Tacky TV-made disaster flick is loaded with familiar faces as well as laughable stock footage of varying quality (some of which is repeated at least once). A depression in the Southern Gulf of Mexico intensifies into a tropical storm before becoming a full-fledged hurricane with 175 mph winds; the National Guard attempts to evacuate residents of the Central Gulf states while Naval forces and Air Force flyboys work together to patrol the seas. The cajoling dialogue has a little snap, but the characters are mostly stock figures. Frank Sutton, as a drunken psychotic whose apartment lies directly in Hurricane Hilda's path, hardly elicits sympathy, but Will Geer and Michael Learned (reunited from TV's "The Waltons") have a nice rapport as sniping weather experts. Special effects are strictly fifth-rate, but star-watchers might be drawn in by the cast.
Review of Hurricane
Hurricane
(1974 TV Movie)
"A hurricane is a natural phenomenon." ... "Is that what they're teaching in college these days?"
15 November 2011