The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

The 1970's is the decade that gave birth to the disaster movie genre. In my review of 1970's Airport, I pointed out how that movie gave birth to disaster movies of that decade which in turn spawned disaster blockbusters of today's age. These kind of movies are meant to be dumb, silly fun and the makers of these kind of movies embrace what these movies are meant to do: to entertain. You won't be getting any thespian acting or a serious melodrama. Instead you'll get an onslaught of special effects and a thin story usually about trying to survive and that is quite okay by me. Another early example of a rather entertaining disaster film is 1972's The Poseidon Adventure. I enjoyed the film for what it was. It has a big cast of former Oscar winners and big-name movie stars, and they all seemed to have a grand ol' time. Sure, the dialogue is cheesy sometimes but the action is what we are here to see. And in that regard, the movie clearly succeeds.The plot remains simple and for good measure. The basic setup for the story is that a disaster strikes and the survivors must reach for safety. In this case, there is this passenger ship called the S.S Poseidon (loosely modeled after The Queen Mary) going on its last cruise before it reaches retirement. Out of nowhere, a large tidal wave hits the ship and turns the boat upside down. Now with everything in reverse, the survivors of the ship led by minister Reverend Scott (Gene Hackman) must climb to the now-uprooted bottom of the boat if they have any chance of escaping. See, this is a simple story but its a fun story regardless.Ah, let's talk about our characters. This movie is based off the best-selling novel written by Paul Gallico, and rumor has it that the characters are unlikable in the novel. Some of the characters are unlikeable in the film, but screenwriters Stirling Silliphant and Wendell Mayes and seasoned British director Ronald Neame did a solid job in tweaking some characters as to make them more sympathetic. Now, all the characters do what you expect them to do in this type of movie, so expect no surprises. The character development was rather surprisingly strong for some characters. As for the acting, no one gives a career-defining performance but everyone does a solid job. Gene Hackman as Reverend Scott and Ernest Borgnine as Rogo are arguably the two leads. They had a fun time, but they may have overacted especially in Borgnine's case. Those facial expressions and the way he delivered the lines were cheesy, but fun. Check out the rest of this cast: Red Buttons, Roddy McDowall, Shelley Winters (who delivers a fantastic performance), Jack Albertson, Arthur O'Connell, Leslie Nielsen, etc. That is one heck of a cast.We don't see these movies for the performances, but rather for the special effects. It was amazing what this film was able to do with practical effects. The big tsunami wave that overturned a boat looked mightily impressive for a 1972 movie, but in reality it was just a large wave filmed in slow-motion off the coast of California. The production design was immense and the I love the way we see the capsized boat. Keep in mind the film was release before computers played a role in effects, which makes this movie even more impressive. If there is one thing I absolutely love, it's the way how the movie looked and sounded and how the visual effects were implemented in the movie.Another thing I liked very much is the score and the music. This film was composed by the young maestro, John Williams. Williams would eventually become a film legend with all the famous films he would score, but this is the movie that got him his big break. Some people go as far to call this his best score ever. I wouldn't go that far, but it's high on my list. The overall tone of the score is dark, but the theme is rather light and there is something about it that makes it special.When originally released, The Poseidon Adventure received good reviews with lots of praise going for the visual effects-and rightfully so. Of course this film is a blockbuster and not meant for any award recognition, but somehow it received nine Oscar nominations mostly on the technical side though. Although Shelley Winters received an nomination for best supporting actress. The film was very fun, and very entertaining. The story is nothing special, but if you're looking for a movie with great visual effects, campy acting, and a story about surviving then this film is for you.My Grade: A-

A handful of people led by take-charge renegade priest Reverend Scott (an excellent performance by Gene Hackman) struggle to get out of a capsized ocean liner that they are trapped inside of before the ship eventually sinks.Director Ronald Neame keeps the gripping story moving along at a brisk pace, builds plenty of tension, maintains a tough tone throughout, and doesn't let the pyrotechnics overwhelm the intrinsic powerful drama in the desperate main situation. The meaty script by Wendell Mayes and Stirling fleshes out the principal characters nicely, doesn't pull any punches concerning the grim fates of certain people who one initially expects to make it, and even comes complete with a significant central message about the basic human desire to live and survive no matter what.Moreover, it's acted with tremendous aplomb by a tip-top cast: Ernest Borgnine as belligerent detective Rogo, Red Buttons as happy-go-lucky bachelor Martin, Carol Lynley as fragile pop singer Nonnie, Stella Stevens as Rogo's brash ex-hooker wife Linda, Shelley Winters as the good-hearted Belle Rosen, Jack Albertson as her gentle husband Manny, Pamela Sue Martin as spunky teenager Susan, Eric Shea as precious kid Robin, Roddy McDowall as helpful steward Acres, and Leslie Nielsen as the no-nonsense captain. The use of convincing practical effects adds a strong element of gritty realism, with the real flames and water conveying a potent and palpable sense of genuine danger. Kudos are also in order for Howard E. Stine's crisp widescreen cinematography and the lush and majestic orchestral score by John Williams. Worthy of its classic status.

This film is full of drama and tension.We meet many people, who take a New Year's voyage to Greece that may be their last.The Captain (Gene Hackman) tries to sail his ship,but meets with danger and peril. We meet many passengers like The Rosens ( Jack Albertson and Shelley Winters) or Mike and Linda Rogo (Ernest Borgnine and Stella Stevens). It happens that the ship comes upon a tidal wave that may mark the end of everyone.In the struggle,the ship capsizes and things get risky; We find that the passengers must climb deeper through the boat to reach safety.True courage is knowing how to face what comes in front of you.Wisdom helps you to understand how to face reality head on.

I love – and I truly mean LOVE – those typically bombastic and ginormous-scaled disaster movies from the 70s and early 80s, but admittedly they are all exactly the same… The setting and type of catastrophe are always different, of course, but the narrative structure, cast of characters and action sequences are practically always alike! When all hell breaks loose, there's always one atypical hero who stands up and mobilizes a small group of reluctant followers to do the exact opposite of what seems logical and of what everybody else is doing. The group exists of stereotypes that complain the entire time about the decisions that are being made, and several of them obviously don't make it until the end of the movie, but eventually the hero's choices naturally turn out to be only slim chances for survival they ever had! Of course, being released in 1972, "The Poseidon Adventure" was one of the very first big-budgeted disaster movies and one of the first enormous successes of producer Irwin Allen, so it's only logical that it spawned many imitations and that the formula blatantly got copied by Mr. Allen himself. Nearly 45 years later, the film is still very exciting, the sets & stunts still look very convincing (without any computer generated effects) and it's also still extremely realistic when it comes to illustrating what happens when blind panic breaks out. For all passengers and crew members aboard the SS Poseidon, the New Year couldn't possibly start off any worse… Caught in an immense storm, the luxurious cruise ship gets hits by a massive tidal wave and capsizes, only moments after midnight on the 1st of January. With the captain and most of the crew members dead, the slightly controversial but authoritarian reverend Scott (Gene Hackman) profiles himself as the leader and rescuer of as many people as possible. He guides a small group towards the bottom of the ship – since it's upside down – but since they were celebrating the New Year in the restaurant on the deck, they have to climb huge Christmas trees and squirm through narrow ventilation shafts in order to reach the engine room. "The Poseidon Adventure" is incredibly fast-paced, all the big names in the cast depict their roles very energetic and John Williams delivered a tremendously great score. The script contains a few horrible clichés in terms of character development (for example, dominant males and docile women) but luckily the multi-talented actors and actresses deal with it very well. Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters and many others deliver stellar performances, and even Leslie Nielsen is memorable in his (too short) role as the amiable captain. Along with "The Towering Inferno" and the original "Airport", this is the most iconic disaster movie of the seventies!