Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Why so much hype?

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Growing up, I was often subjected to Irwin Allen films because my father loved them. So, I was one of MANY people back in 1974 who saw this film in the theater. I didn't remember it all too well today (I was only 10 when I first saw it) but found it in a 4 pack of movies someone bought me....so I thought, what the heck...why not? However, I must tell you that most of the Irwin Allen films I've seen recently I didn't like...and I was expecting the same for "The Towering Inferno". Why do I say I am not a huge Irwin Allen film fan? Well, a few things he was known for I don't care for in movies....explosions and mayhem as well as many, many 'guest starring roles'...you know, when the film's budget seems to mostly be on getting as many big stars and has-beens to appear in it. This is why I am not a huge fan of "Airport" and its sequels as well as "Midway"...too many guests and not enough money spent on writing. "The Towering Inferno" has all of this...so it's definitely going to be a tough sell for me.The plot to the film is pretty simple. The world's tallest building is being dedicated but what the chief architect (Paul Newman) does not realize is that the boss' pusillanimous son-in-law (Richard Chamberlain) is a weasel but substituted the wiring in the specs with much cheaper wiring that makes the place a giant tinderbox. Only after a big gala party begins on the rooftop do they realize that the place is ablaze and a lotta folks are gonna die.For what it was, this film actually surprised me. Sure, there are some of the usual one-dimensional Irwin Allen characters but a few were pretty interesting and the film seemed to make the most out of the disaster genre. I especially appreciate its take on human nature, as many of the folks are simply selfish idiots! My only complaint is that MOST of the women in the film are simply there to scream and cry! Now I am NOT saying it's a great film...but if you have to watch a disaster flick, this is much better than most.

Irwin Allen's 1970s disaster films followed a familiar and successful formula. First, characters and situations are introduced, with everything fine and everyone happy; second, a really bad disaster happens (ship capsizing, volcano erupting, fire in a high rise, a killer bee swarm); third, a plucky band of survivors tries to escape their predicament but usually lose several of their members to fairly gruesome deaths. "The Towering Inferno" naturally told a story about a fire in the world's tallest building. Have you ever noticed that these things never happen in two-story office buildings?The plot is, well, people stuck in a building as firefighters try to free them. There are lots of ways for people to die, including falling from great heights, being burned to death, being crushed by falling objects, dying in explosions, helicopters crashing, falling out of exterior elevators, and many others. The film has a sappy (but not happy) ending when the fire's finally out.The cast is superb, including Paul Newman as a heroic architect; Steve McQueen as a dedicated and brave fire department battalion chief; Richard Chamberlain as a slimy contractor who cuts corners on the building's electrical and fire systems; William Holden as the building's greedy developer; Susan Blakely as Holden's comely daughter; Faye Dunaway as Newman's girlfriend; Robert Vaughn as a senator; Fred Astaire as a con man; Jennifer Jones as a lonely widow; O.J. Simpson as the building's security officer; Dabney Coleman (unexpectedly) in a straight fire department role; Don Gordon as a fireman; Robert Wagner as the building's PIO, and many other familiar faces. Everyone looks pretty young now, 43 years later.The film is notable for Steve McQueen's fine performance before avoiding acting for several years. He passed away in 1980, only six years after the film was released. Newman and Holden's performances are one-dimensional but okay, and Richard Chamberlain is great as the film's despicable villain. Say what you like, but the movie's entertaining and it made lots of money. It's no great work of cinematic art, but who cares?

One of the many disaster movies of the early 1970's, the Towering Inferno, while a bit longer than the other movies of this period, I consider probably the best because it does seem to combine character with disaster so as to make it a human situation. Indeed there are a lot of implausible moments, and after the destruction of the World Trade Center you can't help but make comparisons, but other than that it's a solid action movie.So what's the barbecue? We find ourselves in San Francisco, and it's the opening night of the Glass Tower, the world's tallest skyscraper at a height of 138 stories. As guests arrive, the architect, Doug Roberts, has doubts that the cheaply made electric system will be able to hold the intended light show, but his worries are sidelined so as not to rock the boat. Sure enough a fire does start and very soon the building is engulfed in flames, trapping hundreds of people at the top-floor restaurant.Now, the bad things. There are plenty of moments where the actions taken and the decisions made you can't help but think are insane. For example, when the initial fire is reported, the building's owner refuses to evacuate. At the same time, guiding people to the elevators when there's a fire, of course that's going to end well!At the same time, there's plenty of implausible things, such as running a Breeches Buoy between the two skyscrapers I think is a little out there, as well as the fact that there's a bit of a silly 'happy' ending that I won't give away, but will have you scratching your head in confusion. Although obviously the attacks on the Twin Towers hadn't happened yet, there are many things that are and aren't included in this movie that do seem questionable. For example, the fact that even though the best part of 100 floors are on fire, no smoke seems to be rising into the restaurant causing people to choke. Indeed in one of the original books on which this is based smoke rises into the floors causing people to wither.There are many inexplicable and random explosions within the structure which shouldn't happen since this is an electrical fire. For me, the most obvious problem is the fact that this building has been on fire for hours, and has apparently had several large explosions which are said to be near the core, yet it doesn't collapse not even partially. Of course the argument can be made that a fire in a large steel building had never happened before, but many shows and films prior to this depicting a devastating inferno in a tall building have the structure collapse or partially crumble. I know these are probably personal peeves, but they did have me confused.Other than that, there's nothing really wrong with this movie. Aside from the fact that there's some fantastic pyrotechnics, and the mixture of models and practical effects adds to the immersion in a story that back in 1974 would have been difficult to tell. One of the better parts of this movie are in fact the characters, who are all well developed, but at the same time seem human. While some of the characters make silly decisions, like why the couple in the office didn't escape when the fire was quite a way away rather than waiting for the flames to start licking at their door, or why the building wasn't evacuated the moment a fire was reported, other characters have novel little touches that make them seem much more relatable. My personal favourite moment is when Steve McQueen's character goes up in the elevator to inform the building's owner that the fire is out of control, whilst on the way he takes off his fireman's jacket and helmet so as not to cause a panic, which I found was a great touch because it shows he's a thinking and concerned Fire Chief, trying to maintain calm in such a difficult and dark situation.Overall, aside from some of the physical problems of implausibility with regard to some of the scenes, this is a very good, very entertaining action movie. Indeed the story isn't complex, simply just put out the fire without getting yourself killed, but it's the fact that it takes the time to give it a bit more a human touch than some of the other disaster movies of the time. I personally enjoy this film greatly as it manages to blend an unqualified tragic nightmare of a situation with realistic characters who you enjoy and want to see escape.

The Towering Inferno is a great movie with a well developed storyline and a very professional cast.The movie is without a doubt one of the most memorable disaster movies out there,it is beautifully filmed and for a movie that came out in 1974 it still really holds up today.The best performances without a doubt come from Paul Newman and Steve McQueen,two fantastic actors that were huge at the time and luckily got a chance to do a movie together,I preferred Newman's character,he was more likable and his performance was more inspired.The Towering Inferno is certainly a long movie,and it isn't exciting all the time,but it's still a very enjoyable movie that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good action or thriller. A fire chief and an architect try to douse the blaze in a 325 story skyscraper where many are trapped.Best Performance: Paul Newman Worst Performance: Jennifer Jones