Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.5

The Hurricane Heist Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 4, 2018

It can be kind of fun at times to imagine so-called “pitch meetings” for various high concept films, and by “high concept” I mean (as I’ve joked repeatedly before) that whoever came up with the idea could conceivably have been very high at the time. Take The Hurricane Heist (“please”, as I’m sure some Borscht Belt lovers may be mouthing), for example: one could easily visualize an excited creative type telling a studio honcho that caper films were all the rage nowadays, but how much “better” things could be if the caper were woven into a storyline that featured elements similar to such putative blockbusters as, say, The Perfect Storm or (perhaps more saliently) Twister . That’s really all there is to The Hurricane Heist, and while there is a lot of sound and fury populating this film, it in fact largely signifies nothing, as the film simply ticks off an expected litany of set pieces while attempting somewhat feebly to make the characters into something more than mere types. Those set pieces begin from the get go (you expected anything else?) with a flashback to the horrors of Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and how they traumatized two little boys named Breeze (not kidding) and Willie Rutledge. The film predictably segues forward to the “current day” when a tropical storm named Tammy is already descending on the Gulf Coast. Will (Toby Kebbell) has grown into a seemingly well adjusted meteorologist who is tooling around in a high tech vehicle that looks like something out of Mad Max: Fury Road in order to place drones to monitor storm activity. Meanwhile two Treasury Agents named Casey Corbyn (Maggie Grace) and Connor Perkins (Ralph Ineson) are stuck in their semi in a huge traffic jam caused by local Sheriff Jimmy Dixon (Ben Cross) insisting on an evacuation order for residents of the area.

It’s hard to get too worked up over how rote so much of The Hurricane Heist is, since it’s fairly obvious the film had a limited scope of ambition and in fact probably meets the baseline requirements of what it sets out to do easily enough. But there are so many hackneyed elements to this offering that it’s almost hard to know where to begin. The opening vignette documenting the travails of the young Rutledge brothers is only the first of several examples, with the boys and their Dad attempting to outrun Hurricane Andrew in the family truck, but with sibling discord instantly on display since Willie blames their predicament on something having to do with Breeze and his kite. When tragedy ensues, someone somewhere along the line in the creative process thought it would be emotionally cathartic to have the hurricane clouds become a demonic face so that Willie (the younger of the pair) could be especially traumatized. And without pointing out what should already be obvious, by the time the adult Breeze (Ryan Kwanten) enters the fray, there’s a long history of brotherly discord that only the forces of Hurricane Tammy can help to ameliorate.

There are any number of patently absurd contrivances that film indulges in, including having not one but two underhanded double faced traitor types (anyone with even an inkling of how these things are typically plotted is going to spot the bad guys pretty much from the moment they’re introduced). But also playing into the overall ridiculous feeling of the film is Breeze’s dual role as a former Marine and the only guy around who the bad guys can utilize to overcome electrical problems caused by the storm. That leads to Breeze being one of several hostages that are imprisoned in a seemingly impenetrable (except for the bad guys, of course) fortress where untold millions are being stored. And of course Will and Casey have to come to the rescue, not just for the innocent bystanders but for all those piles of cash just lying around waiting to be stolen.

Now, with some of the more ludicrous aspects of The Hurricane Heist either accepted or dismissed as is your personal wont, there are some effective if completely hokey set pieces scattered throughout the film. Will’s high tech tank-car hybrid provides some passing amusement as he manages to get out of a series of scrapes (some but not all involving Casey), but the highlight of the film’s lunatic proclivities for me personally was a scene that my colleague Brian Orndorf aptly described as a “reverse bungee jump” in his review of the film during its theatrical exhibition. It’s at this particular moment that I (and forgive me my coming sinning pun) threw caution to the wind and simply decided to surrender to the silliness that defines much of The Hurricane Heist. When you have a series of characters sucked into the gaping maw of a hurricane, only to have the heroes miraculously saved by well placed tethers you know (to quote another famous film featuring a twister) you’re not in Kansas anymore.

The Hurricane Heist Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Hurricane Heist is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists a variety of Arri Alexa products used to digitally capture the imagery, but neglects to state whether this was finished at a 2K or 4K DI. One way or the other, given the film's almost relentless grading toward grays, slates and cool blues, detail levels are continually impressive throughout this presentation. There are a few nice (relatively) bright pops of color early in the film before the main storm hits, but even here the look seems intentionally desaturated, sometimes to near black and white levels. Once the storm hits, the film is regularly bathed in darkness (or at least dimness), something that might imply diminution of detail levels, but aside from understandable elements like a lack of shadow detail in the darkest moments, I was continually impressed with the amount of fine detail that "peeked" through even despite the overall shrouded ambience. The CGI is rather good, all things considered, though a few isolated hokey effects like the "cloud death skull" that appears in the opening vignette or the "reverse bungee jump" are almost comical. Once several of the main characters are covered with grit and blood from various encounters with either the storm or each other, fine detail on faces really pops impressively in a number of close-ups.

The Hurricane Heist Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

From the very first (pre imagery) rumble of thunder and other storm sounds, The Hurricane Heist regularly engages the Atmos channels of its blistering Dolby Atmos track. The sound mix here is a whirlwind in and of itself, with huge sweeps of sonic data wafting overhead and some of the most forceful LFE I've personally experienced in any action adventure movie. The sheer ubiquity of wind and storm effects keeps immersion at near constant levels, replaced only by the "thrum" of some of the interior scenes where the robbery is supposedly taking place. Dialogue is also very well rendered and smartly directional, but it's the storm sound effects that really set this mix apart and which deliver some of the most exciting sonics I've heard recently.

The Hurricane Heist Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary from Director Rob Cohen


• Eye of the Storm (1080p; 17:44) is a better than average EPK, with quite a bit of good behind the scenes footage and decent interviews.


• Hollywood Heist: A Conversation with Rob Cohen (1080p; 23:45) is unexpectedly engaging, given what many think of Cohen (my colleague Brian Orndorf refers to Cohen's filmography as "odious" in the above linked review, while others merely stop at calling Cohen an unmitigated "hack"). Say what you will, Cohen has been in the industry for decades and has the war stories to prove it. He has some really interesting anecdotes to share, including some kind of funny reminiscences about what he calls the "Ovitz" era of filmmaking in the 1980s when it was all about "packages".


• VFX Reel (1080p; 3:52) shows the rendering process for various sequences.


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 2:11)

The Hurricane Heist Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's simply no denying that The Hurricane Heist is a big, noisy and pretty darned stupid movie, but it doesn't really pretend to be anything otherwise, at least not very seriously (passing lip service to so-called "character development" on the part of the brothers and Casey notwithstanding). The film itself is probably an unabashed mess, but its technical presentation is really impressive, so those who don't mind big, noisy and pretty darned stupid outings that still manage to exploit the limits of their home theater may want to check this one out. As tangential as it may be, the interview with Cohen really kind of delighted me, and I suspect other film fans may find it similarly engaging.