During the 60s and 70s, producer-director Irwin Allen had a long string of successes, both on television and the big screen--including such hits as "The Time Tunnel", "Voyage to the Bottom of the Seas", "The Towering Inferno" as well as "The Poseidon Adventure". However, by the late 70s, Allen's long string of successes had come to an end, and his last three theatrical releases were box office bombs. "The Swarm", "When Time Ran Out" and, "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure" all failed at the box office....after which Allen had very few offers to make films and he was eventually forced to retire. The public seemed to have grown tired of his big-budget spectacles and disaster movies. So is "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure" really that bad...bad enough to help end Allen's career?
I saw "The Poseidon Adventure" in the theater as a kid and watched it again a couple years ago. Despite a silly premise, I found the film to be enjoyable nonsense....and scored it a 6. The film ended with a group of survivors finding their way to freedom from the capsized ship. With "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure", it begins shortly after that....as the boat is still floating upside down and with a hole cut in the hole from which they freed the group of survivors. Here, a couple guys who are in financial strai ts (Michael Caine and Karl Malden) decide to use their small boat to tie up along side the stricken Poseidon in order to salvage when they can from her. Joining them are an annoying woman (Sally Field...who often spouts one-liners like she's appearing at a comedy club) and a rescue boat captained by Dr. Svevo (Telly Savalas). Unfortunately, shortly after they enter the boat, there's an explosion and they are stuck inside...and soon they meet up with other survivors who were passengers on this ocean liner.
While I don't think that audiences were demanding a sequel to "The Poseidon Adventure", I do think the film MIGHT have worked....had the writing been good and had it come out shortly after the original film...which it didn't. It wouldn't have been a masterpiece, but it could have been an enjoyable time-passer. However, "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure" didn't work simply because the writing and some of the acting was just bad. The worst, and I mention it above, was Sally Field's character. I don't think I'd blame her entirely, as she is a multiple Oscar-winner...so she can act. But her character is simply annoying AND about as realistic as the Easter Bunny. After all, why would she spend the entire film talking like she's on a sitcom?? The problem with much of the rest of the cast is that many of the characters were woefully underwritten...more caricatures than real people. Tex (Slim Pickens) is a great example as well as all the folks who yell at each other inexplicably....YES, I am particularly talking about Peter Boyle...who just seems angry and nasty for no reason. There also are some dopey and confusing parts of the film...such as why there's 18th century gold coins and tons of paper money aboard the ship. Because of this writing, the film really isn't very good. Overall, a somewhat lavish (though not by Irwin Allen standards) and incredibly poorly written epic that most likely will leave you disappointed.
By the way, in the case of Michael Caine, while he's just fine in the film you might wonder WHY he appeared in the film since he's a rather well respected actor. Well, Caine himself explained when he his choice of roles in films (particularly in the late 70s and early 80s): "First of all, I choose the great roles, and if none of these come, I choose the mediocre ones, and if they don't come, I choose the ones that pay the rent". Clearly this was a film to pay the rent!
Another by the way. If a group of passengers were rescued at the end of the first movie, what are the odds that no other rescue ships would be there at the beginning and end of the second movie...especially because a lot of time has passed?? After all, I am sure the initial rescuers in the helicopter didn't say "Well, these obviously are the only survivors...let's call it a day and tell all the rescue boats to stay home" after they saved the folks from the first film. Surely there would have been MANY ships there looking for more survivors!!! This rather makes the dumb script even dumber if you watch the story.
I saw "The Poseidon Adventure" in the theater as a kid and watched it again a couple years ago. Despite a silly premise, I found the film to be enjoyable nonsense....and scored it a 6. The film ended with a group of survivors finding their way to freedom from the capsized ship. With "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure", it begins shortly after that....as the boat is still floating upside down and with a hole cut in the hole from which they freed the group of survivors. Here, a couple guys who are in financial strai ts (Michael Caine and Karl Malden) decide to use their small boat to tie up along side the stricken Poseidon in order to salvage when they can from her. Joining them are an annoying woman (Sally Field...who often spouts one-liners like she's appearing at a comedy club) and a rescue boat captained by Dr. Svevo (Telly Savalas). Unfortunately, shortly after they enter the boat, there's an explosion and they are stuck inside...and soon they meet up with other survivors who were passengers on this ocean liner.
While I don't think that audiences were demanding a sequel to "The Poseidon Adventure", I do think the film MIGHT have worked....had the writing been good and had it come out shortly after the original film...which it didn't. It wouldn't have been a masterpiece, but it could have been an enjoyable time-passer. However, "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure" didn't work simply because the writing and some of the acting was just bad. The worst, and I mention it above, was Sally Field's character. I don't think I'd blame her entirely, as she is a multiple Oscar-winner...so she can act. But her character is simply annoying AND about as realistic as the Easter Bunny. After all, why would she spend the entire film talking like she's on a sitcom?? The problem with much of the rest of the cast is that many of the characters were woefully underwritten...more caricatures than real people. Tex (Slim Pickens) is a great example as well as all the folks who yell at each other inexplicably....YES, I am particularly talking about Peter Boyle...who just seems angry and nasty for no reason. There also are some dopey and confusing parts of the film...such as why there's 18th century gold coins and tons of paper money aboard the ship. Because of this writing, the film really isn't very good. Overall, a somewhat lavish (though not by Irwin Allen standards) and incredibly poorly written epic that most likely will leave you disappointed.
By the way, in the case of Michael Caine, while he's just fine in the film you might wonder WHY he appeared in the film since he's a rather well respected actor. Well, Caine himself explained when he his choice of roles in films (particularly in the late 70s and early 80s): "First of all, I choose the great roles, and if none of these come, I choose the mediocre ones, and if they don't come, I choose the ones that pay the rent". Clearly this was a film to pay the rent!
Another by the way. If a group of passengers were rescued at the end of the first movie, what are the odds that no other rescue ships would be there at the beginning and end of the second movie...especially because a lot of time has passed?? After all, I am sure the initial rescuers in the helicopter didn't say "Well, these obviously are the only survivors...let's call it a day and tell all the rescue boats to stay home" after they saved the folks from the first film. Surely there would have been MANY ships there looking for more survivors!!! This rather makes the dumb script even dumber if you watch the story.