A Look at the disaster epic that was The Towering Inferno (1974)
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
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The Promenade Deck background was also used for Kirk's apartment in Star Trek: The Wrath Of Khan.
Despite all of the technological advances in film making, The Towering Inferno, The Poseidon Adventure and Earthquake remain classics of the time. Despite being almost 50 years old, they more than hold their own with many of the bloated and overdone CGI laden blockbusters of today.
Agreed, but they scared me half to death when they came out. Interesting to watch them now....almost 50 years on.
true
David Hammond probably because they have an actual plot, not just random events with shitloads of CGI thrown at it
You took the words out of my mouth. Mega film and a mega cast. Say no more.
Video game graphics add nothing to a movie. CGI is a Joke.
got a soft spot for this and Poisiden Adventure
I love both as well and even like When Time Ran Out
Have them bote on dvd 👍
And Earthquake.
I grew up in the era these were released. My favorites, Towering Inferno, Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake, The Swarm, Meteor and Avalanche (especially the MST3K version 😂).
There were also a few made for tv flicks like Flood!, A Fire In The Sky and Condominium.
Poseidon much the best.
My dad is a retired firefighter, 35 years on the job. I remember as a kid the whole family saw it together. And my dad saying they wouldn't do that. And my mom saying. Joe shut up. And let's enjoy the movie.
I did the same thing with Backdraft
Tim Paszkiewicz, LOL! When I grew up in the 70's our neighbor and friend was a Captain for American Airlines. Try watching 'disaster in the sky' movies with someone like him...LOL. We watched Airport 75 together, he kept saying, "That would never happen".
@@jasona9 Yes but what did he say during that horrifying air disaster classic, Airplane!
I love it when professionals see movies based on their career and they critique. My uncle is a retired general and anytime we see anything wit the military he blast it. LOL
I'll have to admit it myself. When I became a cop. I do the same thing.
My parents took me to see the movie just before Christmas 1974. I was just 9 years old. It was breathtaking. To this day it’s still one of my favorite movies.
Very good mid-70's movie, full of suspense and action! My personal favorite person in this movie, is Steve McQueen as the very competent and no nonsense Battalion Fire Chief. But the whole cast is good, and this movie never gets old!
One of the greatest disaster movies of all times. I like how the movie focused on one thing: putting out a massive fire. No side stories, just complete fire action from beginning to end. Great cast as well.
This, Posieden Adventure, Earthquake, the Airport series. All great 70's disaster flicks. In *_SENSURROUND!!!_*
This movie was legendary when I was a kid. My older brothers and sisters would rave about seeing it in the cinema. It was a few years before I eventually got to see it when it came to the Christmas movie extravaganza on the BBC and ITV. Absolutely terrified of sky scrapers for years after it as a kid. Good times.
Agreed! i grew up in the 70s so was 4 yrs old when this and the other disaster movies were made .. but allway remember as a kid back when i was prob 7 or 8 years old this , posidon adventure, earthquake ect being shown on the bbc ect every christmas along with the wiz of oz! ( usualy christmas eve as the BIG film) ...these days itv and bbc Never show any of the old classic films like they used to ...not even any of the older films before the 70s now ,...i actualy tune into TCM and vintage tv now to see these classic films when they are on ..makes me sad tbh as bbc and itv are missing out on viewers that want to see these films still ..nowt wrong with a bit of nostalgia ect even though as my mum would say they are that old they got hairs on them and then went bald pmsl!
..NOW SKY MOVIES.. thats a totaly diffrent kettle of fish ....there are only so many times you can sit and watch a dedicated film channel to a franchise ....i mean how many times have they done harry potter channel , or star wars ect ...it seams like sky churn those out evry couple of months ect! ..oh and as for the remake of the posidon adventure ( not the 2 part tv one which was abismal ) but the film posidon with kurt russel that brought it up to date ....it was ok but not a patch on the original!
@tinMan. What do ya' mean absolutely terrified for years, after you were a kid?? I STILL, am!!! Do not go in buildings, over 4 stories, tall!! Why? This movie 🎞️, is WHY (but it's a good, thing 👍)!!!
I know I am old school, but what a treat to see Steve McQueen and Paul Newman on the big screen together! Forgive me but the Brad Pitts etc. don't hold a candle to these guys!
Cannot agree more my mother had a thing for Richard Chamberlain she was gutted and always put her hands over her ears when he fell off the chair lift even though he was the bad guy.
I remember as a kid,very early seventies those disaster films just became the rage.its like you had too see each new one,there was no avoiding it
I saw Poseidon Adventure, Towering Inferno, and Earthquake all at the same great, classic theater. (1972-1974) And Earthquake was in Sensurround ! Those days were the best.
I liked this movie so much that i went back at least half a dozen times to the cheaper matinees as this was the time of no VCR's and such ,but even today with DVD's I still watch it from time to time as it's aged well.
It’s longest running movie in Singapore cinemas history - a whopping 189 day!😱 2nd Earthquake - 159 days! 3rd Jaws - 129 days! That was the 70’s! Movies are running really short nowadays!😝
less options.
This movie contains OJ’s single best performance until the day in court when he faked like the gloves didn’t fit.
Richard Vinsen better than Capricorn one?
@@Thecrazyvaclav I LOVE that movie.
And he rescued the cat, so he can't be all bad.
Preach
Is he still in prison ?
I remember seing The Towering Inferno back in the summer of 2003.when my uncle in New York send a DVD copy of the movie to my dad and he was talking all about the movie because he saw it in theaters when he was young.i saw it that time for the first time and in the summer 2006 and I love the movie.i re watch it again on blu ray and hope they re release it on 4K.but anyway I re watch it more than once and never get bored of this movie.because The Towering Inferno is.........AWESOMETACULAR! The Best!
The fire chief says to the architect
Why do you build these so high
We can't get to the people
9/11 proved that
Very very true, it's not about people, it's about money🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Saw this and was reminded of Twin Towers. Then heard filming ended on September 11, 1974. Coincidence.
What with all the dodgy happenings on the day itself, it makes one wonder if this was an inside message of some kind.
On Sept 11 a number of events have happened in history (mostly WAR events):
in 2012 the controversial attacks on the US Diplomatic Compounds in Benghazi, Libya
in 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement begins
in 2007 Russia Tests Father of All Bombs
in 1973 Pinochet led a coup d'état, overthrowing the government of President Salvador Allende of Chile
in 1885 The Siege of Sevastopol ended the Crimean War
in 1814 U.S. naval forces defeated a larger British force at the Battle of Lake Champlain during the War of 1812
in 1777 British forces defeated the US at the Battle of the Brandywine during the American Revolution
in 1709 The duke of Marlborough led a British army of 100,000 men against a French army of 90,000 at the Battle of Malplaquet in the War of the Spanish Succession
in 1697 Austrian forces won a decisive victory over an Ottoman army at the Battle of Zenta ...
interesting how WAR seems to be an influence on this date!!!
@@mondomacabromajor5731 Yes, but this was a movie about a skyscraper on fire. The movie was also based on the WTC.
@@mondomacabromajor5731
"controversial attacks on the US Diplomatic Compounds"
That's a strange way of describing a terrorist attack which included the murder of the US ambassador to Libya.
@@white-dragon4424 the Sept 11 date was the topic of conversation ...
Absolutely great movie. William Holden was at his best. The beautiful Faye Dunaway. The classic Jennifer Jones and of course Fred Astaire. I went to see this movie with my mom and dad and what a big event it was in our small town.
Irony; The World Trade Towers were the basis for the the Glass Inferno. The Towering Inferno wrapped Sept 11th , and decades later September 11th happened. Weird coincidence.
A personal irony for me. I saw the Towering Inferno on December 31, 1974 at a theatre in Times Square (first show of the day, long before all the New Year's Eve folks got there). Following that, I took the subway and went by the Twin Towers for the first time (previously, I had just seen them from a distance, and I was living out of town when they were completed). That's when I found out that they were offset diagonally. from a distance, they looked like they were parallel.
yep hollyweird does tell the truth now and then.
It had a one in 365 chance of occurring. Not strange at all. I would buy a lotto ticket now and then if I could get those odds. Best wishes everyone. 🌲🌝☘️
There are no coincidences
@@connorshaw2618
Who says?
Excellent video as ever Jonathon thank you! This movie was presented in Sensurround I think? One of the reasons why there were so many disaster movies made in this decade was because of that sound system which essentially added a loud randomised ‘rumble’ at certain points, as triggered by an extra track on the celluloid film. It was a big crowd pleaser apparently.
No, that was Earthquake that had Sensurround. Sensurround was exclusive to Universal Pictures movies, and of course The Towering Inferno was Warner Bros./20th Century joint venture.
@@transitfan954 ah, ok, thank you, I wasn’t sure, ooh, that must have been hard for them to join in on the disaster movie trend and not be able to use the sensurround system. Most early sound systems couldn’t even do sub bass back then, could they?
Urban legend...? McQueen & Newman’s equal billing also required that their total dialogues each had the same number of words...
I've heard about that before.
"Actors are court jesters" - Kurt Russell
How weird of a coincidence is that!? This film was completed on SEPTEMBER 11, 1974, exactly 27 years before the 911 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York. The Towering Inferno was influenced by the construction of the Twin Towers, and 27 years later a similar disaster occurs. Very strange.
HMMMMM
Excellent point.
@John Harrison - The truth is stranger than fiction😓
How Ironic!
How eerie is that damn ...
Honestly, some of the deaths in this movie still scare me. It’s very well done even if you can tell they used miniatures. It holds it’s own against the overdone disaster movies we have these days.
All of the complaints made by Steve McQueen and Newman's characters about high rises proved to be true when the Twin Towers were hit. And I for one couldn't stop thinking about what they said while watching the people at the top of the towers wave and jump and realise they were trapped with not an ounce of hope. Just like we were all told in 1974. Shame really.
Yes, part of my 911 experience was remembering this movie and knowing how it would turn out for those doomed people in the towers. But of course seeing it collapse was not what I expected. The sickening feeling of watching all those people die in real time and knowing the other building would do the same in short time is something I guess all of us who were alive remember.
Strangely enough, the towering inferno fineshed shooting on September 11, 1974.
One of the first movies I remember seeing as a kid, it had already made it to TV, must have been in the early to mid 80’s.
" It's out of control and it's coming your way". Love that line from Chief O' Halloran to Doug Roberts.
I was on the set of this film in August of 1974 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in San Francisco. I had never seen so many trailers for the actors in my life and marveled how they pulled it all together for a release in December of that same year.
Omgosh, the shake and bake double feature! Awesome, great billing tag line! Great video, thanks Johnathan!
The story goes that the studio hired an expert to advise on how fires would actually look in skyscrapers. After watching some of the scenes, he said the fires were completely unrealistic because there wasn't enough smoke. Irwin Allen heard this and said, "Come take a walk with me." Allen walked him around the set with his arms around his shoudlers and told him, "You know, audiences come to see the stars. If there's a lot of smoke, they won't be able to see anyone." The smoke-free scenes stayed in.
50 years on. The Tower Inferno, Inferno Italian for on fire, I think, My late father would of known. Some of the most spectacular breakout fire sequences in this movie and difficult to film . Its lucky that praise god no one got seriously hurt. Though Steve McQueen was courageous to do some of the stunts. He was that kind of guy. Both Paul Newman and Steve McQueen made great performances.
This was a big deal in 1974 . Especially McQueen and Newman in the same movie .
Difficult to believe McQueen would be dead just six years later .
Unquestionably the best of the 70's disaster movies, brilliant cast, superb cinematography and Faye Dunaway in that dress!
I saw this one when I was 10 yrs old, at the cinema, and fell totally in love with Susan Flannery! :D In that absolutely horrific scene with Robert Wagner ... was she beautiful
Apparently Steve McQueen wanted the same amount as lines as Paul Newman
I read stories saying that too. The rivalry was as big as the film. Steve McQueen wants top billing as did Paul Newman, that is why if you watch credits you see from left the name is slightly lower than the next name,.
@@oddsandwindsocks5905 A joke I heard at the time was that McQueen was up for a special award for "Best Portrayal of a Fire Chief," and Newman for "Best Portrayal of an Architect."
@@williamwingo4740 they both played them brilliantly
My dad was obsessed with this movie and would actually sneak to the theater to see it without mom. He must have seen it at least 6 times back then.
One of my favorite movies as a kid, and I still love it to this day.
Me too. Im 48 and i still watch it over and over.
My mom took me to see this when I was a kid and we were amazed by it.
In 1974, nobody ever seen anything quite like this.
Massive movie at the time.
I was 7 when I saw it in 1974. Best movie I had ever seen.
Wouldn't it be something to sit & have a beer w/McQueen & Newman? ...and I don't even drink! Just to be a fly-on-the-wall on some of these Irwin Allen all-star disaster flicks would be an unforgettable experience! Also (for you film aficionados), legendary composer/conductor John Williams did a wonderful score for this among many other of Allen's disaster movies. He scored this a year before his breakthrough in Steven Spielberg's "Jaws." Talk about life imitating art, McQueen plays the fire chief; but when the set breaks out in uncontrollable flames, he jumps to the rescue? Amazing!
What do you get when you combine Earthquake and Towering Inferno?
Shake and Bake
There was a drive in double feature that made that joke
When I lived in Southern California, several of the sizeable earthquakes happened in warm weather (i.e. Whittier Narrows on 10/1/87 and Northridge on 1/17/94). Meteorologists and Seimsologists (sp?) where quick to point out that this was a coincidence, as earthquakes originated miles underground where this was no weather. Still, some people coined the term "Shake and Bake" about those occurences.
At Parris Island with Sgt. Gunny.
We thought that was so funny in the 70s. But then again I was eleven years old.
My grandmother told me that joke in 1975 when I was 9. It’s still being thrown around.
Since you all are towering inferno fan. I know you remember and love McQueens reaction when he said,,"oh shit" LOL
"How do I get back down?"....(silence).."Oh shit!"
I still remember going to see this with my mother at the theater. It was like being on a ride at the fair far more than watching a movie with a story, but it was still fun.
One of the first of the big budget disaster movies, scared the hell out of me as a kid.
Still scares me as an adult
I thought that Faye Dunneway's dress was stunning.
And so was She herself :)
her dress was prob easier to work with than she was sadly from the stories iv heard about her! ...she was and is a good actress but her ego and diva attitude killed her career! ...and sadly when she made THAT infamous apearance at the oscars a couple of yrs back ( NOT HER FAULT what happened) it didnt help her get back in the film buissness ..she's been quiet ever since that incident with her and warren beaty anouncing the wrong winner of best picture ..as i said not their fault BUt they took all the flack for it at the time sadly :(
@@dizzydevil547 You don't know what the the heck you're writing. Faye Dunaway has proven herself a great actress. Also, she did not kill her career with her ego. Really mindless to write that. She has had one of the longest careers considering she is a woman in a business that usually puts actresses out to pasture at age 40. She has won more acting awards and career honors after turning 40. She is now 80 years old. There aren't many roles for women past 50 let alone 80. Lastly, who gives a f*** about the Oscar envelope mix up and how in the world do you link that to her career? You really are dumb.
@@Omnicient. When have you worked with her to say something like that? Fool.
@@Omnicient. I have and it is positive. What pleasure do you get from commenting on something you know nothing about? You know nothing about her work habbits, problems on the set, the creative process and many other factors involved. So, shut up. Judge her performances and films. Understand, or too tough for you?
Jonathan, great insight on this! I did not know this was the first time two studios would collaborate on a single movie, now it is like five. Other connections I saw between this and "The Poseidon Adventure" is that Maureen McGovern also sang in that movie too, "Morning After". Faye Dunaway would also co-star with William Holden in "Network" two years later. I hope Faye forgave William by that time, as they had a bedroom scene together. I bet life insurance premiums for the actors were "through the roof" if they had to work for Irwin. Thank you for mentioning that TV movie based on Towering Inferno, as I did watch that as a kid but could not remember the name of it. That TV show made me not want to get in tall buildings for years.
In _The Poseidon Adventure,_ you hear the voice of Renée Armand singing, with Carol Lynley lip-syncing. Maureen McGovern's chart-topping single "The Morning After" isn't actually in the movie. That Academy Award winning song is written by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn. Armand's performance was finally released on a limited-edition CD of the soundtrack years later, and can be heard elsewhere on this platform.
Producer Irwin Allen hired Kasha and Hirschhorn to write the song from _The Towering Inferno,_ and he featured Maureen McGovern herself singing it for the party scene. That effort produced another Academy Award for Best Song, but "We May Never Love Like This Again" did not perform as well on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
you know when 9/11 happened I thought about the first time I saw this film as a teenager. My friends and I talked about the film for days, horrified at the chaos, fear and disaster that the fire inferno caused. Then it really happened.
Thanks for this retrospective. I saw this in the theatres when it opened and as a 10-yr-old was blown away!
You had mentioned about the billing issues between Steve McQueen and Paul Newman as to who would get top billing. A compromise was reached where their credits - both on screen and on the poster - appear staggered. Steve McQueen’s appears first when read left to right while Paul Newman’s appears first when read from top to bottom.
An interesting note is that the cyclorama painting seen out of the Promenade Deck was later recycled for the view outside Admiral Kirk’s apartment windows in Star Trek II and III. From this, we can deduce that Kirk lives at 655 Market Street, San Francisco, CA, on the 135th floor.
I remember watching this on TV in the late 70's and I could not tell Paul Newman and Steve McQueen apart. To me, they looked the same. Now I know better. I really like the fact that they both owned and drove race cars.
Pretty freaky that the novels were inspired by the construction of Twin Towers considering what happened. Firefighters dying and people falling to their deaths.
"half scale models of the buildings"
Ah, I think not.
There's a blurb that someone put on IMDB about it being 1/2 scale so he may have grabbed it from there. It was about 100ft tall.
@@GeekFilter - That sounds about right. Nowhere near half scale. Still a large miniature, but not even 1/12th scale.
@@lestatdelc Just short of being 1/12 scale, if it was 100ft tall.
It was 1/2 inch scale. The inch is understood. 1/2 inch = 1 foot
This is probably my favourite disaster movie from 1970s. Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, two of my biggest idols in the leading roles. This movie also has a great action scenes.
McQueen and Newman had co-top billing. They were so territorial that they insisted on each having exactly the same number of lines of dialog.
@@williamwingo4740 And also they were almost starring together in the classic western Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid (1969), but McQueen left the project.
Excellent, Jon!! Very informative 👍! I've ALWAYS LOVED, this movie (my favorite, disaster pic )!!! This bio added to my knowledge, of it. Went to go see it, the week it was, released. Me, my best friend (at the time), and some school chums, went to the movie theater, downtown. Remember it like, yesterday. I have this flick as part of my, collection!! Loved 'OJ's' role here, plus William Holdens', too.
What a Wonderful film.
This movie definitely deserves more love, it really is a thrill ride no matter how many times you see it.
Good on 20th Century Fox for not letting Allen direct _The Poseidon Adventure_ or _The Towering Inferno._ (Warners let him direct _The Swarm_ and _Beyond the Poseidon Adventure_ and the results speak for themselves despite publicist Tony Habeeb's best efforts.)
It must have been a good movie at the time because my mother saw it about 6 times when it was released, ..I think she had a thing about Steve McQueen
I don't blame your mother at all. McQueen was the epitome of fineness.😺
WONDERUL!!! I am so proud to be a part of such an AMAZING cinematic icon! Let me know if you ever need anything from the little girl Paul Newman carried on his hip all throughout the movie: Angela Allbright!!! :)
50th Anniversary in 2024. Timeless movie
A 1/2 scale model would be 800+ feet tall! The model was about only about 100 feet.
That stupid Gene Siskel wouldn't know a good movie if his life depended on it, hehehe!!!
you always make fun of people who died of cancer??? you must have voted for #45 smh
@@orgonkothewildlyuntamed6301 What is that supposed to mean?! And besides, who I voted for is none of your business!!
So you cant make fun of people because of what they died of? What kind of liberal marxist horseshit is that
One of my favorite disaster movie ever.
Weird 1974, had a real life Towering Inferno in São Paulo, Brazil.
I remember that. It was too painful to even think about. I felt so bad for the many people who died from that fire.
While this was being shot on the Fox lot, “Young Frankenstein” was shooting on the lot at the same time. Apparently, the cast and crew from “Young Frankenstein” would regularly go to the Towering Inferno sets to watch the filming of the action scenes.
Fred Astaire and Jennifer Jones were the most likable folks in this. Yet the ending made me sad, especially when O.J. Simpson handed her cat to him.
I wanted them, to go off into the sun set together!!!!! 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
That was heartbreaking.
Look at how the names the poster are arranged, McQueen got first billing and Newman got top billing. A Hollywood trick to placate stars egos.
When this came out I recall reading a story that McQueen insisted he gets the same number of lines as Newman. Since he doesn't appear until about halfway in the movie Newman uses' most of his lines before McQueen enters.
70s' disaster movies...gotta love em. I saw Towering Inferno for the 1st time only recently. Once the movie gets going it is really intense. The highlight is the elevator scene and basically the entire conclusion. Very, very impressive FX for its time. Also, love the back and forth between the fire chief and the architect.
Love it! Good job! (But a correction: The fire McQueen helped put out was not at 20th Century Fox, but at a studio several miles away in Hollywood. McQueen was doing some training with the fire department -- this was weeks before the filming of "Inferno" began -- and went along on the call.)
Recently watched this again on HBO Max, still holds up as a fun watch. A shame Newman and McQueen didn't team up more often.
Epic movie! I LOVE disaster movies of the 70's and this was the best. Such a great cast, but poor Jennifer Jones had the most tragic death scene of all time. After trying to stay alive for most of the movie, I'll never forget her falling out of that glass elevator and bouncing off the side of the building as she plunged to her death! Yikes!
I seen that film after I read the book"The Glass Inferno" back around December 1974.That scene had a bad effect on me since I was a little kid.I never wanted to see that film again. And I never saw it again. The Jennifer Jones character survives in the book.A very strong super heroine in the book. Sorry but I prefer the book better.I pass on the movie.
@@montygreen6228 I still find that scene disturbing every time I watch it.
@@evertonporter7887 I only seen that movie once.I don't have the heart to see it again.That sweet lady falling to her death completely turned me off to the movie.I refused to watch it again for that reason.
Another great work Jonny , I remember seeing this in Sydney's George street at a Greater Union cinema in 1974 , it might of been the paramount cinema????? your fellow LIS Alumni Ken
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No one could remake this movie, part of what made it so good were the various stars that were in it.
I have nothing bad to say about this film. It is entertaining terrifying and well acted. One of the best 70s disaster movies.
This was such a great movie!
Sin ninguna duda una excelente película además del reparto de maravillosos actores y actrices pero el que se roba toda la película es Steven Mc Queen
John Williams wrote an impressive main title for _Earthquake,_ and used the same melody with a completely different arrangement as a character theme for _The Towering Inferno._ I have always wondered how the different producers felt about that.
I've always noticed that but you're the first one I've ever known to have made the same observation!
@@bkynbiker19 In every kind of thing, there are always others on the same page. We don't always have the opportunity to notice, however. There are always others not on the same page as well! John Williams has written some of my absolute favorite melodies. The _Superman_ main title is probably at the top of the list.
@@misterlyle. I'm partial to his Poseidon Adventure soundtrack myself
I can hear shades of the Towering Inferno score in his work for The Witches of Eastwick.
@@PungiFungi Thank you for pointing out John Williams' soundtrack for that movie! Conveniently, the whole soundtrack is available here. Some of the themes could easily be interchangeable with tracks from the Towering Inferno! I also notice a strong similarity to some of his music in _E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial._
The most enduring scene for me is Jennifer Jones falling to her death in the scenic elevator! This is what we call a ‘Sunday film’ this often ran on the tv during the 80’s and early 90’s of my childhood on Sunday afternoons
This channel NEEDS a competent narrator, one who knows how to read smoothly without frequent, unnecessary and frustrating pauses in arbitrary spots.
@@martinpascoe5904 No, but accurate.
I thought Steve Mcqueen and Paul Newman looked and sounded too much alike. It was hard for me to tell them apart when I saw it at age 10.
I loved this movie so much that I saw it twice, which I rarely did. The scene of the overloaded helicopter trying to rescue people was almost too realistic. This was probably due to the fact that I had served in Vietnam and had actually seen helicopters on fire crashing. This is the type of movie that should be shown on TCM.
Since the Twin Towers disaster, I can't take this film seriously anymore
It’s amazing that after this, both Irwin Allen and Stirling Silliphant managed to create the box office bomb, “The Swarm”
This movie, and The Posidon Adventure was Irvin Allen at his peak.
Surprised the builders of the WTC didn't try to scupper the movie somehow, the last thing you want Americans watching when you're about to open the tallest skyscrapers on the planet is a movie about a burning skyscraper.
Steve McQueen predicted 10,000 would die in these firetraps. On 9/11 3000 perished unnecessarily
I loved this movie so much.... couldn't find anyone else to go with me, incld. my husband, so I went all by myself....I was 19. Had gone to Poseiden Adventure the year before...I LOVE disaster films!
Me too this is my favourite it's gripping all the way through, the fireman going head head first down the elevator shaft always makes me jump.
@@gina7288 I could not believe he was quiet on the way down I did say to my wife that I would be screaming my head off if I was him.
@@georgie1246 I always look away at that point and yes I was surprised he wasn't screaming, on fire and falling that far but I do enjoy the old disaster movies.
OJ Started the fire in this movie.He then wrote a book called "If I lit It". 😅
Without these over the top 70’s disaster movies we wouldn’t have the comedy classic Airplane! Thank you 70’s disaster movies.
or the big buss, remember that one.
@@curtbilyeu8701 No. I grew up in the time period though so I’m surprised I have never heard it mentioned before. I’m definitely going to have to give that a watch.
@@curtbilyeu8701 "There have been Movies about Big Earthquakes . . . There have been Movies about Big Boats sinking . . . Movies about Big Buildings burning . . . Movies about Big German Balloons busting . . . And now a Movie about . . . "
Great movie [1]. Cast included Jose Ferrer, Sally Kellerman, Richard Mulligan, Ruth Gordon, Larry Hagman, and Lynn Redgrave.
And in the movie "Drive-In" (also 1976, but with an almost completely unknown cast) [2], the movie shown at the drive-in is a conglomeration of disaster movies entitled "Disaster 76," complete with airplanes, earthquakes, capsized ocean liners, and sharks.
"Of course there aren't any stairs. What idiot's goin' to climb up 125 flights?"
1. www.imdb.com/title/tt0074205/
2. www.imdb.com/title/tt0074433/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
My family took me to this movie when it came out. I would have been 3 or 4.
It scared the absolute shit out of me.
My parents joked about that for years after!
My favorite scene is after the married guy played by Robert Wagner just gets done having sex with his secretary. He looks out the door and the fire has spread to his office and they can’t escape. He runs out trying to get help and dies burning to death, she does has to try to escape in her sexy silk nightgown. The flames engulf her but that not enough. She goes through the window and falls about 900 feet while on fire. The takeaway is don’t have sex with a married man and don’t have an affair with your secretary. 👩💼
Very true although it always makes me cringe seeing her pantyhose /tights on fire as she dived out of the window to her long fall.
It wasn't so much a case of 2 studios teaming up together due to it being such a big production, but that 2 studios had 2 seperate "burning building movies" in the works from 2 different source novels and decided to combine their productions rather than compete against each other. For the record, Columbia Pictures and Paramount had also teamed up together before this for 1970's Waterloo starring Rod Steiger and Christopher Plummer.
Correct - they learned from the early 60s experience when competing studios each made a movie about Jean Harlowe, and neither succeeded at the box office
50th Anniversary in 2024. Movie 🎥 is timeless.
Loved this movie!
Me too but I still think Poseidon adventure is a better / fun movie to watch. This one is too true as we all learned.
What a movie
I remember seeing that in the theater! It & The Poseidon Adventure are my favorite Irwin Allen movies.
Mega film , legendary actor's, no more needed to say .
Only item that's dated is the period costumes flares and tuxedos. Apart from that it's still the daddy of the disaster genre.
Narration is terrible!
Lol, didn't also Earthquake come out at same time, they called it Shake and Bake. I was a kid at the time, it was awesome. Seemed real.
I bet they mentioned that in the video. You should watch it.
Did not know O.J.Simpson star in this film.
People tend to forget that in February 1975 there was a serious 3-alarm fire that started on the 11th floor of One Wold Trade Center in the middle of the night and spread through an inner‐service core to the ninth and 14th floors. Newspaper accounts claim there was no sprinkler system in place [yet], and that some years earlier during fires in other high-rise buildings, heat-sensitive elevator call buttons had summoned elevators to fire floors like what happens in the movie. This film presents a perfect storm of high-rise fire safety shortcomings which has not and likely never will come together in reality - an overheating electrical system with insufficient circuit breakers, fire doors and other built-in containment systems that fail to halt the spread, gas supplies that are not shut off when the alarm is called, and many more unlikely errors contributing to an uncontrollable disaster. The film even presents this all as the result of an unplanned accident rather than a deliberate act of sabotage as in one of the source novels, and attributes the building's firetrap status to the unscrupulous cost-cutting shortcuts chosen by Richard Chamberlain's character.
but wasnt the World Trade Center fire caused intentionally by an arsonist?
Disaster movies like this are what led to the movie “Airplane”, which parodied all these disaster movies that were popular in the mid to late 70s.