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The Towering Inferno [Special Edition] [2 Discs]
 
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The Towering Inferno [Special Edition] [2 Discs]

Paul Newman , Steve McQueen , John Guillermin    PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)   DVD
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 25.98
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The Towering Inferno [Special Edition] [2 Discs] + Earthquake + The Poseidon Adventure (Special Edition)
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Product Description

Amazon.com essential video

Disaster movies used to work because there was little certainty as to who would survive. Not so in this film, really an amalgam of two original stories, about a group of well-to-do celebrants at the top floor of a skyscraper. Cheapo electrical wiring and bad construction management cause an enormous blaze at the lower floors, steadily rising to consume the revelers. Newman's an architect, McQueen a firefighter, and Fred Astaire a kind old gentleman, for which he was Oscar-nominated. O.J. Simpson plays a security guard who rescues a cat. Now that's a disaster. --Keith Simanton

Description

A dedication ceremony at the world's tallest skyscraper turns into a high-rise catastrophe when a defective wire in its systems-control panel causes an electrical flare-up. Within minutes the gala event turns into a hellish inferno, as a raging fire traps society's most prominent citizens on the top floor. Winner of three Academy Awards, this sepctacular suspense thriller features dazzling special effects and a star studded cast including Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden and Faye Dunaway.

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Customer Reviews

53 Reviews
5 star:
 (27)
4 star:
 (12)
3 star:
 (8)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (53 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A better film than is often assumed, April 26 2004
By 
DBW (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Towering Inferno (DVD)
More than 10 years ago, Roger Ebert and the late Gene Siskel did a special edition of their program that examined "The Early '70s: The Last Golden Age of American Film." It was a great show, with a look at each nominee for the Best Picture Oscar for the years 1970-1974, and then which film Siskel and Ebert would have chosen as the winner.

When the duo got to 1974, and a split screen revealed the five Best Picture nominees for that year, Ebert expressed some amusement at "The Towering Inferno's" nomination, when compared with the others ("Chinatown," "The Conversation," "Lenny" and the winner, "The Godfather Part II."). But while it was not the best film in a truly great year for the medium, "Inferno" did deserve to be considered one of the best.

This is polished, professional filmmaking. It was not intended to be a scathing expose of construction politics, or an actor's showcase. "The Towering Inferno" never tries to be anything more than an action spectacular, pure and simple, and on that level, it has few equals.

The film has been criticized for being almost gleeful in its depiction of various deaths, but I'm not sure what those critics would have had directors John Guillermin and Irwin Allen do. The story is about a giant skyscraper on fire, which means that the primary dangers involved are burning, falling, smoke inhalation and being buried under tons of debris. All of these are horrific, and "Inferno" conveys that horror.

The movie takes on a different hue than the Irwin Allen film it's inevitably compared to, "The Poseidon Adventure," the minute Steve McQueen arrives at the scene as the San Francisco Fire Dept.'s battalion chief, O'Hallorhan. Unlike "Poseidon," in which a small band of ship passengers follows a layman toward safety, the "Inferno" disaster is going to be taken on by a competent, experienced professional, leading other professionals. McQueen conveys an authority that anchors the film.

None of the acting struck me as truly bad, even in action-oriented scenes that called for broad playing. Aside from McQueen, my favorite performances were those of Susan Flannery and Jennifer Jones. Flannery makes the most of a small but memorable part as Robert Wagner's love interest, while Jones, looking very good for a woman of 55, plays the kind, heroic love of Fred Astaire's con man character.

Fred Koenekamp's cinematography received a well-deserved Academy Award, as did L.B. Abbott's special effects. The song "We May Never Love Like This Again," sung by Maureen McGovern, also won an Oscar, though I found it to be forgettable. "The Poseidon Adventure's" similar "The Morning After" is much better (which will certainly be faint praise to some).

John Williams' Oscar-nominated score would have been a perfectly reasonable choice as the winner, though Jerry Goldsmith's evocation of film noir classics for "Chinatown" was probably the year's best. Carmine Coppola and Nino Rota wound up winning for "The Godfather Part II."

Williams is in majestic form here. The main title is appropriately busy and exciting, the love themes for the Paul Newman/Faye Dunaway and Astaire/Jones duos are poignant, and the finale is one of the masterpieces of the art. This is a justifiably a favorite score among film music buffs, and Williams' greatest triumph, in my opinion, until "Star Wars" in 1977.

"The Towering Inferno" is a must for action film fans, and the finest representation of the "disaster film" genre.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars The Glass Tower - tallest building in the world... on fire., April 16 2004
By 
Kim Anehall "www.cinematica.org" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Towering Inferno (DVD)
After a long vacation, away from the hectic city life, Doug Roberts (Paul Newman) returns to San Francisco in order to participate in the opening of his newest architectural wonder, The Glass Tower - tallest building in the world. The seemingly perfect skyscraper has one big flaw as James Duncan's (William Holden) son-in-law has received kick backs to ignore Doug's requests on the top-of-the-line electrical circuitry. The installed electrical circuits cannot handle the electrical use of the Glass Tower and on the opening night a fire begins on the 81st floor, which Fire Chief Michael O'Hallorhan's (Steve McQueen) men try to get under control while the opening party is taking place on the 135th floor. Towering Inferno has an immensely talented cast (e.g., Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Richard Chamberlain and many more), however, the cast cannot enhance the cinematic experience. Overall the film is hurt by the many scenes that go on ceaselessly as the director attempts to create suspense through tedious climbing and rescue scenes. This occurs through occasional lapses in realism in the film, such as the ending, prevent the audience from receiving a top notch suspenseful drama. Instead the audience is left with an epic rescue mission that seems endless, and leaves the audience with a barely acceptable cinematic experience.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Inferno of goodness, Aug 16 2009
The blu-ray quality makes the clothing and garish decor of the seventies even more intense than the fire. Any fan of disaster movies has to have this and "The Poseidon Adventure" in their collections.
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