Ship Shape

As far as film trends go, the 1970's could have easily been called, The Decade Of The Disaster. For my money, the crown jewel of the genre is 1972's The Poseidon Adventure. Produced by the king of "disaster film" Irwin Allen, Poseidon boasts an all star cast, led by Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, and Shelley Winters, great special effects (for its time at least), and lots of excitement.

When an earthquake at sea causes a cruise ship to capsize on New Year's Eve, a group of passengers must band together, overcome incredible obstacles and find a way to survive. The ship is now upside down, so that makes getting to the engine room imperative. For me, the fun of the film is watching Hackman and Borgnine butt heads, as the rest of the group looks for a leader to take them to safety. Hackman makes you believe the material, this despite, some unbelievable circumstances. Director Ronald Neame created a peril at every turn fun-fest that pulls you in and you become invested in each of the character's fate. The current DVD of the movie has no extras on it, save for the vintage theatrical trailer.

While fans of the movie wait for a "special edition" release of the film a three hour made for TV remake airs tonight on NBC from 8-11 P.M. While I doubt it will hold a candle to the original, I have to admit that I will be checking out the tele-film at some point during the broadcast. Curiosity and all that... In the end, I have a feeling the remake will land somewhere far behind the'74 version, yet slightly ahead of the pointless 1979 sequel. Meanwhile, TV critic Tom Shales shares his thoughts on the TV remake.

In case you have any doubts about just how popular the '72 film is, one click here should change your mind. Oh, before I forget, there's also a big screen remake called Poseidon set for May 12th 2006, directed by Wolfgang Petersen.