The Poseidon Adventure Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

The Poseidon Adventure Blu-ray Movie Review

Topsy Turvy

Reviewed by Michael Reuben April 7, 2012

After over a decade working in TV, during which he created and oversaw such classics as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel and Lost in Space, producer Irwin Allen, known as "The Master of Disaster", returned to the big screen in 1972 with The Poseidon Adventure. It became one of Allen's biggest hits and has endured as one of the best (maybe the best) of the Seventies disaster films.

One reason for the film's staying power is that Allen stuck (or, depending on who you ask, was confined) to the role of producer, which is what he did best, while ceding directing duties to British veteran Ronald Neame, whose courtly rapport with actors proved invaluable during the physically grueling shoot. Writing duties fell primarily to Stirling Silliphant, an Oscar winner for In the Heat of the Night, with assistance from Wendell Mayes, who transformed the novel by Paul Gallico into an efficient thrill machine. Silliphant's skill for compressing both character and plot information into dialogue that actors could speak like real people is one of the secrets of Poseidon's success.

Allen, who knew a good thing when he saw it, kept returning to Silliphant for scripts throughout the Seventies, including The Towering Inferno and The Swarm. If only Allen had stayed out of the director's chair, his winning streak might have continued. The Towering Inferno, directed by John Guillermin, remains a classic of the disaster genre along with Poseidon; The Swarm, directed by Allen, is a camp favorite at best.

An opening title card informs us that the ship Poseidon was lost at sea on a voyage from New York to Athens; "only a handful" survived. As director Neame explains in his commentary, he insisted on this initial text to make the first half hour of the film suspenseful. Now, instead of just being introduced to the main characters, the viewer begins to wonder which ones will be alive at the end.

Neame's twist is crucial, because the list of potential survivors is long enough that it takes time to introduce them properly, even for a writer of Silliphant's talent. Reverend Scott (Gene Hackman, who won his Oscar for The French Connection during production of Poseidon) is a firebrand of a preacher who has been stripped of "most" of his powers in an unidentified church for his rebellious attitude and shipped to a tiny African ministry where he can no longer annoy the elders. The ship's chaplain (Arthur O'Connell) lets Rev. Scott give a guest sermon, and it's an aggressive self-help lecture, but at least, as the chaplain says, no one goes to sleep.

Mr. Rogo (Ernest Borgnine) is a New York cop taking his first real vacation with his wife, Linda (Stella Stevens), who's self-conscious because she's a former hooker and thinks she spotted a former client among the ship's crew. Belle and Manny Rosen (Shelley Winters and Jack Albertson) used to run a hardware store, but now they're retiring to Israel where a two-year-old grandson awaits their doting attention. Another shopkeeper, a haberdasher named Martin (Red Buttons), is obsessed with staying healthy and living a long life, but has never found the time for a relatonship. A teenaged girl named Susan (Pamela Sue Martin) is traveling with her younger brother, Robin (Eric Shea), to join their parents; the kid is a nautical enthusiast who keeps bugging the crew for tours, thereby picking up information that will shortly prove useful. A ship's steward, Acres (Roddy McDowall), is taken with a singer, Nonnie (Carol Lynley), who will be performing at the New Year's Eve bash later that night, where Acres will be on duty.

On the bridge, the ship's captain (Leslie Nielsen) and the representative of the new owners, Linarcos (Fred Sadoff), battle over priorities. The captain wants to operate the ship safely, while Linarcos wants to move as quickly as possible, because, unbeknownst to the passengers, this is Poseidon's last voyage. The new owners have bought the ship for scrap.

Nature has other plans. Just after midnight on New Year's Eve, an undersea earthquake generates an enormous tidal wave that capsizes the ship, killing most people aboard. A group of survivors remains in the main dining room, and Rev. Scott urges them to follow him to the ship's stern at its lowest compartment, which is now the highest point, because Robin learned from one of the crew that the hull is thinnest near the propeller. Only the nine individuals we've come to know follow the audacious reverend. The rest take the advice of the ship's purser to sit tight and await help. Shortly they're all dead.

The rest of the film is nothing more than the struggle to reach their destination past increasingly hazardous obstacles, as tempers flare, the doomed ship continues to break apart and the onrushing sea pursues them like a predator. Without ever reaching Africa, Rev. Scott has found his calling. "I've seen it!" he exclaims to the others, after he's returned from a scouting mission to locate the engine room, and Hackman delivers the line with messianic fervor. Hackman's performance is a key ingredient in Poseidon, because Rev. Scott could easily have been a caricature. Hackman makes him a believable leader. (Hackman's life-long friend, Dustin Hoffman, tells the story of how Hackman was thrown out of an acting class they both took as young men, because the teacher thought he wasn't doing the work; his performances were so natural that the teacher didn't believe Hackman was really acting.)

Ultimately, though, Poseidon works because of the simplicity of its nightmarish scenario. There are no conspiratorial subplots about building codes, cost-cutting, greed or other human elements in the disaster. Even the brief argument between the ship's captain and the owner's representative about safety measures is a red herring, because nothing could have secured the ship against the wall of water that capsized it. The film inflicts an unimaginable, unforeseeable disaster on a random group of individuals, and then we watch how the survivors react. Forty years later, it's still scary stuff.

The Poseidon Adventure Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As reactions from many fans have already confirmed, Fox's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray of The Poseidon Adventure looks terrific. The source materials are in excellent shape (and/or have been faithfully restored), and the image is beautifully detailed with rich, saturated colors, deep and solid blacks, and a sense of depth that is essential to conveying the sheer scale of the production. This film was shot long before the era of home video, when directors and cameramen used the whole width of the Panavision frame to convey important information, especially with stories involving large groups of characters; in shot after shot, director Neame and cinematographer Harold E. Stine arrayed people in carefully composed groups. The Blu-ray lets your eye take in everything the frame has to offer.

Compression artifacts, banding, artificial sharpening and other defects that would militate against a recommendation were nowhere to be seen. I did notice something that merits comment, though, but since it won't affect the video rating, readers who never look past the score won't hear about it. There's almost no visible film grain on this Blu-ray (once you get past the titles, where optical superimposition guarantees a certain amount), and that's surprising in a film from 1972. Under different circumstances, this might raise suspicions of high-frequency filtering (often mistakenly called "DNR"), but careful inspection revealed no signs of lost detail, "frozen" grain, waxy faces or any other tell-tale signs of such tampering. There's really nothing here to complain about.

Still, if one were to screen a 35mm print of The Poseidon Adventure, I very much doubt that the image would resemble the one on this Blu-ray—and here is where issues of technology and philosophy converge. None of us knows what really happens at a digital colorist's workstation, and the sophistication of the software available to these artisans has progressed rapidly, especially now that the film industry uses digital intermediates as a standard procedure and routinely distributes content digitally. Fox has been on the front lines of experimenting with ways to make the appearance of older films acceptable to a generation used to contemporary "cleanliness" in their video experience, and the results have often been controversial (e.g., Patton or Predator: Ultimate Hunter Edition).

But with Aliens, Fox managed to find the right combination of software and artistry to "de-grain" an older film without sacrificing picture detail or producing any of the side effects that so outraged film purists; even the film's notoriously finicky director, James Cameron, applauded the results. Having now found the "sweet spot" that appeals to both HD purists and film enthusiasts, Fox appears to have applied a similar approach to The Poseidon Adventure. I don't blame them, and I can't fault the results. But part of me can't help but regret that yet one more pop classic from the age of film no longer looks quite the same as it used to.

The Poseidon Adventure Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD MA 4.0 track appears to contain the film's original "four-track stereo" mix, which predates Dolby Surround and its variations (which wouldn't be available until the following decades). Almost all of the sound occurs in the front three speakers with only occasional effects or reinforcement from the mono rear channel. The discrete center channel aids in preserving the clarity of dialogue, especially as the noise of the ship's deterioration increases, and the stereo separation between the front mains contributes a welcome sense of dimensionality as the survivors work their way through the various spaces and past increasingly challenging obstacles. The dynamic range is respectable but limited at both the bottom and the top, so that explosions that routinely rock the capsized vessel won't do much for your subwoofer and the high notes of John Williams' memorable score (yes, John Williams really has been writing great movie music for all these years) sound a bit harsh. Still, given the vintage of the production, the track sounds quite good.

The Poseidon Adventure Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Director Ronald Neame: Neame was in his early 60s when he directed Poseidon and his early 90s when he recorded this commentary (he died in 2010 at age 99). Still, you'd never guess his age from the quality of this presentation, which is sharp, insightful and full of interesting detail. Neame's memory was no doubt kept fresh through invitations to address biennial conventions of a Poseidon fan club that met aboard the Queen Mary, where he and his wife would be put up in the Royal Suite, but his critical faculties are equally sharp, as he routinely points out lines of dialogue he wishes he'd changed, edits he would do differently today and directorial choices about which he's had second thoughts (notably, he'd like to tone down the intensity of the conflict between Hackman's Scott and Borgnine's Rogo). Neame's observations on the relation between producer and director and on the changing role of the camera's "eye" in 20th Century cinema are invaluable.


• Commentary by Actors Pamela Sue Martin, Stella Stevens and Carol Lynley: As is often the case with group commentaries, the three actresses have too much fun reminiscing and talking over each other to provide an informative commentary. In the latter half of the movie, pauses become frequent.


• Hollywood Backstories: The Poseidon Adventure (SD; 1.33:1; 25:09): The former AMC series produced some excellent features on classic films, and this 2000 episode on The Poseidon Adventure is a fine example. Using both contemporary footage and new interviews from 1995, it describes how Poseidon was greenlit, nearly canceled, rescued at the last minute and went on to become a classic.


• The Cast Looks Back (SD; 1.78:1, enhanced; 5:42): Made in 2005, the interviewees include Sheila Allen (Allen's widow, who played the ship's nurse), Red Buttons, Stella Stevens, Carol Lynley, Pamela Sue Martin and Roddy McDowall.


• Falling Up with Ernie (SD; 1.78:1, enhanced; 4:10): Ernie Orsatti recalls how he was hired on Poseidon as an actor, but was suddenly plucked from the crowd by director Neame to perform the film's most famous stunt: the fall into a huge pane of glass.


• The Writer: Stirling Silliphant (SD; 1.78, enhanced; 9:16): Recollections of, and tributes to, Poseidon's screenwriter by assorted friends and colleagues.


• The Heroes of the Poseidon (SD; 1.78, enhanced; 9:53): A quasi-allegorical interpretation of the film that pushes every possible Christian element in the story to the breaking point and beyond.


• The Morning After Story (SD; 1.78, enhanced; 9:00): Co-writer Al Kasha (with Joel Hirschhorn) describes writing the film's Oscar-winning theme song. Additional observations are supplied by Maureen McGovern (whose recording became the standard edition), Carol Lynley (who performed the song in the film) and Renée Armand (who recorded the demo and ended up dubbing Lynley in the finished film).


• R.M.S. Queen Mary (SD; 1.78, enhanced; 6:25): A brief overview of the majestic ocean liner, which both inspired Gallico's original novel and provided a template and locations for the film.


• Conversations with Ronald Neame (SD; 1.78, enhanced; 8:51)
• Sinking Corridor: How the shot of Reverend Scott and Robin running along the flooding corridor was done, and how the negative ended up submerged in water and was nearly ruined.
• Generations of Fans: Fan mail.
• Turning Over the Ship: Combining hydraulics with camera angles.


• Galleries
• Marketing: Posters and other assorted ads.
• Publicity: Publicity stills.
• Behind-the-Scenes: On-set photos (many featuring director Neames) and concept sketches for costumes.


• Storyboard Comparisons (SD; various; 6:53)
• Ship Capsizes
• The Vertical Shaft
• Saving Reverend Scott


• Vintage Promotional Material
• Original 1972 Featurette (SD; 1.85:1, non-enhanced; 10:01). An EPK like they used to make 'em.
• Teaser (SD; 1.85:1, non-enhanced; 1:38): Short and to the point.
• Trailer (SD; 1.85:1, non-enhanced; 3:17): Over twice the length of the teaser but less effective.

The Poseidon Adventure Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As a film, The Poseidon Adventure has aged well and holds up marvelously. As a Blu-ray, it arrives from Fox with a beautiful image, a serviceable soundtrack and an informative collection of extras. Highly recommended, especially if you can get it from a local Wal-Mart at the current bargain price.