best disaster movie?

"After a seemingly minor earthquake one night in Los Angeles, Dedicated Emergency Management director Mike Roark (Bill Paxton - ALIENS, TORNADO, WINDMILL) rushes to the rescue, with help from a plucky seismologist (Heather Leigh Murray - SCORCES, CHARALAMBIDES), to help the town escape from a giant burst of Lava (DANTE'S PEAK, VOLCANO, INDIANA JONES)

BTW, where's the love for "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure"? Where else can you get Michael Caine, Telly Savalas AND some ill-advised American Motors product placement?

By THOMAS VINCIGUERRA
FOR junk-film buffs, the 1970's were the golden age of disaster. Years before "Titanic" and "The Day After Tomorrow" thundered their way onto the big screen, there was "Airport," "The Towering Inferno," "Earthquake" and "The Swarm."

And, of course, "The Poseidon Adventure."

Alone among the all-star blow-'em-ups released during the Watergate era, "The Poseidon Adventure" has achieved cult status. This Friday, the $160 million remake, titled simply "Poseidon," will open nationwide, and last fall, NBC broadcast a made-for-TV version. But for many, nothing can supplant the original 1972 epic about a luxury liner capsized by a monster wave.

We're talking serious "Rocky Horror Picture Show"-type devotion here. Die-hard "Poseidon" fans have dissected the movie frame by frame, committed it to memory, satirized it in home videos, built action figures of the cast, even designed homes with "Poseidon" motifs.

No detail is too trivial. Poseidoneers know the cabin number of Mike and Linda Rogo, played by Ernest Borgnine and Stella Stevens (M-45). They delight in telling you about the actress who played the character they call India Lady (she's Freida Rentie, sister of Marla Gibbs, who played Florence the maid on "The Jeffersons"). They speculate at length about the gravitational qualities of Gene Hackman's comb-over.

And, like true devotees, they convene. This weekend, the Poseidon Adventure Fan Club is holding its seventh annual reunion at the Warner Grand Theater in San Pedro, Calif. Joe Shea of Babylon, N.Y., was flying to the West Coast to attend. As an 8-year-old, he saw "Poseidon" seven times during its initial theatrical release.

"The excitement of the boat flipping was spectacular," he recalled last week. "Instead of playing cowboys and Indians, my brother and I played 'Poseidon Adventure.' We'd hang upside down by our knees from trees."

Kevin Sandoval of Wailea, Hawaii, was 9 when "Poseidon" came out. He has since watched it at least 400 times.

"I was fascinated with these beautiful people in this beautiful ship in the middle of the ocean, then seeing that turn into hell in 45 seconds," he said. "I'd never seen anything like that. It just blew me away."

Phil Dearing, a Los Angeles train dispatcher and 50-time "Poseidon" viewer, has a "Poseidon" memorabilia collection. The centerpiece is his handmade 63-inch model of the ship, with lights and working propellers. It took him two years to build.

"I don't sail it too much because it's top-heavy, just like the original," Mr. Dearing said. "I don't want to lose her."

"The Poseidon Adventure" inspires this fascination, adherents say, because it's not just another action-adventure movie; it's also a character-driven drama with deep philosophical overtones. When the ship capsizes, the victims must reorient themselves, both literally and metaphorically, to a world turned on its head. As the rebellious Reverend Scott, Gene Hackman leads his followers, Moses-like, to the top (that is, the bottom) of the ship, sacrificing himself so that others may get to the promised land.

Perhaps most significantly, the motley "Poseidon" survivors must rely on their own mettle to escape. This theme of personal empowerment resonates with many viewers.

"In 'Airport,' the passengers didn't do anything to save themselves," said Jak Castro, president of the Poseidon Adventure Fan Club, which has some 2,000 members. "In 'The Towering Inferno,' they just waited for the firemen to get them out."

David Cerda, author of the stage spoof "Poseidon! An Upside Down Musical," said, "They were a bunch of oddballs." Mr. Cerda, whose musical has played in Chicago, Omaha and New York, went down the list of characters: the ex-hooker with a heart of gold (Ms. Stevens), the old Jewish couple (Jack Albertson and Shelley Winters), the ditzy lounge singer (Carol Lynley), all led by the charismatic preacher.

"Yet this group of misfits is able to surmount such overwhelming odds," Mr. Cerda said.

"Plus," he added, "it's big and splashy."

This splashiness probably explains one of the movie's most unusual aspects, its appeal for gay viewers. "Poseidon" is suffused with outrageous 70's fashions, among them Pamela Sue Martin's red hot pants, Ms. Lynley's orange turtleneck and go-go boots, and Mr. Borgnine's pink tuxedo shirt. There is also plenty of campy yelling and dialogue. At one point, 12-year-old Eric Shea nearly drowns while trying to find a restroom. Ms. Martin, playing his sister, screams, "What a dumb stupid way to die, going to the john!"

Earlier, Mr. Borgnine objects when Ms. Stevens prepares to shuck her long evening gown to ease her escape. He protests, "She's got nothing under it!" Ms. Stevens responds with perhaps the most cherished line in the movie, "Just panties — what else do I need?"

Mr. Castro, who is gay, suggested that another reason "Poseidon" has a sizable following among men like himself is that many first saw the movie during puberty, when they were grappling with conflicting issues of sexual awareness. "It was finding out that there were a lot of struggles at that age — about who we were and trying to live with this identity," he said. "It kind of made us realize that if they could survive, we could survive."

That survival extends to virtually anyone associated with the movie. The stuntman Ernie Orsatti, the poor schnook who falls backward into the main ballroom skylight, has achieved a certain immortality in fan circles. He, along with many of the cast and crew, including the 95-year-old director, Ronald Neame, is now a familiar face at the annual gatherings. (That affection is not accorded to those involved with the poorly received 1979 sequel, "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure," whose stars included Michael Caine, Sally Field and Telly Savalas.)

Not all have capitalized on the connection. Gene Hackman and Red Buttons, who played the hypochondriac bachelor (and Ms. Lynley's love interest), have yet to attend an annual convention. Fred Specktor, Mr. Hackman's agent, said of "The Poseidon Adventure": "I just don't think he even comments on it. I have no idea what he feels about it." Mr. Castro said Mr. Buttons did not have pleasant memories of the shoot: "He was wet most of the time."

Ms. Lynley recalled: "It was very, very rough. We were wet for three and a half months. I went through 10 or 15 pairs of shorts because they kept shrinking. At the end of it, we had the choice of taking our costumes home. But after three and a half months, you don't want them."

She now regrets not keeping those shorts. "I could sell them on eBay for a fortune."

Ms. Lynley says she is happy to be associated with the film, even if she must deal with her share of obsessed groupies. "Someone once asked me, 'Is it true that you've secretly given birth to Red Buttons's love child?' " she recalled. "And I said very seriously, 'No.' And he asked, 'Are you sure?'

"To this day, I don't quite get it."

OR GAY MEN JUST LIKE BAD MOVIES

http://www.clearviewcinemas.com/thursday_at_chelsea.shtml

http://imdb.com/title/tt0071455/alternateversions

As a pre-pube I owned photo-heavy trade paperbacks of the plots and production info of both Earthquake and Airport 1975, tho I never saw either. (If I excavate these from my apartment, I know who I'm sending them to.)

Anyone seen the apparently classier '58 Titanic film A Night to Remember? (perhaps not truly of the genre)

The only indelible Poseidon moment for me is Borgnine's line to Shelley's corpse: "You had a lotta guts, lady... ( one, two, three ) a lotta guts."

they're showing The Towering Inferno @ MoMA on Sunday

(Eric, wish you were here)

^Not sure what this says about our culture.

Avalanche is due for reappraisal, though.

When Time Ran Out has a sort of "this is perhaps the last disaster movie ever, so unleash the lunacy" -kind of vibe.

saw a commercial for 2012 advertising it as "THE BEST DISASTER MOVIE EVER". lol'd.

best = most recent

best = biggest

I admit that I was into 2012 until maybe about the third or fourth earth rupture. By the eighth, ninth or tenth, I think I'd tired of the money shot.

now you've got me really curious about 2012.

2012 is absolutely ridiculous.
That being said, I have watched it twice now.

The Day After!

that's the 80s TV movie about a nuclear bomb detonating in a midwest city? yeah, that was good. and especially scary to kids my age at the time.

I think that might have been "special bulletin" which I thought was very good at the time.

Daniel yea that's the one. some of the acting was embarassingly bad but I liked how network television wasn't afraid to show people what might happen during a nuclear explosion. the scene as the bomb hits scared the hell out of me the first time I saw it. if I'd seen that as a young boy I mighta had nightmares for months.

(so does anybody know where I can get a copy of THREADS for christssakes?)

Teller appreciating TTI:

"Here’s the problem with disaster movies: You watch something like Earthquake, which is a piece of shit, and all that happens is, there’s an earthquake, and people suffer. Then there are all these contrived stories stuck into it, to try to give you the impression that you’re watching a story. Well, in a movie that’s about something unpleasant happening, if you don’t have the possibility of getting away from it, there’s no drama....

In The Towering Inferno, you have something very, very distinct. You have a group of people trapped in a dangerous area who need to escape. There can be some real drama about that. And to add to that, this is a movie whose effect has multiplied by probably 10 since 9/11. The imagery is of things we thought were hypothetical. We thought we’d never see anything like this. We thought we’d never see people in desperation, leaping from a burning building. Well, now we have. So it has a resonance that it didn’t have when it was made.

May I say also about The Towering Inferno: I love carnival mentalities, and Irwin Allen has, famously, a carnival mentality, but with this vast level of skill and vast resources to draw from. He has really all the finest artists and designers around, working on making that movie work. You also learn something from it. You learn the rig by which firemen transport people out a building, in a little chair or by a cable. You actually learn something from that. You don’t learn anything from Earthquake."

http://thedissolve.com/features/the-last-great-movie-i-saw/611-teller-on-the-towering-infernos-disaster-movie-sup/

Still have not ever seen this film. For years I figured the SCTV spoof was good enough.

nice to see Cassandra Crossing get so much love it's amazing!

also..

http://www.soundonsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/juggernaut-quad.jpg

Answer to the thread is The Exterminating Angel btw

For years I figured the SCTV spoof was good enough.

That is the second time in two weeks that particular episode has come up for me. Weird.

Endorsing Inferno and dismissing Red River? Looks like I should check Tim's Vermeer out.

He loves North by Northwest too, you cretin.

Towering Inferno is pretty entertaining though I dunno if I'd go around claiming its at a lack for contrived drama.

Richard Chamberlain's got some amazing bits at the sneering heel at fault for the inferno. Best is when his wife says she'll stand by him despite his heel status, and he indifferently responds that all he needs is *this*, holding up a drink.

Earthquake is definitely a crappier film (though pretty amusing at points) but its weird to say that ones unpleasant and devoid of escape and then praise another movies newfound 9/11 parallels.

Yeah, was going to say "You don't learn anything from Earthquake" is a particularly hysterical statement/criticism.

Best is when his wife says she'll stand by him despite his heel status, and he indifferently responds that all he needs is *this*, holding up a drink.

A bottle, actually. Even better.

originally it was a dildo

This Is the End

All the early-80s nuclear disaster movies (other than Testament) on YouTube now:
Threads
Special Bulletin
Countdown to Looking Glass
The Day After

The Day After scared the shit out of me as a kid, I still can't watch it without getting anxiety flashbacks.

xxp in the Director's Cut it's a double-ender...

other than Testament

this one is the most horrifying/the one I am most loathe to watch again

xp The Towering Double-Ender

"A monument to all the bullshit in the world."

Lester's Juggernaut is p damn good... and often INTENTIONALLY funny! No wonder if gets no mention from the camp crowd.

(Roy Kinnear with possibly his funniest perf for Lester, as the social director)

Thanks, crossed it off my list.

yeah it's killer, a proper nail-biter. excellent dialogue and top legging about and tearing around by the cast. i'm astonished there's never been a remake. also, Hopkins in still-boozy years.

yes Eric, while yer at it let's reclassify Showgirls as a disaster film.

Richard Harris is a hoot... "Fallon, the undefeated champion!"

You're a disaster film.

in fact, the guy Lester brought on to rewrite the script resulted in the producer-original writer using a pseudonym.

Towering Inferno has an insane cast for what's almost a genre film

It also came out in... 1974

I saw the movie Murder by Death in Sensurround--Midway was playing in the next theater over.

The Last Voyage (1960)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqG8WRnbJb0

If you have access to WatchTCM, The Johnstown Flood (1926) is available through 2/7. It also came out on Blu-ray late last year.

The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) also features a settlement swept away by a flood. (I don't remember the flood scenes. I do remember the comic relief shots of a naked miner running away.)

Andromeda Strain hasn’t been mentioned but in my head I think of it as a kid in the 70s as one of these disaster type thrillers.

I just watched that on Criterion last week... it's a very pro-scientist film, unlike a lot of Spielberg stuff where the scientists are invariably sneaky villains

Fuel for thought from a Roland Emmerich interview I did once, when I asked him about "The Day After Tomorrow":

I had a lot of anguish over doing it. I said, I can’t do this again, but it was worth it. Now I’m moving on. When I’m offered a movie where things break or a disaster happens, I immediately say I’ve done that. Also, don’t forget, Independence Day is now called a disaster movie, but it’s about an alien invasion! Hello!? And then Godzilla got called a disaster movie, but in the original Godzilla, Tokyo is in ruins. I only destroyed Madison Square Garden, a couple of buildings, and the Brooklyn Bridge. New York is still standing … on purpose. So it’s a little unfair when people say I’ve done the same movie three times. They’re very different from each other.

Makes you think.