As I had mentioned in my Jaws review, I am still a child at heart when it comes to good movies. And that child got quite emotional last night when I watched this disaster flick that started the tidal wave (no pun intended, I don't go for cheap shots) of disaster movies like The Towering Inferno, Earthquake, a bunch of Airport movies, a bunch of movies with Charlton Heston in it,  Fire, Flood, The Swarm and Meteor, the last two which were disasters (yikes!) in the box office. Some can argue that the first Airport started the trend, but I saw it a long time ago, and I can't particularly remember it formulating the perfect mechanism for an effective disaster flick. This film does.

Long before Titanic, The Poseidon Adventure was THE sea disaster flick. The movie takes place on board of SS Poseidon, on New Year Eve. With most of the passenger assembled in the ballroom, we are set to witness one of the biggest carnages on film as we witness human being getting swallowed by mother nature. Why? A tidal wave appears and turns the ship upside down.

A small group of the passengers led by Reverend Scott (Gene Hackman) opts to go upstairs, i.e., towards bottom of the ship, while the rest just wants to stay and wait for the rescue team. Scott's followers include an arrogant cop, Mike Rogo (Ernest Borgnine), his wife Linda (Stella Stevens), an ex-prostitute who worries about her past,  Belle Rosen (Shelley Winters in an oscar-nominated role), an overweight but lovable woman, her husband Manny (Jack Albertson), James Martin (Red Buttons), a nice and heroic old bachelor, Nonnie (Carol Lynley), a singer who lost her brother in the disaster earlier on, Acres (Roddy McDowall), a helpful Scotsman, Susan Shelby (Pamela Sue Martin), a teen girl and her know-it-all, annoying little brother, Robin (Eric Shea). Other critics have said enough things about the latter, most of whom are itching in wanting to see the boy die first.  Well, he is not that annoying, though in some instances I can relate to their fantasies.

Like most disaster flicks, some die and some don't. For a first timer, it might be a shock to know who does and will be terribly irritated to know who actually lives. Life is unfair, ain't it? Because of these unfair deaths, this movie gets lesser points than The Towering Inferno, which in my humble opinion is the best disaster flick of all time. Otherwise, this movie rocks.

First the performance. Hackman has rarely gone wrong. I like his radical priest character in this movie. In fact, watching it as an adult now, I found myself liking the subtext involving faith towards God. Hackman's reverend Scott has a real issue with God and the final scene where he confronts the Almighty saying that he doesn't need him anymore since they made it without his help is scorching. Powerful performance. A powerful statement. I can totally relate to that. Other than Hackman, Borgnine stands out as the cop who always questions the priest’s plans. There is one confrontation scene between this two and Borgnine stood well against Hackman. It’s the highlight of this movie, besides unexpected deaths. What else do you expect from two Oscar winners?

Then, the set. Lordy, how did they do it? With the ship upside down, they have to virtually build everything upside down as well. The scenes with models do not come out well these days, but the sets are credible looking. They are real, for God's sake.

Then credit should also go to John Williams for his brilliant score. This is still during his early days, never making us believe that the job was done during his pre-Spielberg/Lucas collaboration. This movie is enough evidence that Williams needn’t those two directors to perform well.

The credit should also go to Irwin Allen. Like The Towering Inferno it is certain that he had participated behind the camera as much as the director.  I read elsewhere that director Ronald Neame’s forte is dramatic movies, and I will not be surprised if I were to learn that Allen directed the action scenes while Neame supervised the dramatic ones. Good combination. 

This movie tells that special effect is not all. While the action and the suspense are going on, one if forced, as prompted by Reverend Scott, to analyse our own strength. “God loves triers!” says Scott. Throughout the journey to the bottom shaft of the boat, he is constantly barraged by negative attitudes from the survivors. He has to loose his cool so many times and finally has to submit to the will, which he thinks, no he argues, is God’s. Come to think of it, majority of the survivors are losers, but also those who had hopes in their heart.