Stars: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Carol Lynley, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons, Jack Albertson, Pamela Sue Martin, Roddy McDowall, Arthur O'Connell, Stella Stevens, Roddy McDowall, Eric Shea

Director: Ronald Neame

Summary: On New Year's Eve, the luxury ocean liner Poseidon is on a magnificent voyage from New York to Athens, Greece. Unfortunately, disaster befalls passengers and crew when the cruise ship is capsized by a huge tidal wave brought on by a submarine-induced earthquake. Though the casualties are many, 10 passengers survive to make a harrowing journey up to the overturned ship's bottom where they try and escape to safety. The ensemble cast includes Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Roddy McDowall, and Red Buttons.

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The 1972 disaster hit The Poseidon Adventurewas ripe for a big-budget CGI remake, and who better to helm it than thriller expert Wolfgang Petersen, director of Das Bootand The Perfect Storm? It hardly matters that a TV movie remake (also based on Paul Gallico's original 1969 source novel) was made less than a year before, because Petersen's version is far more spectacular, with shocking digital effects, massive sets, amazing stunt-work and enough fire and water to fill five movies with challenging worst-case scenarios. Once again, the plot concerns the capsizing (by a massive "rogue wave") of a state-of-the-art luxury liner, and the struggle of a small group of survivors (including Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, Emmy Rossum, and Richard Dreyfuss) to climb upwards, to the ship's hull, in their treacherous quest for a safe exit. Unfortunately, most of these characters are two-dimensional and under-developed (especially when compared to the 1972 film's all-star cast), and the unimaginative screenplay by Mark Protosevich (reportedly worked on by several uncredited writers) subjects them to a rote series of obstacles that grow increasingly routine and repetitious, not to mention contrived and illogical. Again, it hardly matters, because Petersen's handling of non-stop action is so slick and professional that Poseidongets by on sheer adrenaline. The capsizing scenes are nothing less than awesome, with some effects so real (and so horrifying) that younger and more sensitive viewers may need to look away. And while it lacks the engaging humanity of the 1972 version, Poseidonis certainly never boring. Faint praise, perhaps, but you'll get your popcorn's worth of mindless entertainment.--Jeff Shannon

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Year:	1972
Release Date:	May 29, 2006
Runtime:	112 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	0105801001
Keywords:	Special, Action, Poseidon, General, Edition, Adventure
Genre:	Action/Adventure