Rollercoaster (1977)

i thought this was a pretty good little thriller.it kept me entertained throughout,and it never became boring.In a nutshell,it's a about a guy who blows up a roller coaster ride and extorts money from the owners of other amusement parks to keep more of the same from happening to their roller coasters.Timothy Bottoms plays the psychopath,with George Segal as his main nemesis.Bottoms is quite chilling and cold,and Segals' character matches wits him.watch for a young Helen Hunt,as well.i really liked the music by Lalo Schifrin,which is reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann.it really added to the atmosphere.the tension and suspense is down to the wire in this one.for me,Roller-coaster is a 6/10

Fmovies: Rollercoaster is directed by James Goldstone and co-adapted to screenplay by Sanford Sheldon, Richard Levinson and William Link from a suggested Tommy Cook story. It stars George Segal, Timothy Bottoms, Richard Widmark, Harry Guardino, Susan Strasberg and Helen Hunt. A Panavision/Technicolor production in Sensurround, it features music by Lalo Schifrin and photography by David M. Walsh.

A psychopathic bomber known only as "Young Man" (Bottoms) is causing terror at American theme parks. When safety inspector Harry Calder (Segal) is brought in to investigate, it sets off a cat and mouse game as the "Young Man" ups the ante...

Even now Rollercoaster is still wrongly being lumped in with the disaster movie genre that surfaced in the 1970s. Released at a time when that particular genre of film was fading out, Rollercoaster is anything but a disaster movie. What it is, in fact, is a psychopath character based thriller that adheres to procedural values and character involvement. As it runs at nearly two hours in length should notify viewers that it isn't a film chocked full of Rollercoaster sequences and explosive pyrotechnics. Yes, there's some exciting "Coaster" sequences, neatly shown to us in POV, and in spite of the (obvious 1970s) use of dummies for the plot set up carnage, this thrives on human interest and race against the clock suspense.

The marker is set early on as Bottoms' smirking killer sets up his first murderous act whilst listening to some deathly string arrangement on his cassette player. We then segue into funfair music as the joys of the amusement park brings a warmth and calm to the viewer, this however is soon vanquished as the terror that a terrorist can bring comes right to the fore. From here on in the Bottoms character remains mysterious, but we now know just what he is capable of. Likewise does Segal's character, as do the likes of Widmark's Agent Hoyt and the rest of the "suits" frantically scratching around trying to avert further tragedy as the fresh faced bomber demands money with menaces. This ensures the bulk of the film is made up of Calder and Young Man interactions and police procedural movements. It has much talk, very much so, but it's well scripted dialogue and heightens the tension as we enter the final third.

One of the few films to feature the Sensurround gimmick, the film perhaps logically loses much impact on the small screen. Prints of the film are only adequate, and the sound mix doesn't shake your lounges in the way it certainly did back in 1970s theatres. Yet this is still a damn fine suspense picture, a pic that also carries with it some stoic performances from Segal and Widmark - and a chillingly effective villainous turn from the undervalued Bottoms. Henry Fonda is on the credits, but really it's just an early cameo appearance, while there's much interest value in watching future Academy Award winner Helen Hunt as the young daughter of Harry Calder.

Expect a taut thriller like "Two-Minute Warning", which was released the previous year, and you hopefully will not feel at all let down. Expecting a two hour disaster movie full of Coaster Carnage, however, will only lead to a crushing disappointment. 8/10

Granted, people are nervous about terrorist movies now but 'Rollercoaster' is still a lot of fun. It takes itself seriously and isn't overly clever or macho. Instead its smart, tense, and gets even tenser if you stop to think that someone really could do this if they tried. Hopefully they won't.

You'll recognize Helen Hunt playing the heroes daughter. She doesn't do much but look cute but she doesn't steal any scenes like she does now because she's, well, Helen Hunt! Also noticeable is George W. Bush impersonator Timothy Bottoms as the money mad bomber referred to as "Young Man". You can read into that how you like but it's a shame that such a good actor doesn't have a much larger profile.

Also, you should get ready for the first scene. Without being gory it will definitely make you jump with both the accident and Mr. Bottoms super creepy performance.

Rollercoaster fmovies. Roller-coaster was released in 1977 to capitalize on the disaster film craze of the 1970's. There's only one problem with this. This is a really good movie. Most of the disaster films of that era were full of cheesy acting and lousy writing ( excluding Airport, The Poseidon Adventure, and The Towering Inferno). Roller-coaster boasts great acting, great plotting, and terrific suspense. The disaster scenes with the roller-coaster crashes are exciting. George Segal, Richard Widmark, and Timothy Bottoms deliver amazing performances. Segal plays the wisecracking reluctant hero with ease. Widmark channels all of the grit that made him a star back in the 1950's. Bottoms plays the psycho with a disturbing calm that will send chills down your spine. The only flaw with the film is quite surprising, Henry Fonda. That's right! I said Henry Fonda. Sacrilege, right? Fonda plays a minor supporting role, but manages to bring the film down to a lower level every time he is on screen. Every other actor in the film takes the script seriously and delivers a great performance. Fonda, however, seems to consider this an unimportant role in an unimportant film. He may have been right if other actors and another director had been involved. But Fonda was wrong. This is essential viewing.

Unforgettable Suspense, drama which opens with a terrifying Scene Of a derailment of a roller-coaster which is no accident, It's the work of an unstable extremist(Timothy Bottoms),who is an electronics expert, His sole purpose is to Blackmail $1 million from a group of amusement park owners.

George Segal, plays Harry Caulder, a likable safety inspector Who becomes Involved in the increasingly Tense, attempts to track down The saboteur,Richard Widmark plays a tough federal agent on the case, There is an extended cameo of sorts, by Henry Fonda Who plays Segals Boss, Roller-coaster has an excellent script by Richard Levinson &William Link. who have written episodes of Colombo,

Roller-coaster is a film first, Iam sure it was the first film to Feature a lot of early Steadicam work which admirably works well in the the opening and climax,

It also marks the debut Of Helen Hunt,A young Steve Guttenburg has a walk on part (Check out his afro! From its terrifying opening, to the tension filled finale Roller-coaster 'will have you on the edge of your seat!

This is probably my favorite childhood film having seen it 30 times at the theater during the summer of '77 (to put it in perspective I only saw Star Wars 12 times) and it still holds up very well. I'm sure part of that is the nostalgia factor as it seems to capture a time and place(s) pretty well, but there's a bit more to its appeal to me than that. It works because none of the characters are grossly exaggerated caricatures but everyday men with foibles like struggling to quit smoking. The Caulder character is identifiable because of his family and work failings while Bottom's soft-spoken psychopath (which probably would be portrayed as over the top if the movie were to be made now) is much more in tune with an understated realism that most contemporary madmen you see on screen today lack. While the Widmark character of Hoyt is a pretty much by the book portrayal of a federal dick, his sardonic exchanges with Segal lend an heir of authentic, yet begrudging mutual respect. That credit should go to the screenwriters. Henry Fonda's exchanges with Caulder are similar in their edge and that makes for an understanding of what Harry is up against in trying to stop the bomber. Susan Strasberg as Caulder's love interest is sympathetic, and very pretty, but isn't given much screen time outside of being a nanny for Caulder's daughter...a minor complaint to be sure.

After Roller-coaster came down from my long since demolished local three screen multiplex and had its initial HBO run it sadly all but seemed to disappear from my life, outside of an occasional run on late night TV during the eighties, but reappeared in 1998 when I stumbled upon a VHS copy from a company called GOODTIMES at a Tower Record store in Seattle. I was ecstatic. I still pull it off the shelf every once in awhile to remind myself that some of the minor films of the seventies that weren't appreciated in their day deserve another view.