At the opening party of a collosal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.
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Harry Tasker is a secret agent for the United States Government. For years, he has kept his job from his wife, but is forced to reveal his identity and try to stop nuclear terrorists when he and his wife are kidnapped by the terrorists.
Director:
James Cameron
Stars:
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Jamie Lee Curtis,
Tom Arnold
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
An FBI agent takes on a plane full of deadly and poisonous snakes, deliberately released to kill a witness being flown from Honolulu to Los Angeles to testify against a mob boss.
Director:
David R. Ellis
Stars:
Samuel L. Jackson,
Julianna Margulies,
Nathan Phillips
Casey Ryback hops on a Colorado to LA train to start a vacation with his niece. Early into the trip, terrorists board the train and use it as a mobile HQ to hijack a top secret destructive US satellite.
Director:
Geoff Murphy
Stars:
Steven Seagal,
Eric Bogosian,
Everett McGill
A team of skydiving crooks led by DEA-agent-turned-bad Busey specialize in landing on police roofs and breaking in so their evil computer nerd can steal undercover agents' files and sell ... See full summary »
Some unknown maniac is threatening a navigation company to blow up one of its luxury transatlantics, the "Britannic", now in high sea with 1200 passengers. He is asking for a £500,000 ... See full summary »
Director:
Richard Lester
Stars:
Richard Harris,
Omar Sharif,
David Hemmings
When Dr. Henry Jones Sr. suddenly goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, eminent archaeologist Indiana Jones must follow in his father's footsteps and stop the Nazis.
Director:
Steven Spielberg
Stars:
Harrison Ford,
Sean Connery,
Denholm Elliott
Doug Roberts, Architect, returns from a long vacation to find work nearly completed on his skyscraper. He goes to the party that night concerned he's found that his wiring specifications have not been followed and that the building continues to develope short circuits. When the fire begins Michael O'Halleran is the chief on duty as a series of daring rescues punctuate the terror of a building too tall to have a fire successfully fought from the ground burns. Written by
John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>
Paul Newman did most of his own stunts, including climbing up and down the bent stairwell railing. See more »
Goofs
As the breeches buoy is being set up, the fireman in the Promenade Room of the tower signals to the helicopter with his flashlight. We hear clicks, as if the flashlight is being turned on and off, but it is on the whole time. See more »
Quotes
Doug Roberts:
I thought we were building something where people could work and live and be SAFE! If you had to cut costs, why didn't you cut floors instead of corners?
James Duncan:
Now listen. Any decisions that were made for the use of alternate building materials were made because I as a builder have a right to make those decisions. If I remained within the building code and god-dammit I did!
Doug Roberts:
[Chuckling]
Building code? Jesus. Building code. Come on, Dunc, I mean now that's a standard cop-out for when you're in trouble. ...
See more »
Crazy Credits
The 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. Pictures logos don't appear in the beginning. See more »
"The Morning After"
(uncredited)
Written by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn
Played at the party when Roberts is first reporting the fire to Duncan See more »
I saw "The Towering Inferno" when it was first released in theaters in 1974. I was about 12 years old. I thought it was really cool to see all of this death and destruction. I felt sorry for the so-called innocent or heroic characters who met their doom and hissed at the villain(s) who met their makers. It was big and bombastic, with, as a voice-over artist would say in the trailer "...an all-star cast" (long-term stars, has-beens, and the ones who are stars only from the eyes of their agents). I thought the movie was the best film I saw in my short life.
I've seen the movie several times since then and it's like watching a bad wreck. A semi-entertaining one but still a wreck.
I was looking at the list of other disaster movies Irwin Allen produced (which includes "The Poseidon Adventure", "The Swarm", "When Time Ran Out", etc.) and it's interesting how quickly the genre became a cliché:
***POSSIBLE SPOILERS***
1. If your name is above the title, you will survive.
2. If your name is below the title, you might die.
3. If you are a precocious child and you have a sibling, you'll survive.
4. If your role is to save a number of people from disaster in earlier scenes, very likely, you will die later in the movie. No worry, the audience will have "genuine sympathy" because you sacrificed your life so that others can live.
5. If you play the villain, YOU WILL DIE!!!!
6. If your character is a jealous spouse or is having an illicit affair, YOU WILL DIE A HORRIBLE DEATH!!!!!
7. If you're an extra, no matter which movie you're involved in, YOU WILL DIE A VERY, VERY HORRIBLE DEATH!!!!!!!!!
22 of 37 people found this review helpful.
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I saw "The Towering Inferno" when it was first released in theaters in 1974. I was about 12 years old. I thought it was really cool to see all of this death and destruction. I felt sorry for the so-called innocent or heroic characters who met their doom and hissed at the villain(s) who met their makers. It was big and bombastic, with, as a voice-over artist would say in the trailer "...an all-star cast" (long-term stars, has-beens, and the ones who are stars only from the eyes of their agents). I thought the movie was the best film I saw in my short life.
I've seen the movie several times since then and it's like watching a bad wreck. A semi-entertaining one but still a wreck.
I was looking at the list of other disaster movies Irwin Allen produced (which includes "The Poseidon Adventure", "The Swarm", "When Time Ran Out", etc.) and it's interesting how quickly the genre became a cliché:
***POSSIBLE SPOILERS***
1. If your name is above the title, you will survive.
2. If your name is below the title, you might die.
3. If you are a precocious child and you have a sibling, you'll survive.
4. If your role is to save a number of people from disaster in earlier scenes, very likely, you will die later in the movie. No worry, the audience will have "genuine sympathy" because you sacrificed your life so that others can live.
5. If you play the villain, YOU WILL DIE!!!!
6. If your character is a jealous spouse or is having an illicit affair, YOU WILL DIE A HORRIBLE DEATH!!!!!
7. If you're an extra, no matter which movie you're involved in, YOU WILL DIE A VERY, VERY HORRIBLE DEATH!!!!!!!!!