The Poseidon Adventure
Tags: cult, suspenseful, claustrophobic

Plot synopsis:
The SS Poseidon, a trans-Atlantic passenger steamship slated for retirement, is making its way across the Atlantic from New York City to Athens on its last voyage. On the bridge, company representative Linarcos (Fred Sadoff) orders the ship's master, Captain Harrison (Leslie Nielsen), to empty ballast and proceed at full speed, against the Captain's better judgement.Meanwhile, Detective Lieutenant Mike Rogo (Ernest Borgnine) and his ex-prostitute wife Linda (Stella Stevens)--seasick, like much of the passengers--receive an invitation to the captain's table. Reverend Frank Scott (Gene Hackman), a priest questioning his faith, delivers an unnerving sermon at Sunday service. Susan Shelby (Pamela Sue Martin) and her younger brother Robin (Eric Shea) are traveling to meet their parents. Robin is interested in how the ship works and frequently visits the engine room. Retired hardware store owner Manny Rosen (Jack Albertson) and his wife Belle (Shelley Winters) are going to Israel to meet their two-year-old grandson for the first time. Haberdasher James Martin (Red Buttons) is a love-shy, health-conscious bachelor. The ship's singer, Nonnie Parry (Carol Lynley) rehearses for the New Year celebration with her band, which includes her brother Teddy on drums.That evening, New Year's Eve, everybody gathers in the dining room to celebrate. Captain Harrison is called back to the bridge because of an emergency report of an undersea earthquake near Crete. Harrison receives word from the lookout that there is a huge wave heading towards them. He immediately issues a mayday, but it is already too late. The wave hits the bridge, drowning Harrison, Linarcos and other ship's officers. The ship rolls over, killing and injuring most of the people on board.After the capsized derelict steadies, the surviving passengers and crew in the dining room take stock of their predicament. Robin looks for his sister, who has ended up under a table attached to what is now the ceiling. Scott assembles a team to hold a tablecloth that will cushion her fall and coaxes Susan to jump to safety. Acres, an injured waiter, is trapped at the galley door now high above them. Scott seizes on this, saying that rescue will be found 'upwards', at the outer hull, which is now above water. Robin confirms this, telling the group that the steel plating near the aft propeller shaft is just one inch thick. After some more talking and discussing, Manny, Belle, Mike, Linda, Nonnie, Susan, Robin, Acres, and Martin reluctantly agree to go with Scott. The group need something to climb up to Acres, so they eventually agree to use the Christmas tree as a makeshift ladder. Scott tries to convince more passengers to join his group, but all remain where they are in hopes of rescue.Just after the small group reaches the galley, there is a series of explosions and seawater begins to flood the ballroom. The survivors left behind rush to the Christmas tree, but the weight of everyone trying to climb at once pulls it over into the rising water. Scott, the last to leave, sadly closes the kitchen doors on the desperation below.Acres and Scott find the galley, but a warning light is on and the fire door, hot to the touch, has been shut. Scott enters the incinerated kitchen to investigate, returns, and the survivors pick their way through to a staircase on the other side. Scott climbs the ramped underside of the stairs first and he and Martin use a salvaged firehose to pull Rogo and Acres up. While Rogo pulls the others up, Scott and Acres go ahead and find the only exit to 'Broadway' (the main passageway of the ship) is blocked. Acres suggests an access tunnel to the funnel shaft. Scott undogs the opening and returns for Linda, Martin and Nonnie. Just then, water floods the staircase and the now-panicked survivors race to the tunnel.Temporarily safe, Scott leads them to an access tunnel. Rogo had been instructed to look after everybody but, just as Martin and Nonnie climb into the hole, water begins to fill the corridor. They make it into the funnel and began to climb up with Acres above them. Suddenly, the ship rocks from another series of explosions and Acres falls into the churning water and is lost. Rogo makes an attempt to save him, but the shaft explodes and forces him to abandon Acres.While climbing out of the shaft and into 'Broadway', Scott and Rogo argue heatedly over the loss of Acres when their group meets a larger band of survivors. These are led by the ship's medic and are heading towards the bow. Rogo argues with Scott about which direction to go and gives Scott only fifteen minutes to go aft to find the engine room. Everybody else looks for supplies. Scott and Susan (who has a crush on the charismatic Reverend) find the hatch that leads to the engine room. Scott tells Susan to return to the others and go forward if he's not back in five minutes. After waiting, Susan tells the others the bad news, but Scott reappears and announces he has found the way to the engine room.While Susan shows the survivors where to go, Scott notices that Robin is missing. He finds Robin just as the water begins to flood Broadway. They race to the hatch and make it up just as the water floods the corridor.The group finds the engine room is on the other side of a flooded corridor, so someone must swim through with a line so the others can find a way across. Belle, a former trained swimmer, claims that she could swim under it, but Scott refuses and dives in with the line. Halfway through, a panel collapses on Scott and traps him. The survivors notice something is wrong and Belle dives in to save him. She finds Scott and they make it to the other side. As Scott secures the lifeline, Belle suddenly has a heart attack and collapses. With her last breath, she tells Scott to give her "Chai" pendant (representing the Hebrew sign for life) to her husband who in turn will give it to her grandson. Scott weeps at her loss.Rogo swims over during the delay to make sure Belle and Scott are okay. When he surfaces, he sees Belle's death, and returns to the other side. Rosen suspects something is wrong and swims to the other side only to find his wife's lifeless body. A few minutes later, the others make it across and find Manny in tears. Initially he is unwilling to go on, but Scott gives him Belle's Chai pendant, reminding him that he still has a reason to live.Scott continues aft and finds the propeller shaft room's watertight door 'below' a steam valve. He returns and leads the survivors across a catwalk to the door, but there is another series of explosions and Linda falls to her death, presumptively of a broken neck. An infuriated and heartbroken Rogo blames her death on Scott, calling him a "lying, murderous son-of-a-bitch."More explosions rupture a large pipe which releases clouds of scalding-hot steam that block the group's path to their escape. Scott, outraged about the three deaths and this final obstacle, screams at God that he has betrayed the survivors. He leaps and grabs onto the burning-hot valve wheel to shut off the escaping steam. Hanging from it, Scott slowly turns off the steam, all the while cursing God. The helpless Scott tells Rogo to lead the group on, then lets go of the wheel and is lost to the flaming, oily water below. Susan, in anguish, tries to follow him.Rogo finally leads the remaining survivors--Rosen, Martin, Nonnie, Susan and Robin--through the watertight door and into the propeller shaft room, but they find no rescuers. Suddenly, they hear a noise outside the ship. They bang on the metal hull to get the rescuers' attention and, after several frantic attempts, finally get a response. The rescuers cut a hole through the hull using a blow torch and help the group from the ship. The survivors, the only six alive after the disaster, fly off to safety by helicopter.

Review: For a film nearly thirty years old, Poseidon Adventure is still so effective that it would cause anyone planning to take a cruise to think twice.
Thank God for Stella Stevens' character...The actors are great, the camera-work and timing are great, and even the special effects are fairly impressive (particularly for the film's age).
A small group of passengers realise that if they want to survive they must journey up into the bowels of the ship hoping for rescue from above.The idea is well conceived and the excellent cast turn in good performances despite getting little help from the somewhat corny script.
With above average special effects for the time and excellent sets that convincingly realise the upside down half-flooded ship and its bewildering maze of passageways, the movie manages to be compelling and exciting viewing..
for a disaster flick,this is one of the better ones.for 1972,it is well made and has some good effects.it's pretty convincing also thought the movie was compelling and touching,and sad,all at the same time.since we get to know the characters a bit,you can't help but feel for them in their(what seems hopeless)situation.i did think there were a few stereotypical characters,which was annoying,but the acting was decent enough.plus,the fact that the survivors had to go through what amounted to a labyrinthine maze as they tried to get out,really added to the feeling of hopelessness of the situation.i was also surprised at who ultimately survived and who didn't.for a nearly 2 hour movie,this one moves along pretty good.i was engrossed throughout.for me,The Poseidon adventure is a strong 8/10.
The Poseidon Adventure has gotten its reputation as the best of all the disaster films of the seventies, not just for the Special Effects good as they are.
Leading the group is minister Gene Hackman and the rest are married couples, Jack Albertson and Shelley Winters, Ernest Borgnine and Stella Stevens, musician/singer Carol Lynley, hypochondriac Red Buttons, steward Roddy McDowell, and teenager Pamela Sue Martin and her little brother Eric Shea.You do get wrapped up and sucked into the conflicts especially with Ernest Borgnine who's simultaneously got a war going with Gene Hackman and with his wife Stella Stevens.
Spectacle is great and I love it, but a good story with characters you care about is what makes the Poseidon Adventure the fine film it is..
Top of the line special effects, decent acting, and an edge of your seat story makes this the king of all disaster films.
Despite some questions about the plausability of the physics behind the disaster, I greatly enjoyed this film thanks mostly to the fine ensemble cast headed by the great Gene Hackman.
Leslie Nielsen makes a cameo as the ship's captain who dies during the tidal wave.The cast really isn't very important, it's the special effects and on-going tension that makes the film so much fun.
While a lot of the acting hasn't aged well (Shelley Winters, Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine are especially guilty of overacting!), the special effects aren't too cheesy and the entire set of the ship is wonderfully well-made, still standing as an achievement on its own.
The theme song, "The Morning After", won an Oscar and is rather lightweight, but highly listenable.THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE definitely does have some twists and turns that surprise the viewer (not everyone gets out alive) and holds the audience's attention throughout the entire thing, even though things do get a little soap opera-ish at times.
Such is the power of movies; they have the ability to alter perspective, not in some deeply profound way; but with the subtle way you perceive the world.My upside down view of the world is an outgrowth from having seen THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE dozens of times over the years and gotten a kick out of the moment on New Year's Eve when the entire boat capsizes and everyone goes head over heels.
The film recognizes that its basic premise is absurd, but doesn't dwell on it, placing the emphasis on the people not the situation.The disaster movie became quickly known as a vehicle where stick-figure characters, burdened with cumbersome and melodramatic backstories and played by big-name stars shamelessly emoting all over the place, bided their time as the impending doom of the special effects polished them off one by one.
As such, the disaster became the star, not unlike Freddie Krueger or Michael Meyers or other horror movie boogie men; and the point of the film was less about survival than about not surviving, about how and when the special effects and the stunt team would give which character the next big adios.You'd be hard pressed to remember, let alone care, who played what character in EARTHQUAKE or THE SWARM or AIRPORT 19-whatever.
Likewise, the cast is made up of ordinary movie stars; none of the cast (with the notable exception of star Gene Hackman, hot off his success in THE FRENCH CONNECTION) were at the height of their careers, but they are an immensely likable ensemble of recognizable character actors; Red Button, Roddy MacDowall, Stella Stevens, Shelley Winters, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Albertson, Arthur O'Connell, etc.
"The Poseidon Adventure" is about a luxury liner traveling the open seas on New Year's Eve that has the unfortunate task of running into a 90 foot tidal wave that proceeds to capsize the ship and turn it upside down thanks to an undersea earthquake.
These characters are portrayed by an all-star cast: Gene Hackman as a reverend who's always barking orders at everyone; Ernest Borgnine as a cop who always complaining about everything; Stella Stevens as Borgnine's wife, a former prostitute; Shelley Winters and Jack Albertson as a Jewish couple; Red Buttons as a lonely bachelor; Carol Lynley as the ship's pop singer; and Leslie Nielsen as the ship's captain.
"The Poseidon Adventure" is an excellent movie for most of its two hours, and I enjoyed the action, special effects, and the performances (which are terrific).
"The Poseidon Adventure" starts out as a rather routine ocean voyage but turns into a very risky escape from disaster, thanks to a massive tidal wave striking the ship on New Year's Eve.The Poseidon is an old vessel on its way to the scrap yard, but its last voyage is never completed.
"The Poseidon Adventure" stands out as the best of the disaster film genre,which was spawned by 1970's "Airport" and recently revived with both worthy successors ("Titanic") and some not-so-worthy ("Volcano","Daylight" and "Dante's Peak".) The film's plot goes something like this...on New Year's Eve,a tidal wave capsizes the S.S.Poseidon during its journey from the States to Greece,and a small band of survivors (ten to be exact),led by a fiery preacher (the superb Gene Hackman),struggles to escape from the rising waters by climbing to the engine room,which is now located at the top of the ship.
Shelley Winters is a standout among the top-notch all-star supporting cast (which includes Ernest Borgnine,Red Buttons,Carol Lynley,Roddy McDowall,Stella Stevens,Jack Albertson,Pamela Sue Martin and Eric Shea).
Ranking up their with such classics like The Towering Inferno, the Poseidon Adventure follows a handful of survivors after a tidal wave hits a cruise liner on New Year's Eve. Fighting their way to the bottom of the ship, which is now floating upside down in the ocean as it takes on water, some survive this suspense/action classic while a few die along the way, resting at the bottom of the ocean with the countless others that refused to follow leader Reverend Scott, played by Gene Hackman.
Although one could point out what many see as flaws in the film (and I really can't disagree with them) the basic elements still hold up as to why I love this movie: the horror of a tidal wave capsizing a cruise ship and leaving it's surviving passengers in their "hell, upside down" is still there.
Michael Caine and Sally Field must be embarrassed (but richer) for that film.I don't think Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Stella Stevens, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons, Carol Lynley, Pamela Sue Martin, Leslie Nielsen or Eric Shea feel humiliated for appearing in such a great film as THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE..
Thrilling and entertaining disaster movie but full clichés and stereotypes with strong performances from Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine.
Magnificent main and support cast as Leslie Nielsen , Stella Stevens , Arthur O'Connell , Jack Albertson , Carol Lynley , Red Buttons , Roddy McDowall and special mention to Shelley Winters who gained 35 pounds for the part and trained with an Olympic swim coach so that her character.
Rating : Good and entertaining , it's a fairly watchable disaster movie.It' followed by ¨Beyond Poseidon¨, this picture isn't bad but deeds better and more spectacularly filmed in ¨The Poseidon adventure¨, it contains some former footage sprinkled into the opening sequence and succeeds only in wasting various talented actors , an all-star-cast formed by Michael Caine in a similar role Gene Hackman-alike , Sally Field , Karl Malden , Jack Warden as a blind passenger , Slim Pickens , Peter Boyle as a zealous father of his daughter Angela Cartwright enamored by Mark Harmon , besides appears Veronica Hamel , Shirley Knight , Shirley Jones .
No. Gene Hackman, Roddy McDowell, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Jack Albertson, Red Buttons, Stella Stevens...All capable and very good actors, together in one movie.
It is possible to go one better than a lifeboat for oceanic claustrophobia What you do is have a luxury liner completely capsized by a tidal wave, and you let ten people live on in a pocket of air, their only hope being to make their way through fire, dead bodies and endless amounts of water of the sinking ship to a propeller shaft, where the hull is thinnest and where there is a chance of rescuers cutting their way through This was the terrific idea set up in Paul Gallico's most well-known book, which descended with awful disappointment on to the screen, but caught the public fancy, and started a cycle And while the tense adventure lacks the austere presence of George Kennedy, no one could ask for a better set-up for suspensenaturally, when the genesis was with that old master of mass emotions, Gallico But oh, what a waste was there in Ronald Neame's motion picture Partly it was due to the lack of the technical perfectionism of a Hitchcock, and much more to the stereotyping of the characters and the excruciating banality of their dialog There was a muscular clergyman to lead, an old Jewish couple still in love after some time of marriage, a hot head detective and his well reformed happy hooker wife, a young lady Pamela Sue Martin, (and his nice younger brother) and a hippie girl singer who were there presumably to give a pleasant show of legs in hotpants, a lonely haberdasher, and a nice cool steward along for the ride Gene Hackman was cast as the preacher the most unlikely reverend I could imagine Presumably he was chosen because of his well-deserved success as the cynical, determined New York narcotics cop in "The French Connection." He played the character every bit as rough and tough Whenever he heaved his muscles and opened his mouth I anticipated the coming of "I got the God connection." But one must not blame the cast There were fine actors among them and it was not their fault that the situations were evidently prefabricated, that the characters were as realistic as the cutouts at the back of a cereal box, living and dying as contrived "incidents.".
The overall tone of the score is dark, but the theme is rather light and there is something about it that makes it special.When originally released, The Poseidon Adventure received good reviews with lots of praise going for the visual effects-and rightfully so.
The story is nothing special, but if you're looking for a movie with great visual effects, campy acting, and a story about surviving then this film is for you.My Grade: A-.
It has this nostalgic feel in it, that I find very enjoyable and wonderful."The Poseidon Adventure" was released at the time that disaster movies were king of the cinema, or maybe this made it become the king.
The Poseidon Adventure, which marked his return to the big screen, is credited by some as marking the start of the disaster-film boom, a slew of titles such as turkeys like Allen's own The Swarm (1978) and co-director Neame's Meteor (1979), as well as what is now seen as the finest achievement of the genre, The Towering Inferno (1974).
Along with the polo-necked reverend are a range of characters introduced quickly in scenes reminiscent of TV's later The Love Boat: a gruff and bitter cop named Rogo (Ernest Borgnine), travelling with his wife the former prostitute Linda (Stella Stevens), an elderly Jewish couple the Rosens (Jack Albertson and Shelley Winters), a teenage girl and her young brother (Pamela Sue Martin and Eric Shea, a juvenile role parodied memorably in Airplane!), pop singer Nonnie (Carol Lynley), and Acres, a conveniently knowledgeable crewman (Roddy MacDowell).
The Poseidon Adventure was a first disaster movie that was all around an enjoyment for me, acting, effects, and a terrific plot.
Even the special effects in this movie are groundbreaking when compared to the remake.This film is about a group of survivors on the S.S Poseidon and their goal is to make it out of the ship alive.This movie features many great actors such as Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgigine, Red Buttons, and Leslie Nielsen.
The cast list may well be something to note, Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Roddy McDowell, Stella Stevens and Red Buttons, but really it's the sets and the fight for survival thru this watery labyrinthine that lifts the film above many of its genre peers.
The picture has a very real feel to it, with the characters gradually getting you on side as they strive for survival, we have great work from Hackman and Borgnine as they vie for control of this disparate group, but we are with them all the way even tho we just know that this number will surely dwindle.The Poseidon Adventure 1972 was remade for the modern audience in 2006 with all the tools of the trade available to the makers, watching both films together it's not hard to see which is the most impressive, the 72 original has a vitality that modern blockbuster pictures can't quite grasp, and of course the technical aspects easily outstrip the CGI laden efforts of the later picture.
With a great cast like Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Carol Lynley, Red Buttons and Leslie Nielsen.
Great deal!The Poseidon Adventure is a lot of fun to watch because Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine are both a blast.
And talk about an early 70's cast - Shelley Winters (who I just never liked for some reason), Jack Albertson, Eric Shea (annoying kid), Pamela Sue Martin (looks great), et all, and geez, even Red Buttons.You can't deny the early 70's were a lot of fun movie-wise, with all the disaster films being made.
Besides movies about bee attacks, giant rabbits, spiders, and other science disaster flicks, you had the nitty gritty like The Poseidon Adventure, the Airport ones, Earthquake, Towering Inferno - these were loud, intense and cool films.
THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (1972) *** Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Stella Stevens, Jack Albertson, Red Buttons, Roddy McDowall, Carol Lynley.
This is an excellent underrated picture.Everyone has a go at the script - whats wrong with it??Old jewish people are really like that, and 70's preachers were exactly like Gene Hackman.Hackman is an actors actor - the guy is just fantastic, my three favourites Hackman films are this - " The Poeidon Adventure" , and also "The French Connection" and my personal favourite "No Way Out"Anyway, the first time i watched TPA , i was physically shocked, when Acres (McDowall) fell into the water taking borgnine with him, thank God Borgnine emerged - he really was Excellent in this movie, another bit which really got my heart pounding fast was when Reverend Scott sacrificed his life for the others, that was a really brilliant and saddening moment which i will never forget.This and "The Towering Inferno" are the two flagships of disaster movie excellence - i love them both,.
A handful of survivors try to make their way to the 'top' of the topsy-turvy boat before rising waters cause it to sink to the bottom of the ocean.In the battle for best disaster movie of the '70s, top contenders The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure are fairly evenly matched: both are based on best-selling novels; both have big budgets and excellent special effects; both have an all-star cast; both boast scores by John Williams; both deliver in terms of nail-biting tension and excitement; and both end with an inordinate amount of luck and happenstance for the remaining survivors.
Irwin Allen produced this all-star disaster yarn about a luxury cruise ship that is overturned by a freak tidal wave on New Year's Eve, and the survivor's desperate attempts at survival, as they try to reach safety and eventual rescue through the top(well,the bottom now!) of the ship.Cast includes Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Stella Stevens, Roddy McDowall, Carol Lynley, Pamela Sue Martin, Red Buttons, Jack Albertson, Shelley Winters, and Leslie Nielsen as the Captain.Well directed by Ronald Neame, this film works despite the contrived premise because of the cast and interesting script, which balances seriousness with humor effectively, with many memorable scenes..
The Poseidon Adventure was one of the first, and one of the best disaster movies.A luxury liner sinks slowly beneath the waves as we follow a small band of survivors attempting to make their escape, led by Rev Scott (Gene Hackman).
"The Poseidon Adventure" is a good but not great flick of the genre that I call "Disaster" films because the action revolves around the characters surviving a life threatening disaster.