Wordiezett So much average

VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

zetes The much maligned remake of John Ford's 1937 film (or at least the second adaptation of the novel, which came out in 1936) is not as bad as its reputation, but it doesn't really work. They change things up a bit to make it about an interracial romance. Mary Astor's character (now played by Mia Farrow) is now the daughter of the governor character (played here by Jason Robards), and the lead native character (played by newcomer Dayton Ka'ne) falls in love with her. This being the 1920s, their romance is looked down upon (by both races). The initial premise change isn't too bad, but it weakens the rest of the plot, which plays out pretty similarly to the original film. Ka'ne's crime is far less sympathetic than it was; there he was arrested for assaulting a racist who insulted him. Here, he, as chief of his people, allows a custom of checking for a bride's virginity before she's married - the girl is so upset about it she drowns herself. Farrow helps Ka'ne escape, but their plans, and everyone's lives, are disrupted by the hurricane. Jon Hall was kind of the weak link in Ford's film, but Ka'ne is far worse. Even besides his more detestable crime, he's just not that likable an actor. Farrow's infatuation with him never comes off as real love, so there's no romance to latch onto. Farrow herself isn't too bad, but she's ten years older than the character should be at least. Robards is the best thing about it. Trevor Howard plays the priest and Max von Sydow the doctor. Both are fine, but the roles probably should have been reversed. It doesn't really matter, though, since both characters get short shafted by the script. Timothy Bottoms is pretty good as Farrow's initial love interest (he doesn't really have an analogue in the original). The actual hurricane is still pretty good, but the ending is lame. The film looks great, thanks to Sven Nykvist and, you know, Bora Bora just being beautiful in general.

Michael_Elliott Hurricane (1979) * (out of 4) This Dino De Laurentiis remake of John Ford's 1937 classic will always be remembered for two things. One is that the $22-million budget, which ended up losing money. The second thing is that this was the movie Roman Polanski was suppose to be making before fleeing the United States. After seeing this film I'm starting to believe that perhaps Polanski was fleeing having to make this wretched thing. A white woman (Mia Farrow) goes to the island of Samoa to stay with her Naval officer father (Jason Robards). Once on the island the white woman breaks a taboo and begins a relationship with a native (Dayton Ka'ne) who has already been promised to another woman. Soon we have double crossed love, a court trial and then a large hurricane that rips through. HURRICANE is a disaster movie in the purest sense because it really is a complete disaster from the opening frames to the closing credits. There's not a single thing that goes right with this thing and I guess it would be easy to throw some blame towards Polanski since his departure pretty much threw the production into the air where they had to bring in another director very quickly. It's clear that director Troell can't handled anything here and I can't say I blame him because the screenplay is also quite horrid. They have Farrow and Ka'ne running around like a couple teenage virgins and their "romance" scenes together are so laughable that you can't help but think of THE BLUE LAGOON and consider that movie a masterpiece in comparison. Another problem is that the entire taboo subject matter just isn't all that taboo and you can't help but feel they're making a lot out of nothing. I'm sure the racial, political and religious tensions could have made for an interesting movie but the film never really looks at any of it. The performances by the all-star cast are just another reminder that actors signed onto pictures like this to cash a paycheck. Robards sleepwalks through the entire film and I'm curious if he even remembered doing it. Farrow gives one of the worst performances I've seen from her as she hasn't an inch of energy and really brings the film to a halt. Trevor Howard, James Keach, Timothy Bottoms and Max von Sydow aren't any better. The film is a remake of the Ford film but they share very little in common outside the setting, a few other plot points and of course the hurricane. I think it's important to show this picture and the original together whenever people say old movies can't hold up with current technology. Just show people the hurricane sequence from both versions and I think people will see that the original holds up incredibly well and still looks effective while the stuff here is decent but you will be wondering where all the money went.

MARIO GAUCI In view of the disaster-movie cycle of the 1970s, somebody got the bright idea of remaking the John Ford classic THE HURRICANE (1937) – lavishing on it a considerable budget, a handful of stars, and the best that special effects wizardry could afford at the time; however, the end result was so dreadful (and old-fashioned) that the film proved a notorious flop! The setting (adapted from a book by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, best-known for another adventure with an exotic backdrop, "Mutiny On The Bounty") is a South Sea island run by the American Navy; the arrival of the Governor's daughter causes a commotion – the newly-crowned native King forsakes his local girl for the white woman's charms; this obviously creates problems between the two sets of inhabitants, who do not wish to have their blood mingle…but, before the situation can be resolved, the Forces of Nature contrive to mete out their own form of justice (via the titular catastrophe).Jason Robards Jr. is the Governor, Mia Farrow his daughter, and Dayton Kane the young ruler; besides, Max von Sydow is a doctor, Trevor Howard a priest, Timothy Bottoms a Navy officer (with feelings for Farrow) and James Keach as Kane's hostile keeper (the latter having been convicted of his fiancé's death, who drowned after fleeing a ceremony in which her virginity was to be ascertained!). Despite enviable credentials – producer Dino De Laurentiis, acclaimed Swedish director Troell, cinematographer Sven Nykvist, composer Nino Rota (whose contribution is particularly notable) and production designer Danilo Donati – the film is something of a snoozer, with endless footage devoted to local color and the unconvincing central romance…until the spectacular climax (but which still isn't really enough to redress the balance)! Having re-acquainted myself with this (I'd already watched it as a kid), I hope someday to get a fresh appraisal of the Oscar-winning original as well; it was available on DVD very early into the format, but hasn't been re-issued since going out-of-print!

JasparLamarCrabb Jan Troell's remake of the '30s classic stars Mia Farrow as the daughter of the governor of Pago Pago who falls in love with one of the natives, much to the displeasure of father Jason Robards. Tensions erupt into violence as Robards tries to keep the two apart. To boot, a ferocious hurricane is about to hit. Is that a metaphor for something? Who knows! Any attempt to point out the submission of peaceful island people to the white man is diluted by the film's extremely slow pace and cardboard characters. Farrow's not bad, but Robards seems bored senseless. The supporting cast includes James Keach, Timothy Bottons, Trevor Howard and Max Von Sydow. Somebody named Dayton Ka'ne plays Farrow's love interest. The visual effects are fine and the music score by Nino Rota is beautiful, but they're not enough to save HURRICANE from a lousy script and chilly direction.