StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Mehdi Hoffman There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Cissy Évelyne It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Woodyanders A dam bursts and floods the small Oregon town of Brownsville. Director Earl Bellamy, working from a tight script by Don Ingalls, keeps the engrossing story moving along at a steady pace, takes time to develop the characters, builds a good deal of tension, and pulls out the thrilling stops for the exciting and eventful last third. The sound acting by the capable cast keeps this picture humming: Robert Culp as cynical, yet heroic helicopter pilot Steve Brannigan, Martin Milner as the no-nonsense Paul Burke, Richard Basehart as the stubborn and unscrupulous mayor John Cutler, Barbara Hershey as perky nurse Mary Cutler, Cameron Mitchell as the harried Sam Adams, Francine York as the sweet Daisy Kempel, and Whit Bissell as the stalwart Dr. Ted Horne. Carol Lynley really makes a deliciously hammy meal out of her thankless pregnant woman in peril part. However, Roddy McDowall is wasted in a nothing bit role as whiny tourist Mr. Franklin. Rich LaSalle's robust score hits the rousing spot. Lamar Boren's slick cinematography provides a neat polished look. A fun flick.

kapelusznik18 ****SPOILERS****One of the least known Irvin Allen disaster flicks of the 1970's with the usual all star cast but, with an only 2.5 million budget, below par-for Allen-special effects makes its point that you can't mess around with Mother Nature and end up getting away with it. That's the cold or wet hard truth that Brownsville mayor John Cutler, Richard Basehart, finds out when he thinks he can keep the truth about an engineers report about the town dam being defected and about to burst! It's Brownsville top dam mechanic Paul Burke, Martin Milner, who smells a rat in all this and tries to get the people of Brownsville and its surroundings to get the hell out before the dam bursts and they end up under water!The dam's supervisor Sam Adams, Cameron Mitchell, at first goes along with Mayor Cutler's idiotic demands, like the little Dutch boy holding off the Atlantic Ocean with his finger in the dike, to keep the water from overflowing but later realizing that he's both mad and delusional tries to relieve the water pressure only to get swept up with the action or rushing waters. As for Sam's very pregnant wife Abbie played by a previous survivor of an Irvin Allen disaster movie "The Poseidan Adventure" the lovely Carol Lynley is stuck in her house and about to give birth at any moment!***SPOILERS*** With Mayor Cutler now a total mental case, in how bad he screwed things up, it's up to Burke and helicopter pilot Steve Brannigan, Robert Culp, to save the day and the town of Brownsville from going under. With time running out and the water levels from the burst dam rising they not only have to work against the clock to detonate the remaining dam structure to alleviate the water pressure by draining it out but also save Mayor Cutler's son Andy, Eric Olsen,from it engulfing him and everyone still left alive in town! The rest of the cast has Barbara Hershey as Mayor Cutler's daughter and Paul Burke's girlfriend. It's Mary who's also a nurse in the local hospital. There's also Mary's mom and Cutler's wife Alice, Teresa Wright, who tragically doesn't survive the flood by her trying to rescue her son Andy who in fact, in all the confusion, she mistook for someone else.And last but not least in a cameo role Roddy McDowall as, what I think, naturalist Mr. Franklin who after less then three minutes of screen time completely disappears, like a puff of smoke, from off the face of the earth!

ddc300 Better than average made-for-TV disaster film by the master himself, Irwin Allen.Plot in a nutshell: Milner and Culp are believable as the owners/operators of a helicopter company in a small Oregon town. Mayor Richard "Adm. Nelson" Basehart tries to hide the fact that the earthen dam protecting the town of Brownsville is on the verge of collapsing. Milner takes him to task for being concerned only with town commerce and not protecting the lives of his constituents. In the end Milner and Culp use their copter to assist in the rescue of a number of townspeople when the dam finally bursts.Stars Martin Milner, Eric Olsen and Cameron Mitchell were all holdovers from Irwin Allen's short-lived TV series, "Swiss Family Robinson" which went off the air earlier in the year. Look for Irwin Allen 'stock players' like Francine York, Elizabeth Rogers and Whit Bissell in the hospital scenes.

slbp_99 Irwin Allen did great on The Towering Inferno, The Poseidon Adventure, Beyond The Poseidon Adventure, and The Swarm but this one was not one of his best. The special effects could have been much better. The acting was alright. I would recommend this movie to people who like disaster movies. Or people who have nothing else to do for the next 98 minutes