‘Earthquake’ (1974): First-rate & unique – a true ‘event’ movie
I’ve been saying this for over a week now: if they only had Chuck Heston, George Kennedy, and Marjoe Gortner still in town, that goddamn fire would be out already.
Tag: disaster films
‘Airport 1975’ (1974): Celebrating 50 years of landing jumbo jets – the hard way
Maybe I missed something during the absolute euphoria of the last three weeks, but I’m not seeing anything online about the 50th anniversary of the apex of the “golden age” of disaster movies: the November/December 1974 releases of Airport 1975, Earthquake, and The Towering Inferno. All were socko successes with ticket buyers (if not the… Read More ‘Airport 1975’ (1974): Celebrating 50 years of landing jumbo jets – the hard way
‘Hurricane’ (1979): A large-scale, epic disaster
Hey! Did you know that 2024 is the 45th anniversary of the release of Dino DeHorrendous’ epic disaster romance, Hurricane. You didn’t?! Well that’s okay…no one did.
‘Beyond the Poseidon Adventure’ (1979): Can disaster epics afford to be this boring?
This unjoyful, remarkably inept exercise in tired disaster conventions scuttled before the anchor was even raised.
‘The Poseidon Adventure’ (1972): 50 years later, disaster epic still an all-star of the era
It was unquestionably the perfect drive-in double feature: The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure. I can still see those remarkably evocative posters hanging up in the the late, great Jesse James Drive-In‘s faux-wooden bunkhouse/concession stand, waiting to get my Chinese eggroll with the cartoon on the wrapper and an orange drink (“Easy on the… Read More ‘The Poseidon Adventure’ (1972): 50 years later, disaster epic still an all-star of the era
‘The Swarm’ (1978): Is Irwin Allen’s disaster pic one of the worst movies ever made?
“The Swarm is coming!” I wish I could somehow convey how imperative and compelling and flat-out exciting those words were to me, way back in 1978, when they were so dramatically intoned in the trailer that seemed to pop up constantly on TV and at every other movie I went to that winter and spring.… Read More ‘The Swarm’ (1978): Is Irwin Allen’s disaster pic one of the worst movies ever made?
‘Zero Hour!’ (1957), ‘Hot Rods to Hell’ (1967), ‘Skyjacked’ (1972): A terrorized travelers triple feature
So the other day I had to take out an unsecured loan to put gas in my lawnmower, and it made me think of my old man, who whenever he lent me his ’81 Caprice Classic always stipulated I had to fill the tank…which he would first run dry (How’s it goin’ down there, Dad? Hot… Read More ‘Zero Hour!’ (1957), ‘Hot Rods to Hell’ (1967), ‘Skyjacked’ (1972): A terrorized travelers triple feature
‘The Beasts are On the Streets’ (1978): A family-friendly disaster epic from Hanna-Barbera
Well…if everything else seems to be a disaster right now, it couldn’t hurt to watch some disaster flicks, now could it?
‘Superdome’ (1978): More fun than watching the Super Bowl
“Tomorrow we’ve got 75,000 people in the Dome…and a psycho on the loose.”
‘Disaster on the Coastliner’ (1979): It’s Shatner to the rescue when Amtrak goes off the rails
So. It’s getting late and I don’t want to screw around. I don’t want “good” TV or “fine television” (blech), and I don’t want what everyone else wants, like GOT (this country, no question, is doomed). I want old timey stuff from my youth, with grown-up actors and actresses whom I recognize, in plots I… Read More ‘Disaster on the Coastliner’ (1979): It’s Shatner to the rescue when Amtrak goes off the rails
Movies & Drinks 