The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
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The story
The SS Poseidon, an aging luxury liner on its final voyage from New York City to Athens, is about to be scrapped. On New Year's Day, the ship is struck by a massive wave caused by an undersea earthquake, causing it to capsize and float upside-down. Trapped inside the overturned vessel, a diverse group of passengers and crew members must navigate the treacherous, water-filled corridors. Led by a preacher who believes in taking action, a small group of survivors attempts to reach the ship's hull to escape the sinking vessel as they face the immediate dangers of the disaster.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The SS Poseidon, an aging ocean liner slated for retirement, sails from New York to Athens. Despite safety concerns, the owner's representative insists on full speed. At midnight on New Year's Day, an undersea earthquake causes a massive wave to hit the ship, capsizing it. The ship floats upside-down, and the only escape route is 'upwards' toward the hull. A preacher, Frank Scott, leads a group including a detective and his wife, a pair of siblings, a couple of elderly friends, and a man named James Martin. They navigate through a series of obstacles, including a collapsing ventilation shaft where one man dies, and a flooded corridor where a woman dies of a heart attack. In a final desperate move, Scott faces a ruptured pipe and a pool of flaming oil to shut off the steam. He ultimately falls to his death while holding a valve. The remaining survivors are eventually rescued by a team that cuts through the hull, finding that no one else survived.
- First release year
- 1972
- Runtime (minutes)
- 117
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Ronald Neame
- Writers
- Stirling Silliphant · screenplay; Wendell Mayes · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Gene Hackman · not specified; Ernest Borgnine · not specified; Red Buttons · not specified; Carol Lynley · not specified; Roddy McDowall · not specified; Stella Stevens · not specified; Shelley Winters · not specified; Jack Albertson · not specified; Pamela Sue Martin · not specified; Arthur O'Connell · not specified; Eric Shea · not specified; Leslie Nielsen · not specified
- Genres
- disaster; thriller
- Themes
- survival; faith; sacrifice
- Tone and mood
- tense; suspenseful
- Premise and plot tags
- disaster; survival; shipwreck
- Source material / true-story basis
- Paul Gallico's 1969 novel
- Franchise connections
- The Poseidon Adventure
- Content notes
- death
- Reception
- The film was well-received by critics, noted for its technical effects and ensemble cast, and became a commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1973 in the US and Canada.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 82% · scale: percentage · review count: 33; Metacritic · score: 70 · scale: 100 · review count: 10
- Production trivia
- The film was the second highest-grossing film of 1972.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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