Tornado Intercept (2005)

Join the quest to film a tornado-from the inside. Obsessed filmmaker Sean Casey takes us on a mission to capture the world's first IMAX footage from within the vortex of a twister in Tornado Intercept. Joining the team is renowned meteorologist Dr. Josh Wurman. He and his squad of mobile Doppler radar trucks tag along with Sean to capture vital data from a tornado's destructive base and aid Sean in his search. From the relative safety of a homemade tank known as the Tornado Intercept Vehicle (TIV), Sean and his team endure flying trees, downed power lines and frustrating technical malfunctions. Dr. Wurman guides the steel-plated TIV to one tornado after another but must battle unfamiliar terrain and uncooperative equipment along the way. As technology fails, the team resorts to strapping a horseshoe to the front of the TIV for luck. Sean finally finds himself in the path of a mid-sized tornado, but the team's equipment fails again. With the tornado shrouded by rain and without precise data, the team's imperfect plan is put to the test by a perfect storm. Will the TIV hold up to the abuse or will Mother Nature call an early end to filming?