The Poseidon Adventure (1972) - film review

The ocean liner SS Poseidon is making her way across the Atlantic Ocean from New York to Athens, her final journey before being retired and sold for scrap.  As the ship heads towards stormy waters, the captain’s instinct is to slow down and pick up ballast, but the liner’s profit-conscious owner, Mr Linarcos, insists that they maintain their present course at full speed.  Sure enough, disaster strikes.  Following an underwater earthquake, the top-heavy ship runs smack into a colossal wave which knocks her over.  As the Poseidon spins through a hundred and eighty degrees, most of the passengers and crew are killed instantly, with the ship incurring irreparable damage.  In the ballroom, a handful of survivors led by maverick priest Reverend Scott agree to climb upwards, towards the hull of the ship.  As they do so, water begins to flood in from the ship’s fractured deck, drowning those survivors who chose to remain in the ballroom in the hope of being rescued.  Scott promises his party of survivors that he will get them all to safety, but he can have no idea of the ordeal that lies ahead...

The granddaddy of the avalanche of disaster movies that smashed onto cinema screens in the 1970s, The Poseidon Adventure still continues to impress with its sheer scale, production values and compelling storyline.   Unlike most films of this now oft-derided genre, this one does respect the intelligence of its audience and is not totally drenched in the kind of soap-style silliness and homespun clichés that make you want to gnaw off your own legs.   Adapted from Paul Gallico’s bestselling novel, the film is as much a psychological drama as it is an exciting action thriller, as convincing in its portrayal of the conflict within a group of disparate individuals desperately trying to stay alive as it is in its realisation of the horrific situation in which these characters are placed.

The driving force behind this epic spectacle of human suffering and endurance was Irwin Allen, the genius who had made an enormous impact on television in the 1960s with his sci-fi fantasy shows, including Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel and Land of the Giants.  Allen had previously directed and produced Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961), which is a nautical disaster movie of sorts, admittedly not on the scale of The Poseidon Adventure.  Whilst Ronald Neame is credited with directing this latter film, Allen had considerable creative input, and was one of the few people who was convinced it would be a success.

Irwin Allen’s instinct was to prove right.  The film was a box office phenomenon, instantly recouping its massive five million dollar budget and ultimately grossing in the region of 100 million dollars. The film was also well-received by the critics and was nominated for eight Academy Awards, although the only Oscar it won was for its song The Morning After (subsequently released as a hit single).  A Special Achievement Oscar was presented to the film’s visual effects designers L.B. Abbott and A.D. Flowers.  The success of The Poseidon Adventure resulted in a slew of similar blockbuster disaster movies, including Allen’s own The Towering Inferno (1974) (the same story, but with a skyscraper instead of a boat) and the misfired sequel Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979).

The Poseidon Adventure is the one disaster movie you can watch without feeling thoroughly ashamed of yourself (the same cannot be said of its plodding 2006 remake).  Of course there are a few embarrassing moments, a few fleeting excursions into flagellation-inducing mawkishness.  Fortunately, these slips are comparatively rare (for a film of this ilk) and are easily forgiven, given the quality of the performances and the stark realism that Allen’s technical team brings to the film.  Gene Hackman is terrific as the über-macho priest who occasionally looks like he may be auditioning for the part of Superman, whilst Shelley Winters will make you cry at least three times.  At the end of this mammoth adventure, you feel as exhausted and relieved as the characters on screen, but the one thing you will not do is rush out and book an ocean cruise.  Unless you are mad.

© Chris Alderton 2010

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