Movies - The Poseidon Adventure

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	Movies - The Poseidon Adventure

The Poseidon Adventure was a 1972 action film and adventure film based on a novel by Paul Gallico. It concerns the capsizing of a luxurious ocean liner during a freak storm and the desperate struggles of a handful of survivors to reach the 'top' (now the bottom of the hull) of the liner before it sinks.

It won the Academy Award for Best Song for "The Song from 'The Poseidon Adventure'" (aka "The Morning After"), which also became a hit single for Maureen McGovern.

The plot centered around the S.S. Poseidon, a luxury liner from the golden age of travel, on its final voyage before the scrapyard. On New Year's Eve, it is overturned by a rogue wave, trapping all inside. A renegade priest attempts to lead a small group of survivors to safety.

Parts of the movie were filmed aboard the RMS Queen Mary.

A huge box office success, it was the top grossing film of 1973. The success of this film is in the vein of other all-star disaster films in the seventies such as Airport
(1970) and its sequels, The Towering Inferno (1974), and Earthquake (1974). A sequel called Beyond the Poseidon Adventure
had an equally star-studded cast, but was a box-office and critical failure.

Two separate efforts are currently concerned with remaking the film. One remake, directed by John Putch, starring Adam Baldwin and Steve Guttenberg was released on November 20 2005 as a made-for-TV movie, and was retold with the ship capsizing due to a terrorist act. Though many of the characters remained the same, several were added. The character of Mike Rogo was changed to a sea marshal who works for the Department of Homeland Security. The story was altered because it was felt that the original's disaster was unrealistic since a rogue wave out at open sea was thought to never have the strength and size to seriously affect a large vessel. This movie received poor reviews from critics and fans of the original. The second film Poseidon
, directed by Wolfgang Petersen and scheduled to be released in theatres in 2006, is only loosely based on the premise of the 1972 original and involves an entirely different cast of characters. But it still has a devastating rogue (or "freak") wave...

Primary cast

Gene Hackman
: Rev. Frank Scott
Ernest Borgnine
: Det. Lt. Mike Rogo
Red Buttons
: James Martin
Carol Lynley
: Nonnie Parry
Roddy McDowall
: Acres
Stella Stevens
: Linda Rogo
Shelley Winters
: Belle Rosen
Jack Albertson
: Manny Rosen
Pamela Sue Martin
: Susan Shelby
Arthur O'Connell
: Chaplain John
Leslie Nielsen
: Captain Harrison

Plot summary

The general premise of the film follows that of the book.

On New Year's Eve, passengers aboard the S.S. Poseidon are faced with almost certain death as their immense 81,000 ton passenger liner turns upside down and begins to sink. Starting from an upper deck, a preacher, Frank Scott (Hackman), leads a small group of often unwilling followers towards the bottom of the ship, trying to avoid the rising water level, and other such hazards.

En route, several perish. However, they eventually reach the propeller shaft, where outside rescuers cut through the hull to extract them. They are informed that they were the only survivors.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Poseidon Adventure ]

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Movies - The Poseidon Adventure

Primary cast

Plot summary

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