Search - The Hurricane Express on DVD

Hurricane Mediocre

J.T.J., an Author | Renton, WA United States | 09/17/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I did not expect a great deal from this 1932 serial, but since I have always been a outspoken John Wayne fan, I looked forward to this DVD. Actually, it really did not surprise or disappoint me much. The production values were cheap, the script weak, and the acting so-so. What I found best about the serial was seeing John Wayne in top athletic form doing a lot of his own stunts, and providing a great deal of action. I noticed that his friend, and stunt teacher, Yakima Canutt, played one of the henchmen, and I am sure that Yak did a lot to boost the action quality of the film.



It is telling that the studio at the time did not even put John Wayne's name above the title. Apprarently, they did not yet recognize his box office potential at this time, or else the studio execs at Fox and Columbia a year or to previously had done a fair job in trying to deep-six his career. It is a shame that Duke Wayne had to toil at these bargain basement studios such as Mascot and Republic for so many years until "Stagecoach" made him a huge star.



Since I did not spend much on the DVD, I shall not rank it badly for its picture and sound quality. But hey, distributors everywhere, we are talking about John Wayne--the most outstanding action star of the talking picture era. One would think that the people who are selling this serial, and other early films of Wayne, would take more pride in the presentation, and try to do a better job in the restoration. I really thought the picture and sound quality could have been improved, so I only rated it with two stars. I still recommend that John Wayne fans see this, and other early 1930s films he did. In seeing these films it will become obvious that no matter how little money was expended, the Duke still emerges as the unparalled hero of the silver screen."

"Hurricane Express"

Antony A. Botto | Alexandria, VA USA | 06/09/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Service on order was great. I am a "train buff", and I remember this seriel as a kid at Saturday Matinees. What a shame the DVD releasing company used such terrible source materials - a 16MM print instead of the 35MM original. Interesting to see production techinques from that early sound era, but the bad print quality I can not forgive when going to a medium as high quality as DVD. Gladly swap it out for a better print source DVD. I worked my way through University as a Theatre Projectionist, and went on to work in the motion picture industry. I have high standards! Any feed back from other purchasers/movie/train buffs?

Antony Alan Botto"

OK Serial, miserable video quality

R. Gale | Los Angeles, CA United States | 05/08/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This review pertains to the Alpha Video DVD, which clearly the previous review does not. The image quality of this DVD is about the worst I have ever seen and I therefore urge you NOT to buy this edition. The original print element is bad, and the video transfer looks worse than a VHS tape recorded on the slowest speed. I don't know how other editions compare, but I doubt they can be any worse. The serial is nothing special, although I might have enjoyed it more with a better quality DVD."