|
|
A vengeful terrorist calling himself Juggernaut (slyly played by Freddie Jones) plants seven explosive devices on the ocean liner HMS Britannic and demands a huge ransom in exchange for the information needed to dismantle said bombs. It's up to grouchy demolitions expert Fallon (Richard Harris in superior surly form) to save the day before time runs out.
Director Richard Lester keeps the gripping story moving at a brisk pace, builds plenty of nerve-wracking suspense, makes excellent use of the creaky and sprawling ship, and tops everything off with a wickedly funny sense of fiercely mocking and subversive sardonic humor. The crafty script by Richard Alan Simmons refreshingly eschews cheap thrills and broad macho heroics in favor of a more starkly realistic approach in which even the protagonists are allowed to be flawed and fallible human beings who are decidedly less than noble and prone to error (for example, Fallon does his job more out of a feeling of scruffy obstinate pride than because it's the so-called "right thing to do").
The bang-up acting by the ace cast keeps this film humming: Omar Sharif as the dissolute and ineffectual Captain Alan Brunel, David Hemmings as Fallon's easygoing partner Charlie Braddock, Anthony Hopkins as determined copper John McLeod, Ian Holm as worried executive Nicholas Porter, Shirley Knight as Brunel's pesky mistress Barbara Bannister, Clifton James as huffy politician Corrigan, and Jack Watson as hard-nosed Chief Engineer Mallicent. Roy Kinnear provides hilarious comic relief as jolly, but bumbling social director Curtain, who tries desperately to uphold morale among the passengers in the absolute worst of circumstances. A real solid and satisfying left of field entry in the 70's disaster cycle.
score 9/10
Woodyanders 3 June 2017
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3722844/ |
|
24-2-2021 04:56:06