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Acting
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Directing
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Story
Starring: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons
Director: Ronald Neame
Running Time: 117 mins
The Poseidon Adventure is an American film about a group of cruise passengers who fight to escape after their luxury ship capsizes during her final voyage across the Atlantic.
A disaster film of epic proportions, The Poseidon Adventure has everything a blockbuster needs: an all-star cast, immense production values, a high-stakes plot and action from start to finish. Admittedly, it’s not quite the edge-of-your-seat rollercoaster ride you might want, but it’s certainly an entertaining watch from start to finish.
If you love a pure, simple disaster movie, then The Poseidon Adventure is exactly the kind of film for you. Set on a huge scale, the movie is blissfully simple in execution, following a group of characters as they navigate their way through the flooding ship’s hull in the hope of escaping to safety before the vessel plunges to the depths of the ocean.
Along the way, they encounter obstacles that block their path, while a few of their number end up grating on one another, adding to the fraught nature of their escape plan.
All in all, it’s a very simple and easy story to follow, and while that might not engender much exhilarating tension or emotional depth, the movie certainly doesn’t hold back when it comes to large-scale action and creative obstacles for its characters to overcome.
Complete with an all-star cast led by Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine, the movie is a pure 1970s blockbuster in every way, counting on the charisma of its leads and the impressive chemistry of its main group to deliver an enjoyable adventure story as they navigate their way through the sinking ship.
Admittedly, the movie does take a little while to get going, not really kicking into gear until the half-hour mark, and spending a little too much time setting up the main characters in the style of an Agatha Christie story.
However, once all stations are go and the action really ramps up, The Poseidon Adventure is a whole lot of fun to sit back and enjoy, as you support the last remaining survivors of the ship’s devastating capsizing in their arduous and possibly hopeless voyage to some kind of safety.
Bolstered by immense production values and impressive action commitment from the leads, the movie is no slouch by any means, and a thoroughly convincing story of a disaster on a luxury cruise liner across the Atlantic, and one that doesn’t have to follow the story of Titanic either.
Overall, I had a lot of fun with The Poseidon Adventure. A true 1970s blockbuster, the film is full of action, star actors, great production, entertaining adventure and more, and while it doesn’t have the brainiest screenplay ever written, it’s a blissfully simple blockbuster that’s enormously enjoyable throughout, and that’s why I’m giving it a 7.4.
