The Poseidon Adventure (13 December 1972)
directed by Ronald Neame
starring Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Caryl Lynley, Roddy McDowall, Stella Stevens, Shelley Winters, Jack Albertson, Pamela Sue Martin, Arthur O'Connell, Eric Shea, Leslie Nielson
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MPAA rating: Studio: 20th Century Fox Script: Stirling Silliphant, Wendell Mayes Based on the book by: Paul Gallico Music: John Williams Running time: 117 minutes Tags: Action; Adventure; Disaster; Drama; novel adaptation; oceans; ships; Thriller; tidal waves Tactical strength: [7/10]
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Investors have bought the cruise ship Poseidon for scrap, so the aging ship will make one final trans-Atlantic voyage to the wrecking yards. Since the passengers will spend New Year's Eve on the trip, the crew puts on a huge party. While the guests celebrate New Year's, the captain (Leslie Nielson) receives news of an earthquake in the Mediterranean that has created a tidal wave heading for the ship. The captain eventually sounds the alarm, but only seconds before the 90-foot wave flips the ocean liner over. Panic ensues, and we see some of the most dramatic disaster scenes every made without the aid of a computer, including the famous man falling through the skylight.
As thing settle (upside)down, the people left in the main dining hall divide into two camps. The purser (Byron Webster) advises the passengers to remain calm and that help is on the way. The Rev. Frank Scott (Gene Hackman) leads the other camp that argues for making the trek to the bottom of the ship and the most likely possibility for escape or rescue. Most of the passengers choose to remain in the dining hall, but a few do follow Rev. Scott, and The Poseidon Adventure follows these individuals as they make their way through the bowels of the ship, always racing just ahead of the rising water within the ship.
The Poseidon Adventure differentiates itself from other disaster movies through the development of the characters in Rev. Scott's party. We start out knowing almost nothing about the characters but learn about their strengths and weaknesses, and we come to like or dislike them as people. We learn about the detective Mike Rogo (Ernest Borgnine) who married a prostitute that he arrested six times to keep her off the street until she would marry him. We meet the Rosens (Jack Albertson and Shelly Winters), traveling to Israel to see their two-year old grandson for the first time and the kids Susan (Pamela Sue Martin) and Robin (Eric Shea), who seem to have no parents on the ship. Through the stress of their situation, the characters display their faults and also their strengths. For example, Mrs. Rosen, who all along expresses doubt about her ability to make trip into the bowels of the ship, displays unusual courage by diving into a corridor filled with water and saving Rev. Scott. By displaying the characters as well rounded people, we come to care about whether they survive, rather than just watching the director torture the individual with pointless trials to overcome.
Rev. Scott also represents one of the major themes. At the beginning, he gives a sermon where he espouses that god favors the people who do all they can for themselves before asking god for help. This worldview motivates his desire to seek for an escape from the ship rather than sitting passively waiting for a rescue. The Poseidon Adventure makes an interesting commentary on Rev. Scott's position. First, it does seem that god favors those who help themselves: only members of Rev. Scott's party survive the ordeal. But not everyone survives, and fate doesn't just kill off the weak members of the party or those that work the least. The most timid and uncertain member of the group lives and other characters dies. So The Poseidon Adventure doesn't totally discount Rev. Scott's theory, since the only survivors took the initiative to escape, but fate doesn't necessarily guarantee the view that those that work the hardest always succeed.
