# The Posidon Adventure \[Film, 1972\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847 "2015-11-28T17:55:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/1 "2015-11-28T17:55:23Z")
GAH - freaking bugfuck idiots … Towards the beginning when a bunch of morons decided not to climb out of the main dining room and then it started to flood … Wait without panicing, when the water level gets high enough you can _float_ or _swim_ to the passageway the others are going to be using to escape through. I can understand not wanting to climb the artificial Christmas tree… but really, ignoring physics? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/2 "2015-11-28T18:11:10Z")
Bad strategy. By the time the water was high enough to reach the top, it would be rising too fast to outrun it and it would most likely have been pitch black. Stupid movie for many, many other reasons though. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/3 "2015-11-28T18:12:43Z")
Someone’s watching TCM. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/4 "2015-11-28T18:18:35Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Stupid movie for many, many other reasons though. Yeah, but when I was 8, it was the greatest movie ever. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/5 "2015-11-28T18:25:06Z")
Wouldn’t the water have been too cold to ‘wait’ in? I don’t recall where the actual capsizing takes place- somewhere in the Atlantic, right? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/6 "2015-11-28T18:34:38Z")
Carol Lynley in hot-pants. Mmmmm. > **[Carol Lynley](https://www.imdb.com/media/rm512989184/nm0528595)** > > "The Poseidon Adventure" Carol Lynley, Ernest Borgnine, Roddy McDowall, Shelley Winters, Gene Hackman, Arthur O'Connell, Pamela Sue Martin, Red Buttons, Stella Stevens, Jack Albertson © 1972 20th Century Fox ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/7 "2015-11-28T18:36:28Z")
> [@bobkitty](#): > > Wouldn’t the water have been too cold to ‘wait’ in? I don’t recall where the actual capsizing takes place- somewhere in the Atlantic, right? In the Mediterranean, I thought. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/8 "2015-11-28T18:45:47Z")
I was around 12 when it came out. Scared me to death. I swore I’d never go on a cruise afterward. And I haven’t, albeit not solely because of the film. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/9 "2015-11-28T18:55:24Z")
> [@Mr.Greenjeans](#): > > Yeah, but when I was 8, it was the greatest movie ever. Still a fun watch despite what Mr Grumpypants says. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/10 "2015-11-28T18:56:43Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > In the Mediterranean, I thought. Do they have massive tidal waves in the Mediterranean? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/11 "2015-11-28T18:59:35Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > In the Mediterranean, I thought. I thought so too, but wiki says in the North Atlantic. That said, I seem to remember the rescuers at the end speaking Greek. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/12 "2015-11-28T19:00:37Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Carol Lynley in hot-pants. Mmmmm. > > [Carol Lynley](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm512989184/nm0528595) There’s got to be a morning after! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/13 "2015-11-28T19:03:29Z")
The [Poopside-down](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/3e/8f/90/3e8f90bc16c3a012acfbee9f6eeab4af.jpg) [Adventure](http://41.media.tumblr.com/ec33543064e8116777d4f954d403b3f8/tumblr_mmqry4g6py1qj0yh3o1_1280.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/14 "2015-11-28T19:04:26Z")
> [@Mr.Greenjeans](#): > > I thought so too, but wiki says in the North Atlantic. That said, I seem to remember the rescuers at the end speaking Greek. Greeks used to rule the shipping world. Remember Aristotle Onasis? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/15 "2015-11-28T19:39:33Z")
In the book, they capsized in the Atlantic (near the Azores). In the movie, they capsized in the Mediterranean. Earthquake caused the wave. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/16 "2015-11-28T20:16:12Z")
And of course, if I remember my basic oceanography correctly, the ship have had to have been in shallow water for the wave to even have been noticed, much less been capable of capsizing the ship. It’s been decades since I saw the film - were they in shallow water? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/17 "2015-11-28T21:13:04Z")
Good catch, my man! The captain specifically says **It seems to be piling up in those shallows. By the way, Happy New Year.** ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/18 "2015-11-28T21:42:01Z")
OK, then the movie wasn’t _quite_ as stupid as I remembered. 😃 I preferred “The Towering Inferno” anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/19 "2015-11-28T21:55:02Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > GAH - freaking bugfuck idiots … > > Towards the beginning when a bunch of morons decided not to climb out of the main dining room and then it started to flood … Wait without panicing, when the water level gets high enough you can _float_ or _swim_ to the passageway the others are going to be using to escape through. Possibly, but the ship itself is a maze of shafts and passageways. If you wait for the water to “help” you along, you’re far more likely to find yourself in a dead end and drown. Picture one of those simple [mazes](http://www.uefap.com/images/maze.gif) and try solving it from bottom to top while the page is slowly fed into a shredder. Are you going to reach the top or are you more likely to get trapped with no means of retreat? Starting as soon as possible at least gives you a chance to backtrack if necessary before the water “catches up” to you. The problem I’d have is the goal of getting to the keel of the ship, which is just solid metal. I’d try to find the lowest (well, lowest when the ship is upright) access point, like the gangplanks visible in [this photo](http://www.earthisland.org/eijournal/summer08/cruiseShip.jpg), hope that they’re above the waterline, open them while wearing life jackets and float beside the inverted ship. The water doesn’t seem to be paralyzingly cold - characters swim through it at one point. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847/20 "2015-11-28T22:07:12Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > OK, then the movie wasn’t _quite_ as stupid as I remembered. 😃 > > I preferred “The Towering Inferno” anyway. I’m confused. Which Steve McQueen was in that one? 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-posidon-adventure-film-1972/738847.md?page=2)