Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12898 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-10-09
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 98 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The 1972 disaster hit The Poseidon Adventure was ripe for a big-budget CGI remake, and who better to helm it than thriller expert Wolfgang Petersen, director of Das Boot and The Perfect Storm? It hardly matters that a TV movie remake (also based on Paul Gallico's original 1969 source novel) was made less than a year before, because Petersen's version is far more spectacular, with shocking digital effects, massive sets, amazing stunt-work and enough fire and water to fill five movies with challenging worst-case scenarios. Once again, the plot concerns the capsizing (by a massive "rogue wave") of a state-of-the-art luxury liner, and the struggle of a small group of survivors (including Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, Emmy Rossum, and Richard Dreyfuss) to climb upwards, to the ship's hull, in their treacherous quest for a safe exit. Unfortunately, most of these characters are two-dimensional and under-developed (especially when compared to the 1972 film's all-star cast), and the unimaginative screenplay by Mark Protosevich (reportedly worked on by several uncredited writers) subjects them to a rote series of obstacles that grow increasingly routine and repetitious, not to mention contrived and illogical. Again, it hardly matters, because Petersen's handling of non-stop action is so slick and professional that Poseidon gets by on sheer adrenaline. The capsizing scenes are nothing less than awesome, with some effects so real (and so horrifying) that younger and more sensitive viewers may need to look away. And while it lacks the engaging humanity of the 1972 version, Poseidon is certainly never boring. Faint praise, perhaps, but you'll get your popcorn's worth of mindless entertainment.--Jeff Shannon

Synopsis
German-born director Wolfgang Petersen (DAS BOOT, THE PERFECT STORM) returns to the sea for POSEIDON, a gripping remake of Ronald Neame and Irwin Allen's 1972 disaster classic, THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE. As passengers celebrate New Year's Eve aboard the massive ship Poseidon, a rogue wave devastates the luxury liner, turning it upside down as windows smash, fires break out, electric wires dangle dangerously, and people try to run for their lives--with seemingly nowhere to go. Despite Captain Bradford's (Andre Braugher) pleas for people to remain calm in the ballroom, a small group of people go against his orders and attempt to make their own way to the bottom of the ship, which is now the only section above water. Led by a low-rent gambler named Dylan (Josh Lucas) and the onetime mayor of New York City, Ramsey (Kurt Russell), and including a suicidal architect (Richard Dreyfuss), the former mayor's daughter (Emmy Rossum ) and her fiance (Mike Vogel), a stowaway (Mia Maestro), and a single mother (Jacinda Barrett) and her young son (Jimmy Bennett), they band together as they battle the elements, fight to save their lives, and learn something about themselves along the way. Although the special effects are cutting-edge, starting with the long, complex opening shot, Petersen makes sure to instill humanity into the characters, letting the film be driven by the story, not just the mechanics. To ensure the integrity of the project, one of the executive producers is Sheila Allen, who was married to disaster master Irwin Allen (producer of such films as THE TOWERING INFERNO, VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, and THE SWARM) until his death in 1991, and played Gina Rowe in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (under her maiden name, Sheila Mathews). Fans of the Black Eyed Peas will get a kick out of Fergie as Gloria, the ballroom singer.

Customer Reviews

This film has it's moments and is clearly far from the remake
The movie itself is pretty much an empty vessel, though it is certainly a product of its time. Trivial concerns such as story and character are jettisoned in favor of elaborate and expensive sets and CGI special effects. Like so many CGI blockbusters, human interaction is merely a bothersome detail; the real focus being on the violent extermination of masses of nameless, faceless victims. And once again, Hollywood has mistaken technological gimmickry for storytelling skill. When the film does try to escape from tired predictability it bites off for more than it can chew.

The capsizing sequence was stunning, but so many areas of the ship were highlighted in such a short time that I never really felt I was part of the action. We witness the galley bursting into flames and everybody being burnt to a crispy critter. Elevators come crashing down, people are falling and dying all over the place, dead bodies float all throughout the ship and outside the ship, and it's one big mess. There was no Christmas tree!?! The Christmas tree played a pivotal role in the original film ... from passengers falling into it during the capsizing ... to it unexpectedly crashing down ... to the survivors climbing it (and Mrs. Rosen getting stuck in the spokes) ... to it falling back into the flooding Dining Room when panic ensues! Why leave it out entirely when there are so many cinematic possibilities? Instead the characters in the new film "sneak out" of the Ballroom using some stacked chairs. There is absolutely no plea for others to join them even though they know that anyone left behind may die. I suppose it says something about today's society ... "I'm getting out of here -- to hell with everyone else!" But these guys are supposed to be the heroes in the film? The film has no sense of humanity, let alone a sense of humor about the absurdity of the entire premise.

I suppose that the filmmakers wanted this to be like the remake of KING KONG, an eye-popping, special effects reinvention of a well-worn story. But, instead, POSEIDON ends up being like the woefully unnecessary remake of PSYCHO: there was no need, demand or purpose for this film to exist and the filmmakers reveal they have no apparent clue as to why the original is loved in the first place. That's what happens when you set sail without a compass; you just get lost at sea.

Better than expected
I rented this film thinking that it would be OK, I find 'disaster' movies easy watching, and I always expect them to be a bit naff ..... well wasnt I surprised. 10 minutes in the action started and it didnt really stop until the end of the film. SFX were great (realistic), it was really tense and even the acting was good (not that Kurt Russell isnt good... but you never know about the others!) I would definately recommend a watch, there was a couple of small 'naff' moments but on the whole a good, modern remake.

No Shelly Winters, Pamela Sue Martin or Ernest Borgnine in this one!
Director Wolfgang Peterson seems to be in such a terrible hurry with Poseidon - everything moves at such a fast pace that the characters - and the viewers - rarely have enough time to stop for a mouthful of air. And while the movie campy fun and as suspenseful as the original 1972 Poseidon Adventure, the film is certainly short and most definitely to the point. However, you really have to suspend disbelief at much of what you see transpiring.

In this remake you see lots of extras die as their world is turned upside down one New Year's Eve, with little warning once the "rogue wave" is sighted and heads towards the doomed luxury liner. Overcome by flooding, shorting electricity and baked by flash fires, the expendable masses yield with barely more than a shocked glimpse, hands clapped over mouths and last-minute hugs with total strangers.

As the Disco and swimming pool, galleys and grand suites and of course the grand ballroom go belly-up, there's the bunch of heroic characters that defy the Captain and decide to head-onward and upward through the waterlogged, overturned ship in feats that call for a deep-sea suspension of disbelief, but no matter, because the delectable Josh Lucas leads this eclectic, mismatched gang, and wouldn't you follow him!

Alas, there's no Shelly Winters-like character in this version. The protagonists all come across, as rather nameless and faceless, blandness is the order of the day here. Kurt Russell plays a devoted father, and the ex-Mayor of New York Richard Dreyfuss is lamenting being dumped by his boyfriend, Josh Lucas is a gambler and I think a fireman - which is why of course he knows the workings of the luxury liner backwards.

Emmy Rossum, Jacinda Barrett, Mia Maestro, Mike Vogel and Kevin Dillon round at the crowd. And they all have remarkably strong lung capacity, considering how long they have to spend underwater! But it doesn't really matter who's who, or who will sink or swim because once the ship flips, character development isn't high on the list of this movie's agenda.

Obviously the special effects are what it's all about and there's tons and tons of rushing water, exploding electrical circuits, people caught in air-conditioning shafts and being burnt to death by sudden fires - it's all big and loud and contains some expert stunt work and superb integration of digital technology.

The direction is mostly crisp and although it all gets a bit repetitious towards the end - it also becomes hard to figure out what is going on - the film mostly works because it steps up its dramatic speed early on, and its pacing never falters. Mike Leonard August 06.