airwaves with her radio broadcasts. Though not at the level of Winston Churchill's oratory, she was nonetheless inspirational in quoting from the Bible, reminding her fellow citizens that "two are better than one" when it comes to working as a team.
For a television film, the production values were excellent. Everyone will have a favorite scene to recall from this film. My personal choice is when the quick-thinking Emily hatches an idea to lift a fallen tree off of Seth's leg by tying a rope to a motor vehicle, then backing up to raise the tree. As a non-driver, she required a crash course in how to use a stick shift. She passed her driving test with flying colors!
There are no villains in this film other than the indiscriminate forces of the universe. Led by Mayor Anna Davenport, the people of this provincial outpost must rally to support one another in what might be the remaining minutes of their lives.
As appropriate for a Lifetime film, the local police are completely incompetent in their response to the calamity. The crusty old police chief's only accomplishment during the crisis is to give blood at the hospital! Seth, the son of the chief, is in love with the mayor's daughter, Emily. The chief is also running for mayor, hoping to unseat Anna.
The filmmakers set up unlimited opportunities to bring out the kleenex. Anna and her husband "Doc" lost their little boy Ricky when he was run over by a careless truck driver. The family has never been the same and Anna is now planning to move to Florida. Daughter Emily is distraught at having to move away from her friends and her boyfriend Seth. "Doc" has not worked in months and now is brought in to heroically participate in triage at the hospital.
The cast was excellent in conveying the human side of disaster and the ability of the townspeople to work together during the disaster. Mayor Anna took to the airwaves with her radio broadcasts. Though not at the level of Winston Churchill's oratory, she was nonetheless inspirational in quoting from the Bible, reminding her fellow citizens that "two are better than one" when it comes to working as a team.
For a television film, the production values were excellent. Everyone will have a favorite scene to recall from this film. My personal choice is when the quick-thinking Emily hatches an idea to lift a fallen tree off of Seth's leg by tying a rope to a motor vehicle, then backing up to raise the tree. As a non-driver, she required a crash course in how to use a stick shift. She passed her driving test with flying colors!