Hurricane (1974)

Best movie of this year hands down!

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

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

What can I say? I'm a child of the 70's and I love 70's shows and movies. I'm also a huge Dallas fan. I recall 20 years ago (hard to believe it's been that long now) I finished my freshman year of college and I also recall watching the final episode of Dallas back in the spring of 1991. A week later, I was at Blockbuster Video and discovered I could prolong the Dallas feeling one more Friday night and I rented Hurricane when I discovered both Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy were in it. Don't think they knew each other at that time yet, but it is ironic they were both in it. I can't think of the character names, but I just watched this movie on you tube and would not mind finding it on DVD. Larry Hagman and his wife are out in their boat and get caught in a Hurricane and trapped in the eye of the storm and they're trying to correspond with their teenage son and younger kids. Martin Milner from Adam 12 is in the Air Force and the head of the crew in the plane that flies through these storms. Hagman was already a celebrity at the time from being on I Dream of Jeannie. Patrick Duffy was an unknown newcomer. He looks like he's in college in this movie. He and his bride are trying to leave their place to head further inland, but their neighbor, the late Frank Sutton from Gomer Pyle is throwing a Hurricane party and insists they join them, which they do for a little bit, but finally leave at some point. All I will say is that Sutton will eventually learn the error of his ways. The man that plays Martin Milner's father is a man who lives alone and has a dog. I recall that he tries to ride out the storm and wait for his son to come home. He's offered a ride twice and turns it down. The scene I remember best with him is when he regrets passing it up when he tries to leave, his pile of crap truck won't start and he tries to go by foot. If you're a fan of the Waltons, Michael Learned and the late Will Geer, who are relatives on that show, are esteemed colleagues at the Hurricane Center. And being a fan of the Incredible Hulk TV series, I have to point out that the late Jack Colvin, who was intrepid tabloid reporter Jack McGee on that show, is a TV newscaster in this movie. You actually have 4 story lines going on here. Hagman and his wife caught in the Hurricane's eye, the fateful trips of Milner and his crew to attempt a rescue. Milner's dad and his dog, and Frank Sutton's hurricane party.I'm probably one of the few, but I really love this movie. 2 thumbs up.

To quote a previous comment: "This movie,although about a hurricane, beats "twister". very little foul language, no graphic violence, but still leaves us with plenty of thrills and excitement and gets it's point across that a hurricane is nothing to mess around with." I agree completely -AND it appears to have the same random cow in the road! On the whole, it's really not as bad as might seem from a TV movie, and the inclusion of actual storm footage actually adds to the semi-documentary style.My only real gripe is with the eye-of-the-storm sequences, in which the very minimal effects are at their weakest and the stock footage used is inconsistent at best. SPOILER! Additionally, being a fan of the old Adam 12 series, I was saddened at the fate of the heroic Martin Milner. To make matters worse, his demise with that of his crew is not even shown on screen; it's only mentioned in passing later on.

When I first saw this film, I was about 8 years old and didn't realize how destructive hurricanes can really be. Despite its tendency to be like other disaster epics that came out around the same time, this was a pretty decent film. One thing I do like about it is that a lot of this film takes its plot from several actual hurricanes, especially hurricane Camille. The party vignette reminded a lot of people about what happened during that event when so many people lost their lives while partying during Camille. Also, it is rather sad because this was one of the last pieces of work that Frank Sutton did as he died shortly after this film was completed. At least he had one good dramatic performance after "Gomer Pyle".

This movie really isn't as bad as some might suggest! What's not too like about Frank (Sgt. Carter) partying like there's no tomorrow while an ill wind blows thru town? "Pyle....get me a drink of the good bourbon...it's 15 years old!" Or Martin Milner flying a Coast Guard plane into the thick of things, risking his life and his crew for a wayward boat skippered by Larry Hagman? The special effects are minimal, but the actual footage of one of the worst storms in history, is well worth the price of admission.