Forumrxes
Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.
Suman Roberson
It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
Scarlet
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
BA_Harrison
Top-heavy cruise ship The Poseidon is on its final voyage when it is hit by a freak wave that turns the vessel upside-down. A handful of survivors try to make their way to the 'top' of the topsy-turvy boat before rising waters cause it to sink to the bottom of the ocean.In the battle for best disaster movie of the '70s, top contenders The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure are fairly evenly matched: both are based on best-selling novels; both have big budgets and excellent special effects; both have an all-star cast; both boast scores by John Williams; both deliver in terms of nail-biting tension and excitement; and both end with an inordinate amount of luck and happenstance for the remaining survivors. So when choosing a favourite out of the two, it all boils down to one thing as far as I am concerned: hotpants!I don't seem to recall there being too many pairs of hotpants in The Towering Inferno (no jokes about characters' trousers on fire please); The Poseidon Adventure, on the other hand, features two pairs, as worn by brunette hottie Pamela Sue Martin and blonde babe Carol Lynley (who pairs her shorts with knee-high leather boots). With both actresses regularly called upon to climb up things (and to get thoroughly soaked), this small detail clinches it for Poseidon.Throw in Stella Stevens in her panties (and Shelley Winters for those who like 'em older and much fuller of figure) and that's men of most tastes catered for. The ladies of the audience aren't so lucky - they get Gene Hackman, Roddy McDowall and Ernest Borgnine - great actors but hardly hunks.9.5/10, rounded up to 10 for IMDb.
mcancea
This is hands down the best of disaster movies and I have loved this for my whole life amd this is no aception this is with 15 academy award winners Nd being a you a never gets old movie with great characters with these movies dont usually give you. You have great story telling great fire that is all real bo effects in this movie. It's directed good and acting is good at ti.es it's overacted at times but it's still a good movie but their are flaws but it's still great I'm not iterated this film every film has its flaws and as I get older I know their are flaws but it is still great I still love this and abalutly I give this a 10/10
gab-14712
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-
Pete Martin
As opposed to the moron who currently has his review on the main page, who casually said "the cast doesn't matter -- what matters are the special effects..." well, all I can say to that is: "thank God you're not in the film business, pal!! Because brother, you haven't got a goddamn clue."Make no mistake: the cast is EVERYTHING in this film. That's why it's a great movie... along with a fantastic script, great sets and perfect editing that moves the story along at a thrilling pace. And speaking of the cast, in my opinion it's an absolute crime that Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons and Carol Lynley didn't all win Academy Awards -- or at least nominations -- because they are all superb. In fact, every performance is powerful and believable, adding to the drama and emotion and constantly pulling the viewer into the scene. Because of these performances, the film is as heartbreaking as it is breathtaking... NOT because of the special effects (which are fantastic, incidentally, courtesy of the great L.B. Abbott).A good lesson in how NOT to involve the audience can be seen in the multi-million dollar turd of a remake, directed by some clueless idiot whose brain apparently works the way the aforementioned reviewer's does. In the remake, the effects are EVERYTHING and the cast is basically nothing. Not that Richard Dreyfus and the others don't do a good job. They do. But with the lame writing and unsympathetic characters, no one gives a crap. That's why the film failed.In "The Poseidon Adventure," however, every scripted word counts, and every second of valuable screen time matters, dramatically moving the story along, building unbearable suspense and audience involvement. It's a great lesson in filmmaking, which clueless amateurs like Tarentino obviously never bothered to learn (as so painfully demonstrated in his latest snore-fest, "The Hateful Eight."As directed by the great Ronald Neame, "The Poseidon Adventure" is not only the greatest of the 70s disaster films, it's one of the most dramatic and exciting adventure movies ever made.
