The Towering Inferno [1975] [DVD] [1974]

During the last few years there has been a spate of disaster movies in abundance. Some good, some indifferent, and a couple, downright awful.

Maybe directors and producers should learn from this movie because THIS is how disaster movies should be made.

A party gathers on one of the upper floors of the tallest building in the world to celebrate its opening unaware that a fire has broken out a few floors below. As the fire rages, elevators become jammed, sprinklers fail to work, stairways become impassable. Then it becomes a race against time to rescue the people trapped above.

There are many fine actors in this movie, some of them legends in their own right. William Holden, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Robert Vaughan, Robert Wagner, Faye Dunaway, Jennifer Jones and Fred Astaire. There is much excitement here as the survivors struggle to get out of the building as the fire gets nearer and nearer until a decision is made which hopefully will dampen the fire.

The Blu-Ray version is very good indeed with a stunning image showing great detail in the dark scenes and with a good soundtrack to complement it. Also there are numerous extras which are worth seeing which were not available on DVD upon its initial release a few years ago.

It is good to see these classic movies being re-released on Blu-Ray at a fantastic price making it affordable for those who are thinking about changing to the new format. Blu-Ray prices are coming down a lot now which is a good thing.

Recommended.

I absolutely adore this film. It was the first disaster movie I ever saw, and left a lasting impression on me. It has everything a disaster movie needs, a big building, on fire, with trapped guests, Paul Newman, and Steve McQueen, and if thats not enough it's Steve McQueen in a firemans uniform.
For its time it was one of the biggest movies ever made, and when you watch it now, you see how well made it is. The effects are still good, and make this a movie you can watch over and over. And unlike disaster movies of today it has a point, and a message, and excellent dialogue, like 'Its out of control and heading your way' which still sends a shiver through me.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND EVERYONE WATCHES THIS FILM AT LEAST ONCE.

A newly built state of the art high-rise is hosting a big society gathering when a fire starts up on the 81st floor...

Warner Brothers & 20th Century Fox were both keen to cash in on the success of 1972s The Poseidon Adventure, Warner's buying the rights to The Tower, and Fox buying the rights to The Glass Inferno, both novels about burning skyscrapers and seemingly ripe for a big screen adaptation. Enter producer Irwin Allen who smartly suggested that both studios should come together and produce one blockbusting genre defining film. Splitting the cost down the middle, The Towering Inferno was born and went on to make over $100 million across the globe, a very impressive take for its time, and certainly a shot in the arm for disaster genre enthusiasts.

The Towering Inferno is far from flawless, it contains some cheese sodden dialogue, and the film's running time doesn't quite do the film any favours. However, the film's strengths far outweigh the handful of negatives that are often used to beat it up with. The sets are fabulous (Academy Award Nominated) and all to perish in the fire, the cinematography from Fred J Koenekamp (Academy Award Winner) is lush and puts the fire in the eyes, while the score from John Williams (Academy Award Nominated) is suitably poignant and edgy. What about the action sequences? The set pieces? With many of the illustrious cast doing their own stunts! All impacting sharp on the ears thanks to the brilliant sound from Soderberg & Lewis (Academy Award Nominated), with the cast itself a reminder of a wonderful time when only the big names were considered for the big projects, McQueen, Newman, Holden, Astaire (Academy Award Nominated) & Dunaway rolling off the tongue like a who's who of entertainment heavyweights.

Some say that The Towering Inferno finally killed off the ailing disaster genre, no it didn't, it crowned it, and all the others that followed were merely trailing in its wake. The Towering Inferno is a spectacular production that positively booms with high entertainment values, no expense is spared in the pursuit of entertaining the masses, it's thoughtful in texture and it teaches as it plays and it remains to me a wonderful archaic gem. 9/10