Beyond the Poseidon Adventure

source: Beyond the Poseidon Adventure

Trailer—Beyond the Poseidon Adventure

Beyond the Poseidon Adventure

Oh where to begin? Some of the most annoying characters ever put in a movie? The ludicrous plot that an ocean liner would be carrying a nuclear weapon? In the original film, the characters were a bit trite and hackneyed, but in this film they are all irritating. Instead of anticipating who will survive, you keep hoping the old Poseidon will finally go down so you can turn it off. It takes a really bad script to create a bomb that these fine actors can't save. This, along with the even worse abomination The Swarm released the year before, virtually ended the disaster movie craze for 20 years. Still, I watch it every few years. It still has a camp, train wreck quality about it.

Awkward disaster mishmash has a team of scavengers coming across the overturned S.S. Poseidon, hoping to loot it before it goes under for good. Irwin Allen's sequel to his 1972 blockbuster "The Poseidon Adventure" arrived in theaters SEVEN YEARS LATER! Never mind that nobody cared anymore, why give us such a shoddy production, filled with dim characters and miscast actors, only to trash the memory of your biggest hit? One might end up feeling really sorry for Michael Caine, Sally Field, Peter Boyle, Jack Warden, Karl Malden and Shirley Jones were it not for their lost-at-sea expressions (good for a few stray laughs). There's a moment when saintly Jones is tempted into taking some treasures just for herself and she timidly starts stuffing her pockets that is an unintended hoot. The film was a career bungler for all concerned, most especially Allen, who never quite recovered from this. * from ****

I haven't seen a film try to be so serious, yet I mistook it for a comedy. The performances were hilarious, the dialogue was awful, and for the life of me, I don't remember the music, so THAT must have been really bad!! LOL. Another one of those great Irwin Allen films that are filled with hammy actors and bad special effects--but what a fun time to watch!!

A lot of people don't like this picture, but, I think it works. It is helmed by a strong cast of principle performers and carried off by a unique twist on the sequel impetus. The idea is fairly original, as opposed to the usual: for this story, one would normally expect they'd just focus on another group of survivors and how they get out. Instead of dealing with people wanting to get out, the plot is spurred on by people wanting to get IN. Then, ironically, they become trapped and become the people who have to get out, along with some of those aforementioned survivors to keep with tradition. I also have to give the film credit for that little bits of continuity, like Linda's body is still lying near the entrance of the ship the crew uses, the same hole the original movie's survivors escaped from. In the end, the movie isn't as bad as it is often called.