The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

Directed by

Ronald Neame

Genre

drama film, action film, disaster film, thriller film

Country

United States

Runtime

2h 07m

Rated

PG

Rating

7.2 of 10 from 1,029 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A luxury ocean liner capsizes on New Year's Day and a preacher leads a small group of survivors through the wreckage to escape. The film follows their struggle to navigate the overturned ship as it floods and collapses around them.

tenseharrowingclaustrophobicbleakurgentdesperateaction-packedgritty

What happens

The Poseidon Adventure is a 1972 American disaster film directed by Ronald Neame, produced by Irwin Allen, and based on Paul Gallico's 1969 novel. It stars an ensemble cast including five Oscar winners: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Albertson, Shelley Winters, and Red Buttons, along with Carol Lynley, Roddy McDowall, Stella Stevens, Pamela Sue Martin, Eric Shea, Arthur O'Connell, and Leslie Nielsen. The plot centers on the fictional SS Poseidon, an aging luxury liner on its final voyage from New York City to Athens, before it is scrapped. On New Year's Day, it is overturned by a wave. Passengers and crew are trapped inside, and a preacher attempts to lead a small group of survivors to safety. The film is in the vein of other all-star disaster films of the early- through mid-1970s, such as Airport (1970), Earthquake and The Towering Inferno (both 1974). It was released in December 1972 and became the second highest-grossing film of the year, earning over $125 million worldwide. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards, and went on to win two Oscars, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Motion Picture Sound Editors Award. A sequel, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, also based on a novel by Gallico, was released in 1979. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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