This Year’s “Poseidon” Is Not Adventure Of 1972
Nothing these days that comes from Hollywood is original - and that includes the recent motion picture release, Poseidon. This time there is no adventure (not in the title or elsewhere), only a host of forgettable characters, multiple explosions and underwater cinematography.
I first saw the original Poseidon Adventure as a pre-teen in the summer of 1972 at a small Oregon town drive in. Although I was confined to a small economy car with one of those old fashioned clip-on box speakers attached to the car’s roll down window, I was fully enthralled with the first (and perhaps best) of several disaster films.
In those days, we would have never anticipated real life disasters - the likes of the Oklahoma City Bombings, 911 Twin Tower attacks and Hurrican Katrina. We were basking in relatively safe waters, we thought, after - finally - the culmination of the Viet Nam War. The only death, destruciton and mayhem delivered on screen in the early to mid 1970’s was to be films such as Poseido Adventure, where we were given moments of living vicariously through fanciful and exaggerated versions of earthquakes, horrific fires and even an onslaught of killer bees.
It seemed, we , the American population, were suffering from a short-lived after shock during that post war era. We were either numb or on a short term high (maybe from an all time high usage of marijuana?), it seems in retrospect. The only jarring experiences that would awaken and ignite our senses to danger, thereby humanity, would be those illustrated on the big screen in the form of the disaster film genre.
During the 70’s we watched Watergate hearings by day; by night we saw films that depicted blood, gore and mangling of innocent and not-so-innocent victims. We wore our bell bottom pants and some of us smoked pot. We watched “The Brady Bunch” and listened to Karen Carpenter’s voice lull us into an optimisitc bliss with lyrics like, “We’ve only just begun to live, white lace and promises…” We heard songs that announced our newfound sense of humanity and person hood during the so-called Me Generation - “I feel the earth move under my feet…”
We were a nation hungry for unbridled truth rather than the lies we had been told by then President Richard Nixon. We were a people who were beginning to yearn for real life, complete with its ugly underbelly. We were becoming a nation of the curious, the angry, the paranoid. We were beginning, during that period, to question the realities of racism and sexism. For the first time, we, as an audience, wanted - and craved - to see blood, guts and gore. We wanted - and thought we could handle - the truth. And so the birth of the so-called disaster film.
Rarely am I impressed enough to shell out ten dollars for a night at the movie theater these days, but when I took note that Poseidon would be showing at the exclusive IMAX theater, all those fond memories came floating back from that trouble-free summer of ‘72 when disaster was but a far-fetched and unfathomable nightmare, something that would never happen in my small Oregon town. It was the era long before CNN, after all, and even news coverage was relatively predictable, unbloody. Disaster was something somehow distant in those days, a reality that would never (presumably) come to pass. Films like Poseidon Adventure, Towering Inferno and Earthquake were escapists’ fare, a way to experience horror and impending danger, death even, without the pain and emotinal aftermath. Like a roller coaster ride, we were tossed, tumbled, hurled and - finally - delivered safe and sound at the end of the movie. Even our feathered-back hairdos were immaculately in place after such an ordeal, for we were living in the fast lane - vicariously.
Twenty four years later the plot of Poseidon is the same, only the names and the quality of the special effects have changed. The IMAX theater is a far improvement, one would think, from that little drive in I experienced as a child. Unlike the regular movie theater screens of yesteryear where an audience member could choose to take it or leave it if the film was dull, the IMAX screen is gigantic, demanding, impressive on a huge scale. The IMAX theater screen dominates the atmosphere; characters are larger than life, even if you are bored to tears by their performance. Every action, reaction, special effect and cinematic detail are magnified by what seems to be a million per cent enhancement.
Poseidon starts out promising. As in the original, ship travelers, crew and captain are gathered for a New Years Eve celebration when - right on cue - at the precise moment of the countdownt to zero, a gigantic tidal wave hits the cruise liner, overturning it upside down. The Black Eyed Peas’ Fergie is upstaged when her singing is interrupted. Bodies are flung, slid and tossed violently; electrical explosions ignite and the entire ship literally turns topsy turvy. What once was up is now down. Everything once so full of promise is now a living undersea hell. What is a cruise ship passenger to do?
Now, back to the original Poseidon…
From the very first frame of the film there is a sense that this is not the usual ocean voyage. The establishing shot says it all - the great ship itself is the film’s main character. The Poseidon is both protagonist and antagonist as it makes its way across the Atlantic Ocean toward Athens, Greece. Those aboard the vessel are held captive to what is to be, no turning back.
As the sotry unfolds, the soundtrack is ominous and powerful. Orchestration builds the mood: The Poseidon is a force to be reckoned with. There is a feeling of impending adventure ahead as the vessel makes its way in spite of a building storm.
The ship’s captain is actor Leslie Neilson. It is impossible to watch his scenes without finding humor, for all of his later roles included comedies like Airplane. The token child character, Robin ( Shea), bolsters his way into the engine room where he makes his pressence known to the captain and crew. The boy is bright and precocious as he speaks to the adults as though they are the children , and he, the smarter more knowing ship traveler. While the adults, especially his older sister (Pamela Sue Martin) find the clever boy to be an annoying smart aleck at first, they later see his wealth of knowlege and trivia as a valuable asset.
Earnest Borgnine and Stella Stevens are introduced as an unlikely, and yet perfectly-matched odd couple. While Borgnine plays a rugged cynical grouchy big city cop named Mike, Stevens is his beloved girl friend, a former call girl named Linda, who suffers from moments of low self esteem and tempermental outbursts. This duo is a perect comedy team. Although Mike and Linda are hopelessly smitten with each other, there is clearly a conflict between the two due to the nature of their former vocations.
”Do you think any one will recognize me?” Linda asks Mike in an uncertain moment before the big New Years Eve party. Mike assurres Linda that he loves her and doesn’t care who she was, what she did for work - he loves his Linda. Everybody loves a good odd couple who make it inspite of the odds.
”For God’s sake, shoot me, Mike!” Linda bellows out from her bed-ridden place to Mike and an attending nurse. It seems Linda is suffering from a case of sea sickness and the nurse’s advice - a suppository. Mike is dumb as to where the suppository goes. Linda bellows out again in a frustrated tyrade, “For Christ sake, I know what to do with a suppository!” This scene sets the mood for comedy amidst the building storm and raging ocean waves. It is not, after all, a ship of fools; but rather a ship of real life characters, complete with human flaws.
In contrast, we are introduced to another kind of couple - Belle and Manny Rosen, played by Shelly Winters and Jack Albertson. Unlike the brash and abrasive Mike and Linda, though, the Rosens are an endearing elderly Jewish couple who are aboard the Poseidon with one mission in mind - to reach Jerusalem, Israel, where they are to meet their newborn grandson for the first time. There is a religious undertone to the Rosen’s mission: A newborn baby in the place where Christ was born. This adds a balance of seriousness to the otherwise, occasionally funny script.
Adding to this religious theme, Gene Hackman is introduced as the “renegade priest.” He argues with another older more traditional priest about the “trappings” and hypocracies of traditional Christianity. In the debate, Gene defends his point of view: “…I want the freedom to discover God in my own way!” he boldly states. While the others aboard the mighty ship are content to enjoy the pleasure cruise, Gene has a mission of a seemingly greater intent. This religious theme shows up throughout the film and adds an element of purpose and idealism to a story which could have been simply escapists’ fare. But what we get instead is a morality play where the selfish interract with the selfless; the sinful must work with the righteous; the hypocracies and ironies of God, religion and spirituality all intermingle in this reality of a horrnendous shipwreck.
Meanwhile, a storm is building. The ship’s captain sees impending danger while the “money man” in charge of the cruise insists that the ship “pull ahead.” It is a moral conflict of sorts: Money and capitolism verses safety and humanity.
Actress Carol Lynley practices for the new year’s eve bash as she lip syncs to singer Maureen McGovern’s prophetic song, There’s Got To Be A Morning After, a gorgeous tune that promotes optimism, hope. (This song was nominated for that year’s academy award for best song).
Roddy McDowell, the ship’s token gay man, plays a service worker. In his typical charming English way, he is a likeable yet less significant character, but he performs with effective restraint. As he hears the movie’s theme song, he sneers and mocks the lyrics - “There’s got to be a morning after…” He is a gay service worker poking fun at heterosexual sentiment.
Pamela Sue Martin plays Robin’s older, more responsible sister. It becomes clear that she is bored, uninspired by her peers, and has developed a crush on the ship’s religious figure, Gene Hackman.
Hackman gives a sermon on deck that seems to set the theme for the film. “Don’t pray to God for your problems!” He yells out. “Pray to yourself!…Pray to the part of God in yourself that has the guts to fight!…He wants winners, not quitters! God loves tryers!…God loves those who have the guts to do it on their own…!”
