The Towering Inferno (1974)

Irwin Allen's follow-up to "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972) is even better, with a remarkable cast of leading men and women in one film: Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Jennifer Jones, Richard Chamberlain (who relishes his slimy role), Susan Blakely, Robert Wagner, Susan Flannery, more. Everything that could happen does in this model disaster spectacle: helicopters awry, cables loose, elevators uprooted, water tanks disrupted, flames spiraling, much more. San Francisco setting works well, special effects still resonate, a huge hit and multiple Academy nominations, including Best picture. As other reviewers noted, McQueen's final words are indeed haunting, 27 years before the World Trade Towers' disaster - perhaps architects will now re-consider not building these mammoth, phallic-shaped, fire deathtraps.

Fmovies: Your typical dumb disaster flick, produced by the king of the genre, Irwin Allen, made notable by the presence of Steve McQueen and Paul Newman who finally agreed to share the screen as equals, something they almost did in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." The ever competitive McQueen made his film debut with a bit part in "Somebody Up There Likes Me" in which Newman starred, and one of his ambitions was to finally get top billing over his number one rival. Even with the so-called "diagonal billing" employed in the film and its advertising (with Newman's name elevated slightly above McQueen's), those of us who read from left to right can see that McQueen got his wish. He also got the best role. He's the firefighter, a tight jawed man of action, while Newman is saddled with the less sympathetic role of the architect. But the real star is the burning building. It burns, and impressively at that, but there's something very claustrophobic about this situation which results in less action than Allen's previous smash, "The Posiedon Adventure."

But the acting is better. In addition to McQueen and Newman, the cast includes Richard Chamberlain (particularly good), William Holden, Faye Dunaway, and Fred Astaire. That's an improvement over Carol Lynley and Eric Shea, both of whom Gene Hackman had the misfortune of emoting with two years earlier. Whatever one thinks of this particular genre, "The Towering Inferno" is probably the best of the bunch.

"Grand Hotel"-styled disaster epic that, along with the original "Airport" and "The Poseidon Adventure", became a monstrous money-maker which dominated not only economically, but also critically. "The Towering Inferno" is an intense affair as a high-rise skyscraper in San Francisco seems to be a state-of-the-art marvel, but sometimes things are not as perfect as they seem. There are still flaws in the building and naturally a small spark in a utility room will lead to an overwhelming night of terror and heroism. A who's who cast in Hollywood at the time makes up the mind-blowing list of performers. Paul Newman, Robert Vaughn, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Steve McQueen, Susan Blakely, Richard Chamberlain, Robert Wagner and Jennifer Jones all make lasting impressions. However it is Fred Astaire (in an Oscar-nominated role of a lifetime) and then-Buffalo Bill superstar O.J. Simpson (showing the style, grace and power that he showed on the playing field here in his debut screen performance) that stand out and create a higher dimension to an honestly corn-filled story. A terribly difficult production to pull off due to the very large scope involved. The technical effects compete well with the all-world performers to make a stunningly impressive movie. Near the top of the usually ho-hum genre of the period. 4 stars out of 5.

The Towering Inferno fmovies. In the world of architectural structures, there are some buildings which have become synonymous with the state there were born in. Indeed, the structure which caught fire in this film was actually created from two stories. The original building was called 'The Tower' and it's sister structure was called " The Glass Inferno.' Together they were united summarily and christened as " The Towering Inferno. " Assembling a memorable cast caused this movie to be riveting and spellbinding. The inner tale for this combined feature is of a majestic and towering high rise which has just been inaugurated as it's first occupants are checking in and occupying their rooms. The architect, Doug Roberts (Paul Newman) has just returned from a short vacation and is impressed with his completed design. Immediately upon his return however, he discovers a small fire has broken out, due to faulty wiring. As the fire spreads, the Construction engineer, Jim Duncan (William Holden) is informed his chief electrical engineer has just been burned to death. As the fires continues to grow and evolve into a flaming, dangerous and ever rising inferno, the city's fire departments begin to arrive introducing Chief Michael O'Hallorhan (Steve McQueen). Several other stories thread and interlace the surface story involving Hollywood's elite, including Fred Astaire, Faye Dunaway, Richard Chamberlain, Robert Vaughn, and Robert Wagner. If you're seeing this movie for the first time, be prepared for many action scenes and exciting hair raising stunts. The story line is plausible (due to 911) as we acknowledge the firmly established courage and honored reputation of America's valiant Firemen, which is now fact and part of our history. Great movie which now wears the title of Classic. ****

The all-star blockbuster THE TOWERING INFERNO proves that you can make a bad film that still manages to be a great movie. Contrary to conventional wisdom, special effects and elaborate stunt work can actually be the star of a movie and provide ample compensation for poor writing, clumsy direction and really amateurish acting.

THE TOWERING INFERNO is, of course, a disaster movie, the methodical destruction of a high-rise skyscraper, along with many of its tenants. It came on the heels of THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE and quite honestly is no match for that film's delicious mix of sappy sentimentality and hammy heroics. But, while its dramatic quality is only marginally superior to hack films like AIRPORT '75 and the atrocious EARTHQUAKE, INFERNO provides a masterful blend of audience manipulation and technical craftsmanship. As Paul Newman pointed out to the press, neither he nor his perpetual professional rival Steve McQueen are the star of the film: the fire is the star. And as appropriate to any star, the fire, in all of its glorious mayhem, is lovingly filmed and given a wide berth to overact with style.

The rest of the cast should be so lucky. The remarkable, once-in-a-lifetime cast (Newman, McQueen, Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Fred Astaire, etc.) behave like troopers, even though they are primarily reduced to being little more than high priced props. Most of the scenes involving actual human interaction seem rushed and the inept line readings of the inane dialogue suggest that no one bothered with retakes, let alone rehearsals. But such moments are little more than filler, marking time between some of the most remarkable actions sequences ever filmed. The helicopter rescue of the derailed scenic elevator is heartstoppingly thrilling, even as you realize that it is absolutely physically impossible. And it is overshadowed by the explosive final showdown with the villainous fire. Hollywood has cinematically destroyed greater amounts of real estate, but seldom with such style.

As art, THE TOWERING INFERNO is a fizzle, but as a cheap carnival thrill show it's pretty hot stuff.

My Take: The disaster movies done the old-fashioned way. Big thrills, big drama, big stars and everything else.

The 70's marked the age of the disaster movies, evolving from the adaptation of Arthur Hailey's "Airport", then boost up by Irwin Allen's "The Poseidon Adventure", which was a hit. Allen continued the legacy of his work by doing another disaster film. It was "The Towering Inferno". "The Towering Inferno" is heavily considered as the best of the long cycle of 70's disaster movies. It was well-made, well-acted, and well-sold on the box-office. The problem, though, was it was too long. The first parts revolved on the celebration of the grand opening of the tallest office building on earth (at the movies, of course), the Glass Tower. But when it gets to the disaster, you see how great this film is. Impressive special-effects and great acting by an all-star cast help make this film the classic it is.

Recommended for any fan of the genre. They don't make 'em like this anymore, and for that value alone, THE TOWERING INFERNO is a bona-fide classic all-star extravaganza.

Rating: ***** out of 5.