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Rated 5 out of 5 stars
DISASTER CLASSIC
Your typical dumb disaster flick, produced by the king of the genre, Irwin Allen, made notable by the presence of Steve McQueen and Paul Newman who finally agreed to share the screen as equals, something they almost did in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." The ever-competitive McQueen made his film debut with a bit part in "Somebody Up There Likes Me" in which Newman starred, and one of his ambitions was to finally get top billing over his number one rival. Even with the so-called "diagonal billing" employed in the film and its advertising (with Newman's name elevated slightly above McQueen's), those of us who read from left to right can see that McQueen got his wish. He also got the best role. He's the firefighter, a tight jawed man of action, while Newman is saddled with the less sympathetic role of the architect. But the real star is the burning building. It burns, and impressively at that, but there's something very claustrophobic about this situation which results in less action than Allen's previous smash, "The Poseidon Adventure."
But the acting is better. In addition to McQueen and Newman, the cast includes Richard Chamberlain (particularly good), William Holden, Faye Dunaway, and Fred Astaire. That's an improvement over Carol Lynley and Eric Shea, both of whom Gene Hackman had the misfortune of emoting with two years earlier. Whatever one thinks of this particular genre, "The Towering Inferno" is probably the best of the buncH.
Anyone who's a fan of disaster movies or Steve McQueen should have this in their collection!
The Towering Inferno follows an all star ensemble cast as they deal with a massive fire at the debut of the most advanced skyscraper yet.
There's lots of thrills, daring escapes and unexpected deaths in this film. You get get the feeling that nobody really is safe from the fire or the building.
Also and excellent film score by a John Williams young in his career.
For $5, getting this film in Blu Ray with all the bonus feature goodies is hard to beat!
This is an excellent Irwin Allen movie. Yes, there is some over the top scenes and over acting by some of the cast and probably too many side stories. It can come across as a little cheesy at times. It helps that John Williams scored this film. That alone helps any film. His score for Jaws 2 made that a much better film. Paul Newman and Steve McQueen performances are top notch and help drive the film. The special effects hold up pretty good today. Never dull for 2 hours, 45 minutes.
