Brilliant and touching

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Despite the fact that his films weren't all that expertly plotted, scripted with much thought beyond getting to the next disaster-stunt-or- action set piece, or built upon a solid foundation (films with a skeleton but no meat), Irwin Allen could get a cast of high caliber to star in his movies. Beyond the Poseidon Adventure is no exception. Notorious for being one of Michael Caine's paycheck movies, Beyond has him starring as a tugboat captain/salvager. Karl Malden is his second mate while Sally Field (full of plucky energy and providing a great scene with Caine when they are looking for a way out; just balling her eyes out, she just breaks down because the day couldn't be much worse; it is a nice little moment with Caine, who just tries to comfort her) is a passenger on his ship. They board the capsized USS Poseidon, hoping for valuables to save his boat from being confiscated by the bank for unpaid bills. You have Peter Boyle blowing hard as Lost In Space's Angela Cartwright's uptight and always- complaining father, while a young studly Mark Harmon is her love interest (much to Boyle's chagrin). And the cast continues: Telly Savales as a crook with a bunch of gun-toting hoods trying to salvage plutonium, Jack Warden as a blind man while Shirley Knight is his devoted wife, Shirley Jones (of the Patridge Family fame) as a helpful nurse, the foxy Veronica Hamel as a secretive lover of Savales trying to find a manifest to locate the items he needs to claim the plutonium and way off the ship, and Slim Pickens as a supposed Texas Oilman with a boozing disposition and unwillingness to part with his bottle of specific wine.There's a great deal of journeying through the capsized ship, trying to avoid falling debris and explosions, and the hopes of not drowning or being shot by Savales' men, equipped with machine guns. Savales pretends to be rescuers as a cover for recovering their treasure. At one point a safe literally falls into the presence of Caine and company, with gold no less, but will they be able to hold on to it? Just take a wild guess. Malden's dealing with a serious illness, Caine sleepwalks as the hero, kind of just going through the motions, skating on his star power (regardless of what you think about him, the guy has always been a star). Field brings her charm and lights up the screen with her winsome personality (without her, I just don't think I'd liked this at all), while Boyle is loud and obnoxious. Hamel is a babe, Savales is here just as a heavy (but he isn't in the film that much to tell you the truth), Cartwright has never been more beautiful while Harmon is a hunk (the two do look good together). Knight and Warden kind of just emerge in the film unnecessarily. Jones is extremely likable but as part of an ensemble, she has little moments but not enough to eclipse the main leads. The cast really does rise above the threadbare material. This is all about explosions and noise, and "walking, walking, walking". Nice sets of a badly damaged ship help...a little bit. The whole thing, though, is really much ado about nothing. Allen will never be considered a director of much depth or dramatic dearth.

###SPOILERS### With a realistic plot, emotional deaths, and lots of explosions, this is one of the best sequel movies ever.Hannah Merideth's death scene is almost identical to that of Acre's in the original, but has more emotion,like Lisolette Mueller's in The Towering Inferno.She dies falling off a ladder, and drowning, due to a cramped shoulder caused by pulling her husband up from a hunk of wreckage.Her and Suzzane's death are the most predictable-Veronica Hamel is not credited in the trailer, meaning it would be easy to kill her off-and Hannah is the one that everybody is hoping will escape-something that is used in EVERY disaster movie I have seen.The other "good guy" deaths, that of Frank, Wilbur and "Tex", are somewhat different. We don't see Wilbur die, and Frank and "Tex" are shot, the latter just as they make their escape.All things considered, this is a very brilliant movie.

it took awhile for me to get into this movie.but somewhere along the line,i actually started to enjoy myself.once you get around the wafer thin plot,it's not half bad.the trick with this movie is to not take it too seriously.for instance,as soon as the bad guys show up,you know they're bad long before they reveal their intentions.the only other thing they could have done to telegraph they were bad would have been to have been for them each to have a neon sign over their heads saying villain.it's that absurd.and there's some cringe worthy dialogue.however,the are some very witty one liners mostly courtesy of Sally Field,and their was an interesting,and(mostly)likable mix of characters.there were actually even a few exciting moments.of course,there are endless explosions.this movie doesn't hold a candle to the original Poseidon Adventure.it was actually fairly pointless,when you think about.but it was fun,and actually quite entertaining.for me,Beyond the Poseidon adventure is a solid 5/10

The Poseidon Adventure is one of the greatest films I had ever seen and I didn't see it at all until recently so imagine my shock and near excitement when I discovered that a sequel had been made. I mean typically speaking this is not the type of film that would have a sequel so I thought it would be gutsy of them to try and make one and whether or not it would make any sense to the original. Remarkably co-creator and producer decided to helm the sequel, Mr. Irwin Allen who of course was no stranger to epic disaster flicks or action films but I think part of the problem with this sequel was that it was rushed. That being said...the concept of the film is actually quite brilliant!! The film takes place DURING the storm that capsizes the Poseidon on a small fishing boat nearby. When the Captain spots a rescue helicopter (presumably the same one carrying Poseidon Survivors from the original) he realizes a ship must be in trouble and therefore available for salvage. Enter a cast of characters including a fake medical team desperately seeking a bomb aboard the capsized ship, and several survivors left behind inside the ship.Part of the problem is the enormous cast and lack of character arc to any of them. The original had a big cast but the characters were so brilliantly written and you became completely enthralled with each one of them and that can't happen with the sequel despite some good actors. Michael Caine, now a legend of course, plays Captain Mike Turner. He is determined, stubborn, a little mean but at heart a hero wanting to save everyone. He desperately attempts to channel a little Gene Hackman but character is mostly vapid. However out of everyone he probably has the best character and does a decent job with what he is given. Sally Field plays young and eager Celeste Whitman and she almost becomes endearing but mostly you find her annoying. The romance between her and the Captain is forced and never really takes off and the chemistry between her and Caine is average at best. Telly Savalas is downright boring as the fake Doctor who wants to recover his package from inside the hull. Savalas looks menacing enough...I mean he's Telly Savalas but he's just far too together and average and calm to ever be anything great in this film. Peter Boyle is Frank Mazzetti who is trying his best to channel the great Ernest Borgnine's character from the original. Mazzetti is desperate to find his daughter whom they shockingly find very quickly into the film. Boyle and Caine don't have near the chemistry that existed between Hackman and Borgnine's characters but they try. Jack Warden and Shirley Knight are the elderly couple, Shirley Jones as the nurse, Slim Pickens as the faux rich oil baron, Angela Cartwright as the daughter of Mazzetti and Mark Harmon as her savior and newfound love. All these cast members and they are all...every last one of them average at best. You don't get to know or care about any of them and if anything happens to any of them you just don't care.The plot although wrought with different action scenes including a gun fight, a murder, and water pouring in and repeated explosions from the ship much like the first one keeps the action going at a watchable pace. The film is god-awful but it is made for TV content on a movie budget with a rushed script and no thought to making sure at least a small portion of the original magic existed. I give them kudos for coming up with a sequel to a disaster film...especially the Granddaddy of them all but this one falls flat because of some major errors in judgment. Still if you love the original like I did it's not a bad trip back to the doomed boat. It was better than the Made For TV remake of the original!! 6/10