The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

Cafe Society
#1

Last night some channel was playing The Poseidon Adventure (1972).

It’s a catastrophe movie but I can’t tell you how hard we were laughing.

The first time I ever saw this flick was in about 1974 when I was 14. But that was before Airplane, The Naked Gun, Super Fuzz, etc, etc…

The acting is so freaking bad in it. Even one of my personal favorites Gene Hackman is pretty hokey in it.

The entire time you’re waiting for Leslie Nielsen to start cracking smart ass jokes. Or Jack Albertson to call out for Charlie or Chico.

And for Kripes sake, it has Red Buttons! :smack:

It’s a real hoot. Between the really bad acting and knowing what the actors did in other flicks. It’s impossible to take this movie seriously. Watch it and enjoy!

#2

Missed the edit window.

And it’s frustrating as hell that he doesn’t. Lord knows he had plenty of openings! :mad:

#3

I remember hearing that Ebert proposed a sequel in which, as soon as the passengers reach the top of the (inverted) ship, it rolls over again and they have to go back through everything again. :slight_smile:

#4

I was so offended when this movie’s song, {b]The Morning After** won an Oscar, beating Blazing Saddles’ theme song!!

Yeah, it was a turkey. I saw it in the theater upon its release too.

#5

Make that Academy Award winner Red Buttons.

And two-time Academy Award winner Shelly Winters.

And Academy Award winner Ernest Borgnine.

And once already and once future Academy Award winner Gene Hackman.

And Academy Award winner Jack Albertson.

For a crappy movie, it had a surprisingly good pedigree.

#6

Don’t use up all your laughter just yet. Wait until they screen the sequel. It makes the original seem like Citizen Kane by comparison.

#7

It’s been a while since I’ve seen the film, I was just a kid then, but there’s a couple of scenes that are stuck in my head:

The part when they’re hanging from the tables bolted to the floor, now roof, in the ballroom.

The kid going to the bathroom and all the urinals are upside down and spilling water on the floor/roof.

Somebody, I wanna say Gene Hackman, diving or falling into water that’s on fire.

I do remember being on the edge of my seat through the entire movie. I should probably re-watch it sometime. Unless, of course, this is one of those things I’m better off keeping my rosy, nostalgia painted, memories.

“The Morning After” is just terrible. How the hell did it win an Oscar? It’s like a worse version of “Tomorrow” from Annie.

#8

It came out when I was a teenager, and I remember liking it a lot. Sometimes these things don’t hold up so well when I watch them years later though.

#9

Nice OP-subject-signature combo.

#10

I remember watching it as a kid and loving it even though it came out quite a while before I was born. There is something about Ernest Borgnine, that guy always cheers me up when I see him. Did you ever hear his secret for longevity?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3I_PeLNzxNQ

#11

Hackman later admitted that after winning the Oscar for French Connection he chose a number of roles based on the amount of money they were throwing at him. The Poseidon Adventure was one of these paycheck performances. I strongly suspect that’s how producer Irwin Allen got the other Oscar-winners to sign on.

#12

The other Oscar winners were mostly all has-beens by then.

#13

My wonder was how long it would take the ship to sink once someone torched a hole at the bottom of the hull, and why the air pressure was still even.

#14

Like a teenage steward rape a teenage passenger so he wouldn’t a virgin, then after he dies she’s eager to meet his parents and hoping she’s pregnant?

#15

I can’t think of this film without thinking of The Poopside-down Adventure

#16

I liked it. :frowning: Sure, it was ultra cheesy, but still an “adventure”.

#17

It’s been decades since I’ve seen the film, but I’m pretty sure that scene was not in there. Director’s cut, maybe?

#18

If you think The Poseidon Adventure is a hoot, check out When Time Ran Out….

Tourists are surprised by a volcanic eruption in a lonesome hotel in the Caribic[sic]. The hotel owner ignores all warnings and advises his guests to wait for a rescue team. Only a small group follows expert Hank to reach higher regions. They start an adventurous journey across the island.

You get to watch Burgess Meredith tightrope walk across a lava flow. :smiley:

#19

It apparently happens in the novel. I don’t believe it appears in the movie.

#20

Characters that had a history of prostitution don’t usually have a leading part in these types of films - that was my big takeaway from this film when I watched it for the first time a couple years ago.

Then again there was Total Recall and Idiocracy, maybe it’s more common than I thought.