Review of The Poseidon Adventure (1972) by Jacob M — 22 Jan 2014

PART OF MY CLASSIC VIEWINGS OF 2014 LIST.

Before there was Titanic (a classic that I'm also planning on seeing for the first time in 2014), there was the era of disaster movies, which would be the 1970's. The disaster craze started in 1970 after the massive success of Airport (another film classic that I'm intent on seeing this year as well), and soon enough, more disaster films were released in the 70's, such as several Airport sequels, The Hindenburg, Rollercoaster, and The Towering Inferno. Released during the beginning of the disaster craze, The Poseidon Adventure was the Titanic of its day... and it's definitely a disaster classic that makes me proud that I decided to place on my list.

The film is about a group of civilians who spend the New Year on the massive ocean liner Poseidon, named after the legendary Greek god. Shortly after midnight, as everyone is celebrating a new year, Captain Harrison (Leslie Nielsen) spots a ginormous tidal wave aiming at the ship, and before you know it, The Poseidon is literally knocked upside down... leaving the captain and all on top drowned and the ones celebrating at the very bottom. The host wants everyone to stay until rescued, but Reverend Frank Scott (Gene Hackman), who knows a little common sense, knows that "climbing" up to the boiler room is the only way to be rescued. Only a select few listens to his advice, and those few have to band together to make it out alive.

Joining Gene Hackman in the ultimate quest for survival includes Ernest Borgnine and Stella Stevens as a tough cop and his ex-hooker wife, Jack Albertson and Shelley Winters as a married Jewish couple wanting to meet their grandson in Israel, Roddy McDowall as an injured waiter, Red Buttons as a lonely bachelor, Carol Lynley as a singer who lost her musical brother in the wreck, and Pamela Sue Martin and Eric Shea as young children traveling to see their parents.

The disaster genre kind of has a bad rep nowadays for focusing more on the disaster over character development, but those fearing that The Poseidon Adventure is said film will be surprised that they're wrong. Before we get to the disaster part, director Ronald Neame, a former cinematographer and also known for directing the acclaimed film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and the screenplay writers do well at giving the characters on the ship grand development, so well that when the disaster happens, you actually will care if the characters will survive or not. As for the disaster, the film was produced by Irwin Allen, known for being "The Master of Disaster" (as he would later go on to produce other well-known disaster films in the 70's, including The Towering Inferno), definitely deserves that title, as the Poseidon capsizing scene is brilliantly executed. Other moments where the survivors have to escape the ship are also thrilling, including one where they have to swim underwater to get to the engine room. Visually The Poseidon Adventure is a thrilling ride, and it's really an excellent disaster film... nothing like that bland American Godzilla film from Roland Emmerich. The film also features an early John Williams score, and while it's definitely not his greatest work, his score features enough excellent musical cues here that shows what made Williams the greatest composer in the film business in the first place.

As I said before, character development is well-done for a 70's disaster movie Acting is excellent. As the film has a brilliant and huge cast here, I won't go into full detail as to how great everyone is, but I will mention some of the standout performances here that are worth mentioning. Those include Ernest Borgnine as the tough and always pessimistic cop, who provides a sense of humor throughout despite his pessimism towards Hackman's ideals and Shelley Winters as the Jewish wife. Jack Albertson is great as well. The two kids, Pamela Sue Martin and Eric Shea are great in their roles, occasionally funny without being too annoying like most child actors today. The best performance, though, is Gene Hackman as the reverend who leads the survivors to escape the ship. Hackman does what he does great as...be himself when it comes to great acting. Whether he's a troubled basketball coach in Hoosiers, Lex Luthor in the Superman films, or a serious reverend in this, Hackman provides the heart and soul of what makes this an excellent film. A sermon in the beginning and a speech he provides at the tail end of the film showcase some of the best acting I've witnessed in a while. No wonder Gene Hackman was regarded as one of the greatest actors of his day... The Poseidon Adventure has one of his strongest performances... even more so than Hoosiers.

People have complained that disaster films tend to favor disaster over characterization, but that's not the case for The Poseidon Adventure. The Poseidon Adventure does what a great classic, or a great film in that matter, should do; create some wonderfully developed characters, put them in a life or death situation, and figure out how to escape their fates. The film is thrilling, it's occasionally funny, it's heartfelt in a couple of places, it's an excellent disaster film filled with excellent visuals, excellent thrills, and excellent acting, particularly Gene Hackman. This is why I decided to watch classic films in the first place, cause you never know what to expect when watching an older film that came out long before I was born. As Airport is the other disaster film that I placed on my classic intention list, I'm now more excited about seeing that film when I get the chance.