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“See! Shelley Winter’s left thigh! Hear! Ernest Borgnine say, “Do you mean to tell me . . .?” Thrill! To Stella Stevens taking off her blouse to use as a bandage! Weep! As Jack Albertson promises to give Shelley Winters’ underwater swimming medal to their grandchildren in Israel! Gasp! As Gene Hackman recoils from flames! Glop! As Carol Lynley is covered with oil! Hold your breath! As …”
Egad… you just reminded me of Red Buttons with… Nonnie?!? What a freak show! I haven’t seen this inflated puppy since it came out… I’m still recovering from “There’s Got to Be a Morning After”… I actually saw Maureen McGovern in concert shortly after this movie came out. Her career had instantly tanked, and some people in the audience were yelling for Maria Muldaur instead, even though Maria wasn’t on the bill. It was an outdoor concert, one of those mini-Woodstocks that sprang up during the 70s. Held at the Islip Speedway on Long Island, the other acts were Brewer & Shipley, David Peel & the Lower East Side (I stood three feet away from David while he was getting stoned in the audience after his set), Richie Havens (of course) and John Lee Hooker. It was about a hundred degrees, no shade, very intense sun… which few of us felt thanks to the wine, weed and acid. Boy Howdy!
I was 12 when I saw this and, well, lookee there — Pamela Sue Martin. Wowsers. Anyone see the remake, “Poseidon” or for that matter the sequel, “Beyond the Poseidon Adventure”? I still need to see “The Swarm” which is supposed to be hilarious. True?
THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE is easily my favorite 70′s disaster film, and the first time I was aware of John Williams, whose score is apropos lush and ominous. The effects are still perfect and unsettling and the whole thing is just crazy watchable. This was one of the first films to break the 100 million dollar mark in box office, so this really was a cultural tidal wave. And who knew that Gene Wilder was cast but had to bow out because of scheduling?
Never saw the CG remake which looked pointless and I should sit down to the sequel, which was released on New Year’s Eve 1979 to universal indifference. But whatta cast!
THE SWARM is hilarious. Irwin Allen was really milking a dead cash cow at that point…
‘beyond the poseidon adventure’ is hilariously bad, a train wreck of ambivalence and lack of momentum you just can’t look away from made all the more bizarre by its great cast (i’m hugely fond of ‘the poseidon adventure’, when i saw it as a kid it gave me such a rush, and weirdly i had a bit of a crush on hackman’s reverend for some reason)
Irwin Allen kicks Fellini’s ass, hands down. At least here, he does.
I’d hate to feel left out, so — watched this a year or two ago. Hadn’t seen it since I was a kid, and possibly never had start to finish.
As far as Seventies films go, it’s no GODFATHER or MCCABE or CHINATOWN or JAWS or… (insert one of fifty other classics from the decade.) But it is, as Christian says, very watchable indeed.
(Anybody seen JUGGERNAUT? That one is flat-out good, minus the guilty pleasure/cheese factor. Well, it stars Richard Harris, so I can’t call it entirely cheese-free. Or ham-free.)
Fellini was actually the original director of THE POSEIDEN ADVENTURE. But when Irwin Allen proudly revealed the massive ship model to Fellini, he only said, “But where is the circus?” And Allen showed him the door.
fwiw i saw ‘juggernaut’ on cable not long ago, well sort of saw, sadly i fell asleep. not the movie’s fault tho, my fault. harris, ian holm, sharif and hopkins, i’d forgotten all those guys were in it. i’ll have to give it another go without having to extensively examine the interior surface of my eyelids for several hours on end while doing so.
JUGGERNAUT is terrific, Richard Lester’s best pure narrative film. And the cast is wonderful, especially Harris. I believe this was also the film that gave the world the first look at “cutting the blue or red wire”…
IRONIC FACT I NEVER KNEW: Aboard the Titanic the night she sank, the second level deck screened an early D.W. Griffith reeler called…THE POSEIDEN ADVENTURE about a sinking ship. Absolutely true.
December 31, 2010 at 3:49 am
Do you remember Ebert’s “box rule”?
December 31, 2010 at 11:03 am
Yep — this is Ebert’s best funniest review ever:
“See! Shelley Winter’s left thigh! Hear! Ernest Borgnine say, “Do you mean to tell me . . .?” Thrill! To Stella Stevens taking off her blouse to use as a bandage! Weep! As Jack Albertson promises to give Shelley Winters’ underwater swimming medal to their grandchildren in Israel! Gasp! As Gene Hackman recoils from flames! Glop! As Carol Lynley is covered with oil! Hold your breath! As …”
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19721221/REVIEWS/212210301/1023
December 31, 2010 at 12:12 pm
Egad… you just reminded me of Red Buttons with… Nonnie?!? What a freak show! I haven’t seen this inflated puppy since it came out… I’m still recovering from “There’s Got to Be a Morning After”… I actually saw Maureen McGovern in concert shortly after this movie came out. Her career had instantly tanked, and some people in the audience were yelling for Maria Muldaur instead, even though Maria wasn’t on the bill. It was an outdoor concert, one of those mini-Woodstocks that sprang up during the 70s. Held at the Islip Speedway on Long Island, the other acts were Brewer & Shipley, David Peel & the Lower East Side (I stood three feet away from David while he was getting stoned in the audience after his set), Richie Havens (of course) and John Lee Hooker. It was about a hundred degrees, no shade, very intense sun… which few of us felt thanks to the wine, weed and acid. Boy Howdy!
January 1, 2011 at 3:51 am
More stories like this please!
And by Poseiden’s Trident I love “There’s Got To Be A Morning After” — it’s like the greatest Carpenters song they never sung.
December 31, 2010 at 4:49 pm
I was 12 when I saw this and, well, lookee there — Pamela Sue Martin. Wowsers. Anyone see the remake, “Poseidon” or for that matter the sequel, “Beyond the Poseidon Adventure”? I still need to see “The Swarm” which is supposed to be hilarious. True?
January 1, 2011 at 3:49 am
THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE is easily my favorite 70′s disaster film, and the first time I was aware of John Williams, whose score is apropos lush and ominous. The effects are still perfect and unsettling and the whole thing is just crazy watchable. This was one of the first films to break the 100 million dollar mark in box office, so this really was a cultural tidal wave. And who knew that Gene Wilder was cast but had to bow out because of scheduling?
Never saw the CG remake which looked pointless and I should sit down to the sequel, which was released on New Year’s Eve 1979 to universal indifference. But whatta cast!
THE SWARM is hilarious. Irwin Allen was really milking a dead cash cow at that point…
January 1, 2011 at 6:25 am
the SWARM was funny. WHEN TIME RAN OUT was just boring.
January 1, 2011 at 3:23 pm
‘beyond the poseidon adventure’ is hilariously bad, a train wreck of ambivalence and lack of momentum you just can’t look away from made all the more bizarre by its great cast (i’m hugely fond of ‘the poseidon adventure’, when i saw it as a kid it gave me such a rush, and weirdly i had a bit of a crush on hackman’s reverend for some reason)
January 1, 2011 at 6:19 pm
Instead of watching Viscont’s director’s cut of THE LEOPARD, which I’ve never seen, I’m queuing up BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE.
January 1, 2011 at 7:20 pm
totally. good call
January 1, 2011 at 5:03 pm
THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE is THE NUMBER ONE NEW YEAR’S EVE MOVIE. Delicious frothy nonsense from beginning to end.
January 1, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Best New Year’s Eve Movie Ever. I lived across from the Queen Mary and it made me feel that much more closer to the Poseiden.
January 3, 2011 at 2:51 pm
THE FUTURIST! lives across from a queen, too. But he’s not a sea liner. Well, maybe the size of one.
January 3, 2011 at 10:14 pm
Irwin Allen kicks Fellini’s ass, hands down. At least here, he does.
I’d hate to feel left out, so — watched this a year or two ago. Hadn’t seen it since I was a kid, and possibly never had start to finish.
As far as Seventies films go, it’s no GODFATHER or MCCABE or CHINATOWN or JAWS or… (insert one of fifty other classics from the decade.) But it is, as Christian says, very watchable indeed.
(Anybody seen JUGGERNAUT? That one is flat-out good, minus the guilty pleasure/cheese factor. Well, it stars Richard Harris, so I can’t call it entirely cheese-free. Or ham-free.)
January 4, 2011 at 10:02 am
Fellini was actually the original director of THE POSEIDEN ADVENTURE. But when Irwin Allen proudly revealed the massive ship model to Fellini, he only said, “But where is the circus?” And Allen showed him the door.
January 4, 2011 at 4:08 am
fwiw i saw ‘juggernaut’ on cable not long ago, well sort of saw, sadly i fell asleep. not the movie’s fault tho, my fault. harris, ian holm, sharif and hopkins, i’d forgotten all those guys were in it. i’ll have to give it another go without having to extensively examine the interior surface of my eyelids for several hours on end while doing so.
January 4, 2011 at 9:59 am
JUGGERNAUT is terrific, Richard Lester’s best pure narrative film. And the cast is wonderful, especially Harris. I believe this was also the film that gave the world the first look at “cutting the blue or red wire”…
January 4, 2011 at 10:05 am
IRONIC FACT I NEVER KNEW: Aboard the Titanic the night she sank, the second level deck screened an early D.W. Griffith reeler called…THE POSEIDEN ADVENTURE about a sinking ship. Absolutely true.
January 5, 2011 at 11:51 am
Just more proof that our so-called reality is a big joke on us. Plate o’ shrimp indeed.