Not quite as bad as I expected, because the basic theme, of computer security mechanisms locking out the legitimate user having unintended consequences is a real, ever-present threat in our everyday lives, affecting everything from internet banking to software licensing. Because computers can never be programmed to deal reasonably with unforeseen circumstances, there needs to be recourse to a human authority to overrule them.This film imagines that such a situation arises in the control of nuclear power and a hurricane prevents human intervention by those in authority. Seeing how the people involved deal with the situation is inherently interesting, because it involves issues of just what levels of power should computers be given over people at different levels of authority.The film tries to juxtaposition personal relationships with corporate hierarchy; worker rivalry against the common the struggle against nature. It is pacey and entertaining, but the development of the premise is a bit superficial, diluting it by making the the cause of the computer behaviour the crazily inept programming by one of the characters, rather than the struggle of workers to exercise the powers they need when their jobs unexpectedly demand that they take on great responsibilities.Made in 2007, this film holds up well as the theme is just as relevant today.
... View MoreDisaster movies can be entertaining, although the number of bad ones are too many to list, and the idea was interesting. But Nuclear Hurricane failed in every single way imaginable. Even for low-budget it looks cheap, very drab in lighting, grainy in the way it's shot and the editing is often sloppy at best. There is no better news about the special effects which look artificial and under-proportioned, if you are expecting an epic nuclear hurricane like the title promises you'll be disappointed, this hurricane didn't even rise above lukewarm. The music is very generic, you hear similar-sounding scores all the time and with much better pace and placement. The writing is really awful and was in serious need of a re-boot(pun intended) in Nuclear Hurricane, with very inane dialogue that has a lot of talk but entirely vacuous and sometimes irrelevant. There's even attempts at humour, and not only is the humour not funny at all, more tired than anything else, but it's most of the time placed inappropriately. Story-wise the movie is a complete slog, with sluggish pacing, padding that adds little(the pregnant woman subplot was not interesting and suffered some of the worst of the dialogue) and no tension or fun. It's also incredibly repetitive and has so many holes that you can drive the biggest ever truck through them, it's very difficult to be engrossed when the story is this confused(some scenes almost incomprehensible) and stupid. The characters are a cardboard and unlikeable bunch, especially the female sheriff, not many characters recently have got on my nerves but this character did. The most interesting character is the computer Staci, but even that character was derivative of Hal9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. The acting is poor, with no chemistry or sense that they cared about the jeopardy they were in, ranging from bland to overwrought. This is including Jamie Luner. All in all, awfully bad from start to finish with nothing good to say about it. 1/10 Bethany Cox
... View MoreI discovered this movie on Telefutura, which is one of the few channels I can watch movies when I'm too broke for cable. Needles to say, I masochistically choose to watch their cinema like the Mads sadistically choose their cinema for Joel or Mike on "Mystery Science Theater 3000." It's a good thing there are commercials and it's in Spanish so I don't have to learn & understand the (lack of a) plot. "Nuclear Hurricane" stars Jamie Luner, the beautiful red-haired C-list actress you may remember from "Just the Ten of Us," "Melrose Place," & "Profiler." I only saw the last hour of the film, but I think it was just enough for me to give this the negative rating it deserves. I presumably missed the "good parts," which may involve the hurricane & tumbling CGI boulders. What I did see was Luner & that guy from "All My Children" trying to prevent a nuclear meltdown or something. & like in many movies or TV shows, they had to traverse air ducts large enough to accommodate one person. This gimmick always exploits the physique of the thespians as Luner displays some cleavage but unfortunately no butt shots. It's as if this awful film still has to be taken seriously somehow. & also there is some creepy villainous robot like Hal 9000 (here it's called "Staci.") From what I saw, Luner fell unconscious either from the heat in the vents or lack of air & that soap opera guy had to save her & a welder's involved. Add to that two people in another scene assisting in delivering a woman's baby in said hurricane to complete that long, boring hour. I'd be really masochistic if I weren't playing the Wii on another TV. Incidentally I saw this on the Third of July; on the 4th of July & on many other holidays, Telefutura airs a marathon of movies. I assume "Nuclear Hurricane" was really too crappy to be put in that lineup for those who live in states where you can't buy fireworks & literally can't stand the heat. "Nuclear Hurricane" is like "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter": when it comes to unusual film names, WYSIWYG. &WYG is a horrible movie. Thank you, Telefutura for motivating me to write a review which I haven't done in awhile. I'm being sarcastic, of course, but it's good to get it outta my system. Happy 4th of July, yall!
... View MoreI just found myself yelling at the television for the constant repetition of the two main characters, Linda (Jamie Luner), who's ex is on the island and appears to date the female sheriff, possibly I don't know, it appears like that, and Rusty (Jack Scalia).But let's start at the beginning. What takes place is a poor version of '2001: A Space Odyssey', with the HAL 9000 being replaced by a computer called Staci. Linda and Rusty need to reboot the backup system, but the code they were given activates Security Protocol 13 (SP13), which makes Staci go berserk.Now the repetition. Now, before doing the reboot Rusty tells Staci to lock the doors to the building. Why they do this I don't know. How they can do this when there's no...proper computer software on the doors, apart from keyholes, I don't know. Now get this, when Security protocol 13 kicks in, Staci doesn't do anything the lead characters do, for example, shutting down the protocol and rebooting the backup system. So, Linda tries to leave to pick up her ex so he can fix the situation, forgetting they locked the doors. So we then get the characters asking Staci to unlock the doors, which can't be done because SP13 denies their authority, and they can't get shut it down because they don't have authority, they can't call for help because of SP13, and repeat. Despite this Linda tries getting through doors MULTIPLE TIMES, only getting the same response. Because the first hundred times worked before.Then the building has retinal scanners which Staci decides to ignore. So Linda, if the retinal scanners don't work, STOP TRYING TO USE THEM! And then asking Staci to unlock the door only leads to the same freaking thing she told you before!Now, the title of the film is misleading. A nuclear hurricane. That sounds awesome and terrifying. We get a normal hurricane. Nowhere near nuclear. A threat is what we get. I WANT A NUCLEAR HURRICANE! THAT'S WHAT THE FILM PROMISED ME!And then we have plenty of...terrible, terrible things. A pointless sub-plot of a woman giving birth, a sub-plot of Linda stealing Rusty's job, like 'Lava Storm' the settlement (an island) has an unlikely population of 9, vent shafts are not real sized (no-one builds them that big), the characters don't bother covering the camera because this might "piss her off" (though by all regards covering up the camera DOES NOT TURN OFF THE MICROPHONE!) a maintenance guy who doesn't really do much but try doors after being told they're locked, and, get this Linda trapped in a air vent in 135 degrees. We're not told whether it's 135 degrees Fahrenheit or 135 degrees Celsius, but she should have died, but nooooo. She jokes around by asking out the computer. WHAT THE HELL?That's it, I'm wrapping up. This film is terrible, it makes no sense the dialogue is terrible, it repeats itself endlessly, we don't care about the characters, it repeats itself, the acting is wooden, it repeats itself and I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!
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