Don't post much around this board--Mainly because being born in the late 80's really puts a damper on your 70's movie watching. There is one movie I catch on TV every once and awhile that's pretty spiffy (and sad, too), and that's The Poseidon Adventure.
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
I was watching it for the second time the other day and saw Leslie Nielson credited--I thought for sure it wasn't the one I was thinking of, but sure enough, it was a young Nielson as the Captain! He was really young, but he still had that same gray/white hairdo. But enough about him. He dies very early on.
(Just a warning--I've only seen this twice, so forgive me not knowing the names of the characters (Well, actually, Rogo was pretty hard to forget because a lot of the dialogue consisted of, "Rogo, do this." "Rogo, do that." and "ROGO!!" (And it's entirely possible I heard his name wrong.)--But I do remember the movie, obviously.)
I thought this was a great adventure movie, and much better than any Titanic (which I can't sit through at all). I felt very sorry for the victims, and knowing that only six of you survived out of that huge ship has got to be just crushing.
You rooted so hard for the characters, and it just crushed you when ones you loved died. When that woman had a heart attack and the reverend was crying over her, it was just heartbreaking. And speaking of the reverend, who saw his death coming?
Despite how really unhelpful she was, I liked the blonde singer. She gave up so many times, but that man was so kind to her. You really rooted for the two of them.
A few things I found funny:
-Every line Leslie Nielson delivered made you think he was making a subtle joke when he really wasn't. For example, a giant tidal wave is coming for the ship and he says dramatically, "My god." and you think some visual gag in the background is going to pop up or OJ Simpson is going to show up and crack a joke.
-The reverend asks the young woman to take her skirt off so she can climb the Christmas tree and she almost begins tearing off the skirt before he finishes his sentence. The former prostitute is then stripped to her panties and given her husband's shirt. The fat woman was sent up the tree with her skirt on and nobody said anything.
-The blonde singer's brother had a funny haircut, so the whole time she's mourning him I'm left snickering a bit. She later comments that he has lovely hair, which signals another snicker.
Some bits of the movie make me laugh (some intentional jokes--others because for my generation the movie's a bit dated), but most of the time it was a great adventure and a good drama. You had to just hate all the other passengers for not listening to that reverend guy, huh?
[ 02. June 2005, 23:51: Message edited by: Obscurus Lupa ]
Posted by logan5 (Member # 1467) on :
There's nothing like a good ensemble disaster movie. When it's done well it's fantastic, but when it's done badly it's... well, 'Airplane' took care of that.
Let's never speak of 'Beyond the Poseidon Adventure'.
Posted by Obscurus Lupa (Member # 2700) on :
Hey neat; I just looked that up on imdb.com--I had no idea there was a sequel! O.o Doesn't seem like a promising thing to continue with. I mean, people stretched it with Jurassic Park and getting the folks back on the island for two more movies, but who thought it would be plausible to bring people onto an overturned ship full of water and dead bodies?
Posted by ValleyCat (Member # 1322) on :
The Towering Inferno is my favorite along the lines of disaster movie. Steve McQueen & Paul Newman were dynamite in this movie.
Lupa, The Poseidon Adventure is a top notch movie. The part that really got me was when Gene Hackman didn't make it out. He did such a terrific job leading them out and then he had to give his life in the end to save the rest. Great Movie.
Posted by ISIS (Member # 1780) on :
The Poseidon Adventure is one of my son's favorite movies.
I have seen it so many times. It is way better than Titanic. It is so well done.
I love Pamela Sue Martin...from Nancy Drew...I am glad she makes it out with her brother.
I love the Towering Inferno- Lupa you should watch it, if you get a chance...it is an awesome action movie.
