The Towering Inferno

Starring: Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Susan Blakely, Richard Chamberlain, Jennifer Jones, OJ Simpson, Robert Vaughn, Robert Wagner, Susan Flannery, Norman Burton, Dabney Coleman
Directed by: John Guillermin
Rating: PG
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
1974

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A fire breaks out in the new world's tallest building, trapping people on the upper floors while firemen race to save them.

Review:

Tim: I love that The Towering Inferno, a disaster movie, won 3 Academy Awards. It won Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Song. It was nominated for another 5, including Best Picture. That doesn't happen very often with disaster movies. All that adds up to this being an exceptionally well made movie. It's thoroughly entertaining and a must-see from the mid 1970s. This is an exciting, memorable film.

The basic premise is simple- the new world's tallest building opens and a massive fire engulfs the building, trapping people inside. That pits our characters against the fire- who will survive? That's easy enough to pull off. Rather than stopping there, though, we get an epic, 2 hour 45 minute (wow, are you kidding me with that length?) film. The scope of this thing is impressive. We get a very large cast of diverse characters and are given time to get to know them. Everything about this film feels large, which I appreciated. The scale of Guillermin's film is undoubtedly impressive.

I really enjoyed Paul Newman in the lead role. It felt like an actor of his caliber really elevated the cast. He was believable and likeable in this role. Steve McQueen was likewise terrifically cast. His fire chief is courageous and tough-as-nails. Newman and McQueen only had a few scenes together, but real-life issues aside, they were fun to see together. The rest of the cast is fantastic- William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire (in an Oscar nominated supporting performance), Jennifer Jones, O.J. Simpson (we now know the guy is a scumbag, but back then it was exciting), Robert Vaughn, Robert Wagner, Dabney Coleman. It's hard to believe the incredible talent assembled for a burning building movie. I'd go so far as to say this movie probably has the greatest fire movie cast ever assembled. It's just a delight watching all these talented actors sharing the same screen.

The practical effects were extremely well done. You could almost feel the heat of the flames from the screen. The explosions, the spreading flames, the water, everything in this film just felt so real. This movie is a great reminder of what you lose when everything in your movie is digitally created. You need to see the actual fire in the same shot as the actors if you want to ratchet up the level of suspense.

Now, while the movie is impressive large scale, it probably ends up being a bit too long. The sheer length blunts a little bit of the movie's effectiveness. I certainly wouldn't have suggested a two hour run time, but even trimming 15 minutes probably would have helped the overall viewing experience.

The back story to this film is fascinating, too. If you're interested, I'd recommend researching the rivalry between Newman and McQueen, how this film was the first joint production of two major studios, how the script is based on two similar stories, etc. There's just a lot of interesting behind-the-scenes facts about this film.

Any way you look at it, The Towering Inferno is an impressive achievement. It's absolutely one of those movies that you really need to see. I'm embarrassed at how long it took me to finally see this film, but I'm so thankful that I did. This is a very good movie from start to finish and one that deserves to be seen.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Poseidon Adventure, Backdraft, Airport