The movie Hurricane Smith on its' own, well, isn't very good. You've seen the story before: A man seeks a lost one in a far off land and violence somehow ensues. It's a fish out of water story as a Texas roughneck battles Aussie rednecks. But the roughneck is Carl Weathers! (Apollo Creed to all you Rocky fans) Weathers exudes a determined and righteous presence that is very rare. And his intensity makes the movie great. The script could have played up the hostilities of this novel setting a bit more, but that may have been asking to much of such a movie. But Carl Weathers makes it worth watching. Why he has never risen above Apollo Creed is beyond me.

Carl Weathers is Billy Ray "Hurricane" Smith, a construction worker from Marshall, Texas who receives word that his mother just died. Wishing to tell his sister Sally Mae the news, he travels to her last known whereabouts: the Gold Coast of Australia. While there searching for his sister, he becomes embroiled in a drug-fueled gang war between Howard Fenton (Bonner),with his merciless 2nd in command Charlie Dowd (Prochnow) and a gang called The Gillespies. With the help of a "hooker with a heart of gold", Julie (Delaney) and her "Pimp with a heart of gold", Shanks (Argue of Midnite Spares, 1983 fame),Hurricane takes on the gangs in the search for his sister.

A mustache-less Weathers makes the most of what he can in this fish-out-of-water tale. He is likable as the Texas boy caught up in the "criminal syndicate of South East Queensland" - but the film needed more action in its lagging middle section. Prochnow plays the classic villain tailor-made for audiences to boo and hiss at. You really hate him, but you have to wonder if he remembers anything about making this movie. Our guess is that he probably didn't see it as anything special. After the success of Action Jackson (1988),Warner Brothers seemed to just dump this movie into video stores with little or no fanfare. True, it's not as good as Jackson but perhaps they snubbed this film in the promotional department.

The best things about Hurricane Smith are the Australia locations, according to the credits primarily filmed in Brisbane, and the colorful characters. Besides the aforementioned Shanks with his over-the-top attitude and Warrant T-shirt with red suspenders, there's cranky old salt Griffo (Ewart),and you know Howard Fenton is evil because of his dastardly bolo tie.

Also of note is the unabashed racism in the movie, which they would never do today in our P.C. times. There seems to have been no shame or attempt to hide it, but it's all coming from the baddies, so it's okay. Such things in the script would never fly today, so Hurricane Smith shows the time and place in which it was made, which is always good. Also Americans are disparagingly called "Septics" - some sort of Cockney rhyming slang-type insult for "Yank" - "Septic Tank" or just "Septics" for short. Are we still being called that there? It must be in Weathers' contract that if he is in a starring role, the movie must be named after him (and have a colorful name at that) - Fortune Dane (1986),Action Jackson, and now Hurricane Smith. Also the soundtrack must be drenched in sax.

There's a lot to like about Hurricane Smith, but there are some flaws that kept us from being entirely satisfied with the end result.

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Buckle up and watch built badass Carl Weathers head down under to take on vicious Australian criminals in Hurricane Smith, a blast of saxophone laced, trashy 80's cheese that hits every beloved cliché in perfect chiming key. Weathers is an valued staple to the action genre, a memorable part of Predator and of course his thundering turn as Apollo Creed in the Rocky films. Along with his obvious commanding physicality, he has a likability that lends itself nicely when it comes to playing heroes out for retribution. His character got the nickname Hurricane after he pulled a friend out of a falling building during the titular meteorological event, cementing him as a tough guy worthy of carrying a ninety minute action flick on his shoulders. Hurricane is off to Australia, in search of his sister who has recently gone missing. He stumbles right into the midst of a hornet's nest of a criminal organization, led by Charlie O Dowd (Jurgen Prochnow),a stunningly evil pimp and drug runner. Prochnow loves to paint his villains in broad, garish strokes and he downright outdoes himself here, careening through a performance of wanton carnage and positively dripping malice. Hurricane is a massive thorn in his side, dismantling his operation in every attempt to learn what happened to his sister. He gets romantically involved with a kindly hooker (Cassandra Delany) leading to the obligatory 80's slow dance sex scene that everyone waits for in these type of flicks. There's bullets, car chases, an action scene on a helicopter and all kinds of trademark B movie lunacy. Weathers makes a damn good hero. Prochnow is one hell of a wicked villain. Fun stuff.