 Director: John Guillermin Starring: Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Susan Blakely, Richard Chamberlain, Jennifer Jones, O. J. Simpson, Robert Vaughn, Robert Wagner Studio: 20th Century Fox/Warner Bros. Genre(s): Action Rated: PG |
"The Towering Inferno" is another of the 'Disaster Movies' that popped up after the surprise success of "Airport" and "The Poseidon Adventure," in which a group of people (most played by celebrities) are put in a scenario where not everyone can survive the situation they have been placed in. The entertainment value typically came in seeing a bunch of celebrities come together in one place and finding out which of them would survive at the end of the film. Most of the time audiences don't even remember the character's name. Such is how the gimmick worked.
Despite being nominated for several Oscars (including the coveted Best Picture), I can not muster more enthusiasm for it than I have for most other films in this genre. The story in this film revolves around a building that catches fire due to the builder of the property scrapping on fire safety measures that would normally stop small fires from becoming big ones. Granted, I am watching the film in 2024, where safety standards and overview is greatly improved, and designers couldn't get away with stunts that are pulled in this movie, but it does make me wonder if safety regulations were so lax back then.
Ah heck, if you have O.J. Simpson as your chief security officer, maybe it shouldn't surprise me that a small building fire can explode in a way where it is doubtful either Paul Newman or Steve McQueen can save the day. Not that audiences are likely to care either way: there wasn't a single character whose story I found to be emotionally compelling. The actors may be the draw but the star is the special effects, which mostly hold up all these years later thanks to most of them being created with practical effects (though a few lousy greenscreens pop in here and there).
And "The Towering Inferno" does have some spectacular stunts and fire sequences, but at almost three hours long, the sequences start to blend together as famous actors do the bare minimum that a movie like this requires. I don't deny that there isn't some fun to be had, but that fun runs out long before the credits roll, and considering there are other disaster films that are shorter and more enjoyable, "The Towering Inferno" feels like a relic from a time I never want to revisit.
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