Guys, this movie kind of rules. I wasn't expecting
this. I've always heard of the 70s disaster movies in a more negative way. They
were the dumb action movies of their day. These were the movies that the
studios made while "the New Hollywood" was making the important
movies. That's probably true, but I tend to still enjoy the dumb action movies
of any era.
It's a very simple movie: the cruise ship flips
upside down, and people need to get to the "bottom" of the ship to be
rescued. It has a weirdly overqualified cast. Something I read pointed out that
it had five Oscar winners in the cast (Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Jack
Albertson, Shelley Winters, and Red Buttons). Hackman especially gives this
gravitas. The movie spends a little time establishing all the back stories then
lets the man vs. nature battle. There are several entertaining set pieces. Most
characters get satisfying story arcs. The movie isn't too precious with who
does and doesn't survive.
I saw the 2006 remake of the movie. That wasn't
awful, but there was something about the action movie structure at that time
that didn't work as well for the story. A cast of Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, and
Emmy Rossum just didn't work as well.
I won't pretend the movie is some forgotten
masterpiece. If anything, it was overrated. It got 8 Oscar nominations after
all, and not just in tech categories. Rather, I'll say that it holds up well
and is worth considering if you're in the mood for a disaster movie and you've
already seen all the ones with The Rock.
Verdict: Weakly Recommend
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