Reasonably exciting and solid suspense thriller with an exceptional cast.

barnabyrudge

Director Richard Lester certainly had the know-how to draw good performances from the great drunkards of our time. In 1973 he got Oliver Reed giving his performance of the decade in a couple of Musketeers films, and just a year later he coaxes a fine acting job out of the formidable Richard Harris in this rather exciting suspense flick.

The HMS Britannic is a huge luxury liner travelling across stormy seas when news reaches the captain, Brunel (Omar Sharif), that his vessel has been targeted by a mad bomber who simply calls himself the "Juggernaut". The Juggernaut claims that he has placed several bombs aboard the ship and he will only refrain from detonating them if he receives a hefty ransom. A weary, experienced bomb disposal expert, Fallon (Richard Harris), and his team are parachuted aboard the Britannic to locate and defuse the devices. The bomb disposal team realise pretty quickly that the explosive devices they're dealing with are more treacherous than usual, with various booby traps and trip-wires that might vaporise them at any moment. . Meanwhile, back on dry land a policeman named John McLeod (Anthony Hopkins), whose wife and kids are on the stricken ship, races against time to unmask the identity of the bomber. In a taut finale, the captured Juggernaut reveals how to safely deactivate the bombs…. but is he telling the truth, or does he plan to supply false information to his captors, thereby triggering the bombs and sinking the ship?

"Juggernaut" has a fantastic cast by any standards – besides the considerable presence of Harris, Hopkins and Sharif, there is Shirley Knight, Ian Holm, Freddie Jones, Clifton James, David Hemmings and Roy Kinnear. Kinnear is especially good as the ship's entertainment organiser, while Hemmings generates convincing anxiety as one of the cool-nerved bomb disposal guys. Knight is somewhat wasted as the customary glamorous American female, most likely included so that the film might attract a little box office business in the States. The excitement is kept at a good pitch thanks to Lester's direction and the eventful script by Richard DeKoker and Alan Plater. While the plot is very basic and unoriginal, it serves its purpose by getting the audience gripped in the potentially disastrous proceedings. There's nothing new or ground-breaking about "Juggernaut" – it is merely an exercise in suspense which pushes all the right buttons and delivers its intended excitements with professional, polished precision.

score 6/10

barnabyrudge 22 August 2006

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1455337/