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What could be more fun than spending New Year's Eve on a luxury cruise ship sailing from New York to Athens? That's what the passengers of the S.S. Poseidon thought until their ship was ravaged by a 90' tidal wave, capsized, and the passengers left to fend for their lives. The Poseidon Adventure (1972), starring Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Leslie Neilsen, Carol Lynley, Red Buttons, Shelly Winters, Roddy McDowall and Stella Stevens, is now available on DVD. The movie was nominated for eight Academy Awards and a special award.
As the ship gets off to sea, there are routine duties attended to by the ship's crew, all balanced around an introduction to the film's characters. Det. Lt. Mike Rogo (Ernest Borgnine) is making noise about his seasick ex-prostitute wife Linda (Stella Stevens).
Belle Rosen (Shelly Winters) and her husband Manny (Jack Albertson) are on their way to Israel to meet their 2-year-old grandson. James Martin (Red Buttons), a lonely haberdasher, gets the third degree by Belle as to why he's not married.
Shelley Winters & Red Buttons Fox Home Entertainment
In a truly great and insightful performance Gene Hackman opens the film as Rev. Frank Scott in a heated conservation with Chaplain John (Arthur O'Connell), and introducing his rogue character with the opening monologue, "Get down on your knees and pray to God and maybe everything will work out. Garbage! Not where I come from. Your can wear off your knees praying to God in a cold-water flat in February, and icicles can grow from your upraised palms. If you're freezing to death you burn the furniture or set fire to the building."
Gene Hackman & Shelley Winters Fox Home Entertainment
When the ship's captain (Leslie Nielsen) and the shipbuilder get into a disagreement about the ship's movement, red flags start to rise. This is followed by entertainer Nonnie Parry (Carol Lynley) singing the song the movie made famous, "The Morning After." Young Robin Shelby (Eric Shea) and his sister Susan (Pamela Sue Martin), on their way to meet up with their parents, are having typical sibling quarrels in their stateroom.
Eric Shea Fox Home Entertainment
When the ship gets hit by a tsunami, there's little time to warn anyone before a wave capsizes the ship. The scene where the ship turns over is very intense and realistic and lasts about two minutes with many passengers hanging from the top on things and eventually dropping. Next there's a long dead silence before passengers start coming to and realizing what happened. Passengers are told to stay put but a group figure out there's only one way to survive, climb to the top.
Rev. Scott, Det. Mike and Linda, Belle and Manny, Susan and Robin, James, Nonnie and Acres (Roddy McDowell), a ship's waiter, take off on the climb. The reverend has to convince Belle ("Mrs. Peter Pan I'm not") to go along in search of life.
Roddy McDowall Fox Home Entertainment
The journey then becomes a harrowing experience of drama, danger, near-death and for some, actual death. The characters each show their temperaments through weakness, rudeness, fear, optimism and heroism. The scene where Shelley Winters ("In the water, I'm a very skinny lady.") swims underwater and saves Rev. Scott, is one of the most remembered moments of the film.
The Poseidon Adventure earned Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Shelley Winters, Best Art Direction/Set Decoration - William J. Creber & Raphael Bretton, Best Cinematography - Harold E. Stine, Best Costume Design - Paul Zastupnevich, Best Film Editing - Harold F. Kress, Best Music, Original Dramatic Score - John Williams, Best Sound - Theodore Soderberg and Herman Lewis and a Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects by L.B. Abbott and A.D. Flowers.
The movie is a true classic with great characters and quite entertaining. The newest special edition DVD has wonderful extra features that will provide an ocean full of enjoyment.
Special Features
Disc One
Commentary Track by Ronald Neame who gives a director's POV about the film while watching it. Some repeated material elsewhere in these special features but worth watching.
Commentary Track by actors Stella Stevens, Pamela Sue Martin and Carol Lynley who offer their POV about certain scenes, experiences and actors.
Follow The Escape - A fun feature that allows viewers to watch the movie and participate in the action. When a white upside down ship appears on the screen, you can press enter on the DVD remote to get a 3D map of ship that shows where the characters are on the ship. Informative and quite fun for kids.
Disc Two
AMC Backstory: The Poseidon Adventure - a nightmare brought to life with shocking realism and a harrowing experience for its real life stars is the theme for this segment along with producer Irwin Allen's struggle to get the film made, which it almost was not. Allen, a popular television producer in the 1960s, was known for wanting more and that desire would soon take him to the big screen with The Poseidon Adventure. Many of the film's crew and artists offer insight on this featurette.
Nine featurettes include: The Cast Looks Back - Falling Up with Ernie - The Heart of Disaster: Stirling Silliphant - The Heroes of the Poseidon - The Morning After Story - The R.M.S. Queen Mary - cast members talks about the filming, climbing, stunts, breathing, the making of the film on the Queen Mary and about each other. In Sinking Corridor - Generations of Fans - Turning Over the Ship director Robert Neame talks about certain scenes such as the one and a half minutes of turning over the ship, tricks used to film some dangerous scenes, real life peril on the set, his fans and other experiences.
Vintage Promo Materials - contains the original 1972 featurette The Poseidon Adventure teaser and trailer and The Towering Inferno trailer.
Still Galleries - These images range from the funny, newsworthy to the highly interesting and anyone who is a fan of this movie will want to view them. They're separated in categories of Marketing, Publicity and Behind-the-Scenes.
Storyboard Comparisons - examples revealed in three different sequences Ship Capsizes, The Vertical Shaft, and Saving Reverend Scott of how the storyboards worked and how they helped the actors get into their roles.
Interactive Articles from American Cinematographer Magazine - hard to read and selective interest.
English, French, Spanish (Feature Film Only)
Director: Ronald Neame
Writers: Stirling Silliphant & Wendell Mayes, Paul Gallico (novel)
Rating: PG
Classic Movie Guide Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
DVD release date: 05/09/2006
Run Time: 117 minutes
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Widescreen - Color
Photo credits: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
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