Directed by: John Guillermin
Starring: Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Richard Chamberlain, Fred Astaire, O.J. Simpson, Jennifer Jones
Made in 1974 and long before Die Hard and the real life terror of 9/11, The Towering Inferno presented us with a terrifying story of people trapped in the upper floors of a skyscraper on fire. The fire begins on a lower floor and works its way up, so those attending a party on a higher floor can't go anywhere. This is a universal nightmare and The Towering Inferno exploits our fears well.
The fire is caused by a faulty circuit breaker which sparks onto some chemicals and away we go. The building's architect (Newman), the builder (Holden), and Holden's cost-cutting, kickback-taking son-in-law who cut corners on the construction are all in attendance, and each must help the fire chief (McQueen) try and extinguish the blaze before everyone dies. If there was ever a movie warning us against the dangers of kickbacks, well this is it. Chamberlain is mostly to blame for the fire, and he is shamelessly unapologetic, so much so that he cuts the line to try and escape. He is the closest thing to a villain in the movie, except for that spreading fire which soon engulfs mostly everything.
The visuals still hold up well. The actors who are mostly bona fide movie legends handle things convincingly. OJ Simpson is more famous (or infamous) for his criminal actions now, but at the time he was the biggest star in the NFL and a multi-media superstar. The Towering Inferno runs over two and a half hours, but it never feels overlong or bloated, mostly because what is happening is engrossing enough to dissuade us from looking at our watches. The 1970's were full of disaster movies such as the Airport series, Earthquake, and The Swarm. Nearly every natural and human disaster was covered, and millions flocked to see them. In 1980, Airplane! was made to spoof these films, and by then there was plenty to spoof.
The Towering Inferno was the best of the films. It is grounded in realism, working on the level of a nightmare. The fire itself takes on a life of its own, as a monster which gobbles what's in its path. And we aren't entirely upset when it decides to turn on Chamberlain and swallow him up.
No comments:
Post a Comment