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The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
66 out of 85 people found the following comment useful :-
Twice as good, half as long, 3 April 1999
Author: Spartan from Tallahassee, Florida
If you have three and a half hours to kill, do NOT watch Titanic. Take the three and a half hours and watch the Poseidon Adventure twice. Okay, it's campy and it's the consummate 70s disaster flick, complete with ensemble cast.
But when you put them up against each other, Poseidon Adventure is just leagues better than Titanic. Titanic is over three hours, and centers around two characters. In that time, the two characters are hardly developed at all, they're terribly one dimensional and probably could be summed up in about a sentence each.
Compare this to Poseidon Adventure. Stars off with a dozen main characters, and in half as much time, they all have their own personalities, quirks, and are real identifiable people. And far from the Titanic tendency of stamping "I'm gonna die" on people's foreheads, in the Poseidon Adventure you don't know initially who's going to die- or at least not how or when anyway.
The Poseidon Adventure is just a more interesting movie. It may not be as glossy or as pretty, but it's got it where it counts... it's just a better film.
29 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :-
Still Seaworthy, 6 June 2001
Author: kevcom from Hawaii
Anyone who has seen as many disaster movies as I have knows that this is absolutely the best one ever made. For a film nearly thirty years old, Poseidon Adventure is still so effective that it would cause anyone planning to take a cruise to think twice. You probably know the plot--luxury liner capsized by a tidal wave. This synopsis is brought to life with suspense, drama, and sometimes, terrifying reality. One of the most effective cinematic touches is that in nearly every scene, the camera is slowly swaying back and forth to give us a sense that we really are at sea. Something "Titanic" completely missed.
We follow the journey of ten survivors through the inverted ship to their hopeful rescue--narrowly escaping fires, explosions, and flooding corridors every step of the way. The sets are epic and nothing less than spectacular. Especially the inverted dining room when the Atlantic Ocean comes crashing in, and the engine room which is now a horrifying twisted metal inferno. The cast is good, however Gene Hackman, Shelly Winters, and Stella Stevens are best. Hackman is our handsome hero, Winters is our unselfish caring mother, and Stevens is absolutely radiant (pre-capsize) and adds a welcome touch of humor to the mess.
No, the movie is not perfect, and it is of course starting to look a bit dated. However the suspense and dazzling effects will keep you glued to your seat and you certainly won't be bored. Poseidon Adventure is a true classic. A must see for everyone--not just disaster movie fans.
28 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :-
Hell, Upside Down, 16 November 2003
Author: psistan from Australia
The aging liner Poseidon, on her final journey, is struck by a tidal wave that knocks her upside down. A small group of passengers realise that if they want to survive they must journey up into the bowels of the ship hoping for rescue from above.
The idea is well conceived and the excellent cast turn in good performances despite getting little help from the somewhat corny script. With above average special effects for the time and excellent sets that convincingly realise the upside down half-flooded ship and its bewildering maze of passageways, the movie manages to be compelling and exciting viewing.
17 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
A film that has Shelley Winters diving like Greg Louganis and swimming like Johnny Weismuller is okay in my book, 15 May 2006
Author: Joseph Riesenbeck (eazyguy62) from United States
Most people credit The Poseidon Adventure with having started the disaster movie genre of the 70's. It actually was the release of the film Airport two years earlier that gave life to the idea of throwing an all star cast together then cooking up some disastrous event for the lives of their characters to become intertwined. Having learned a thing or two, Producer and Director Irwin Allen decided to move the disaster more towards the beginning of the film and have his all star cast work from there.
Allen lined up several Academy Award winners because it doesn't hurt to be able to put "starring Academy award winner" next to your cast members on the theater marquee or in the newspaper ads. For Poseidon, he lined up Academy Award Winner Gene Hackman as Reverend Frank Scott (The French Connection), Academy Award Winner Shelley Winters as Belle Rosen (The Diary of Anne Frank, A Patch of Blue), Academy Award Winner Jack Albertson as Manny Rosen (The Subject was Roses), Academy Award Winner Red Buttons as James Martin (Sayonara), and Academy Award Winner Ernest Borgnine as Det. Lt. Mike Rogo (Marty.) But the fact that you've won one of those dust collectors has no bearing on whether you get to live or die. In disaster films, all bets are off.
Along with all the award winners you have to fill up the passenger list with other actors and actresses who may be hanging around the studio in need of a job. Along for the ride are Carol Lynley as Nonny, Stella Stevens as Linda Rogo, Roddy McDowell as Acres, Pamela Sue Martin as Susan Shelby and Eric Shea as her over bearing and obnoxious little brother Robin. Most disaster films always have the obnoxious kid lurking about somewhere. I think the writers feel it's necessary to punish the audience since the cast has to go through hell also.
A good deal of the first half hour of Poseidon Adventure is spent letting us get familiar with the characters and how they ended on this ship so that when they become nothing more than shark fodder, you'll be able to feel more emotionally involved.
Reverend Scott is being booted overseas for having some strange ideas about God and preaching. He goes around shouting pithy phrases such as "It's to let God know that you have the guts and the will to do it alone. Resolve to fight for yourselves, and for others, for those you love" In other words, if you can't help yourself you're out of luck babe because the man upstairs isn't answering the phone.
As for the Mike Rogo, he bellyaches, yells, screams, and complains a lot. Linda screams back at him twice as much. As it turns out, Linda was a former prostitute that Mike had to arrest over and over again to get her to marry him. It's as good an explanation as there could possibly be because there is nothing else on earth that would have brought together this match made in hell.
The Rosen's are headed over to Israel to see their daughter and their grandson whom they've never met. They like to hand out dating advice to the lovelorn with the lovelorn in this case being lonely haberdasher, Martin, who has spent just about every day of his life as a haberdasher. Frankly, I think the Rogo's needed their help more.
Susan and annoying kid brother Robin are headed overseas sans parents. Once you meet Robin, you'll understand why the parents left town and you'll have the utmost sympathy for poor Susan. As for Nonny, she is traveling with her brother as part of his band and being their lead singer. And, she also has the privilege to sing or possibly lip sync the academy award winning song The Morning After. As for her brother, his picture does not appear on the movie poster. That's known as a very bad sign.
Akers is just part of the crew. However, the fact that we never get to know him on a first name basis, added to the fact that Akers has a bum league tells you he's only a hair of a notch better off than poor Leslie Nielsen.
The upside down sets of the ship are well done for the most part, although at some stages it does appear as if they could just as easily be in an upside down warehouse. When the ship capsizes, we mainly see what happens in the ball room as bodies roll around and end up mostly dead but it's well done for a film over thirty years old. It was a lot more impressive in 1972 then it will probably be for today's CGI jaded film goers but it's all good.
There's also some fun stuff that goes on in Poseidon. You just know that any film that has Shelley Winters being shoved up a Christmas Tree while wearing a formal, then later has her diving like Greg Louganis and swimming like Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan is worth viewing. Then there's Susan, who has the foresight to wear a hot pants outfit under her outfit, you know just in case she happens to be in a capsized ship. There never was a better lesson in upside down survival.
The thing about Poseidon Adventure is that you'll have fun watching it in spite of some of the silly stuff going on. Everybody on board plays their roles to the hilt and do a good job. As long as you know it's all just for fun, you should get a big kick out of it if you've never seen it. Even after all of these years, I still do and if I can do that I have no choice but to give The Poseidon Adventure my grade of B. Heck, if the obnoxious kid hadn't been on board, I might even have seen my way through to giving it a B+.
21 out of 25 people found the following comment useful :-
The best of the disaster flics., 14 August 2004
Author: gunshotwound from Georgia, USA
I saw this movie Christmas day 1972 a week after its release with my sister and a packed theater. I LOVED IT. Having read the book before seeing the movie I knew what to expect and was anxious to see how the makers were going to do everything. The book is a little confusing after the ship turns turtle. Unless you are familiar with the interior of an ocean liner, which I was not, it was hard to imagine the characters surroundings just reading about them, I personally needed a visual reference for the action and the makers delivered in spades. I kid you not, when the ship began to turn over every single person, including myself, in the theater began to lean to the same side the ship was going, everyone gasping as it went nearly falling out of their seats. A truly remarkable shared experience I will never forget. The power of cinema is awesome. Although some of the dialogue is cheesy and most of the characters are cardboard it is still a good movie. Few people know that the book came about following an incident the author had years ago. Mr. Gallico gave an interview to the Saturday Evening Post when the movie came out and said the idea came to him following his passage on an ocean liner that rolled over in turbulent seas and managed to right itself just at the brink of going all the way over. Anyone who has seen the movie should read the book.
17 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
The Best Natural Disaster Film, 3 April 2000
Author: AVES-2 from Manchester, NH
The Poseidon Adventure is one of those movies I have seen at least once a year as long as I have been alive. I lived in Maine when I was a kid and we loved our natural disaster flicks. Of all the great disaster movies from the 70s, this has got to be the best one. Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelly Winters, Roddy McDowall, Leslie Neilson, and the list goes on.
The basic plot goes like this. The Poseidon is a cruise ship out for its last voyage and it is New Year's Eve. The guests are all celebrating while deep beneath the ocean's surface an earthquake is happening. The earthquake sets off a huge tsunami and the ship is knocked upside down. In order to be saved, a small group of people heads for the engine room at the bottom (make that top, since the ship is upside down) of the ship. At first, the ocean claims hundreds of the passengers until they are whittled down to about 10 people left. From here there are plenty of tense moments and a power struggle for control of the survivors. Typical disaster movie fare but done rather well.
This movie is a great main event for a disaster film weekend.
19 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
The #1 70s disaster movie that started it all, 15 August 2000
Author: Casey-52 from DVD Drive-In
The 1970's were the heyday of disaster films and this was one of the better ones. An overacting all-star cast graced the screen in all of them. THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE was the very first big-budget moneymaker that spawned a whole slew of knock-offs involving tidal waves, fires, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and volcanoes. It is also arguably the best. Producer Irwin Allen was the mastermind behind most of them, known for spending millions of dollars on special effects and his big-name stars.
A simple plot: a tidal wave knocks a ship upside down and a handful of survivors have to climb to the bottom of the ship at the surface before the ship sinks. They are led by a fanatical preacher (Gene Hackman) who conflicts with an ex-cop (Ernest Borgnine) and his ex-hooker wife (Stella Stevens). Jack Albertson (WILLY WONKA) and Shelley Winters are an elderly Jewish couple who are on their way to see their new grandchild. Pamela Sue Martin (TV's Nancy Drew) and Eric Shea (like Bobby Brady, but more annoying) are brother and sister on their way to meet their parents. Roddy McDowall (a fantastic actor) is wasted as a ship hand who dies rather quick. Red Buttons (PETE'S DRAGON) is an elderly gentleman who helps the ship's lounge singer (Carol Lynley) retain her sanity. Arthur O'Connell is a strict reverend who refuses to go along with Hackman. Leslie Nielsen makes a cameo as the ship's captain who dies during the tidal wave.
The cast really isn't very important, it's the special effects and on-going tension that makes the film so much fun. I absolutely love the claustrophobic and wet feeling that is so important to the execution of the film. While a lot of the acting hasn't aged well (Shelley Winters, Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine are especially guilty of overacting!), the special effects aren't too cheesy and the entire set of the ship is wonderfully well-made, still standing as an achievement on its own. Lots of unintentional humor abounds (the obese Shelley Winters swimming underwater, displaying her underpants clinging to her bulbous buttocks), which makes the viewing experience all the more enjoyable. The theme song, "The Morning After", won an Oscar and is rather lightweight, but highly listenable.
THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE definitely does have some twists and turns that surprise the viewer (not everyone gets out alive) and holds the audience's attention throughout the entire thing, even though things do get a little soap opera-ish at times. This makes a great double bill with THE TOWERING INFERNO, which I find a better picture, but POSEIDON is a very fun viewing and is, if anything, a great movie to watch if you have 2 hours to kill.
20 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :-
The granddaddy of all disaster films, 10 May 2001
Author: saduran from Los Angeles, United States
Although after Airport The Poseidon Adventure truly is the film that started the craze... The Towering Inferno, Earthquake, Airport 75 etc. all owe their getting made to this film...while Airport may have started the genre PS perfects it. Top of the line special effects, decent acting, and an edge of your seat story makes this the king of all disaster films. It's so good that no matter what I'm doing if I flip channels and hot this I stop and watch it.
18 out of 25 people found the following comment useful :-
Excellent disaster epic, 28 October 2003
Author: perfectbond
Despite some questions about the plausability of the physics behind the disaster, I greatly enjoyed this film thanks mostly to the fine ensemble cast headed by the great Gene Hackman. I actually bought into the illusion that this diverse group of people was living this unreal harrowing experience. I remember my theater instructor said this film makes a statement about which people deserve to survive and thereby reproduce. Without being politically incorrect here, he said to analyze the different criteria we use to classify people and see which of these criteria can be applied to the survivors. Even without any social analysis, this is a fine disaster film, 8/10.
14 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
Not a dull moment in this timeless adventure., 15 May 2004
Author: karen_g32 from Perry, NY
It is hard to believe this movie was made over 30 years ago. Don't let the fact that it was made in 1972 influence your decision to see it. It is as exciting today as it was then. I never miss a chance to see it, as I pick up new details each time. The scene when the cruise ship turns over is especially awesome. The actors are well cast. There is just a sprinkling of comedy to take the edge off the drama. Gene Hackman plays his part well. I have never been disappointed by this actor. The main characters compliment each other well. They are all familiar faces, but they become the people they are playing. Hollywood has not remade this movie because they can't improve on it.
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