The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Ronald Neame

Writers:

Paul Gallico (novel)
Stirling Silliphant (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

13 December 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Hell, Upside Down

Plot:

A group of passengers struggle to survive and escape, when their ocean liner completely capsizes at sea.

Plot Keywords:

Survivor | Tidal Wave | Passenger | Haberdasher | Ocean Liner

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 4 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Gene Hackman	...	Reverend Scott
Ernest Borgnine	...	Mike Rogo
Red Buttons	...	James Martin
Carol Lynley	...	Nonnie Parry
Roddy McDowall	...	Acres
Stella Stevens	...	Linda Rogo
Shelley Winters	...	Belle Rosen
Jack Albertson	...	Manny Rosen
Pamela Sue Martin	...	Susan Shelby
Arthur O'Connell	...	Chaplain
Eric Shea	...	Robin Shelby
Fred Sadoff	...	Linarcos
Sheila Allen	...	Nurse (as Sheila Mathews)
Jan Arvan	...	Doctor
Byron Webster	...	Purser

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System) | Mono (35 mm optical prints)

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:PG (video rating) | Iceland:16 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | South Korea:12 | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Sweden:15 | USA:PG (PCA #23341) | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Kent Productions

Trivia:

After the cable telegram is delivered to the Shelby stateroom, Robin jumps off the bed, inadvertently capsizing his plastic model of the S.S. Poseidon.

Goofs:

Continuity: A singer sings "Morning After", a slow song, while dancers are dancing quickly.

Quotes:

Mrs. Belle Rosen: All you need is a pretty wife.
James Martin: I think perhaps I've been a bachelor too long.
Mrs. Belle Rosen: Sure, you're too busy taking all those pills.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Friends: The One Without the Ski Trip (#3.17)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Give Me the Simple Life

Excellent disaster epic

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.