Rollercoaster [DVD] [1977] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Fabulous classic disaster movie from the 70s starring George Segal.

A clever young man using electronics and technology holds Amusement Parks to ransom by sabotage of their biggest and most exciting rides - namely the 'Rollercoaster'.

This is a truly absorbing and exciting movie full of suspense, and having now watched this half a dozen times over the last thirty years, still manages to hold my attention! May appear a little over-long to some, but the first fifteen minutes are riveting and straight into the action! Timothy Bottoms is superb as the 'young man', and for some reason in this the 'ordinary' folk at the Amusement Parks seem to grab the attention - a style sadly lacking in modern movie-making.

Also stars some big names, including Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark and a guest appearance of the 1970s glam rock super group - Sparks!

Gripping until the very end!

Fantastic!

Wrong psychological profile, Harry. I'm not in this for kicks.

Roller-coaster is directed by James Goldstone and co-adapted to screenplay by Sanford Sheldon, Richard Levinson and William Link, from a suggested Tommy Cookm 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) causes 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 Roller-coaster 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, Roller-coaster is anything but a disaster movie. What it is is a psychopath based thriller that adheres to procedural values and character involvement. Running at nearly two hours in length should notify viewers that it isn't a film chocked full of Roller-coaster 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 funfare music as the joys of the amusement park brings a warmth and calm to the viewer, this is soon vanquished as the terror a terrorist can bring comes to the fore. From here on in the Bottoms character remains mysterious but we know just what he is capable of, so does Segal's character and 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 menace. 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 its 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 film that also carries with it some stoic performances from Segal and Widmark, and a chillingly effective villain turn from the undervalued Bottoms. Henry Fonda is on the credits, but really it's just a 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 that was released the previous year, and you hopefully wont feel let down. Expecting a two hour disaster movie full of Coater Carnage will only lead to disappointment. 8/10

This is the kind of fillum that sunday afternoons were made for - all star cast, 2hr duration, thrills and spills, uplifting feeling. In short a classic of it's time.

I must admit to being a fan of big budget all-star cast thrillers of the 60s/70s, but this fillum succeeds very well on it's own merits. It was made just at the right time for us English viewers - at a point in history where lots of US TV programs made it across for the first time, and people dreamt of an American Wonderland. The casting is absolutely top notch too - Segal is superb as the downtrodden safety inspector, battling his politically motivated boss Fonda, and Wdimark excells as the special agent unable to believe that anyone is more the man for the job than he. Bottoms as the bomber is suitably understated, and his character works very well within the structure of the fillum - there is no glorification of him or what he does... it's all nicely subdued and paranoid, as many good thrillers of this era were.

What really works well though is the direction and camerawork. Rollercoaster looks fabulous in 2.35:1 - every inch of that framing is used splendidly. Even though there are a lot of camera movements used to imply the action of various rollercoasters it is never overdone, but always fits the moment... a fair amount of which is probably due to Schiffrin's superb score - not just some lazy stock funfair music, but proper compositions that just happen to sound like funfair music. 'Magic Carousel' [the main theme] will stay with you for days after the fillum, 'Tension Rock' is the 'Bond 77' of the Rollecoaster World, and the ominous orchestration of 'Calliope of Death' during the Magic Mountain montage is truly chilling.

I cannot recommend this fillum highly enough, for it's type. As to the DVD - the presentation is beautiful. It's a good print which looks lovely on screen, however this is a bare bones DVD with not even a trailer on it. Nevermind though, it's such a enjoyable romp though - what more do you need? Would make a great companion piece to 'Two Minute Warning' also.