The Tower of Terror! (The Towering Inferno (DVD))

Member Name: newquayboy

Product:	The Towering Inferno (DVD)
Date:	06/06/04 (204 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good plot, Good actors, Good script

Disadvantages: Graphic Scenes, Dis-tasteful wallpaper, A bit too long

I wasn't around when this film was released, but i have seen it twice, and was fairly impressed.

So what happens then? Well, the tallest skyscraper has been built in San Francisco. The film is set on the night of the opening party. But, in their haste to open the building, not all of the safety checks were done. It transpires that the electrical wiring architect Paul Newman specified wasn't used, as the builders needed to cut costs. Fuses are blowing, and in a storage room on the 81st floor, the wiring catches fire. You can tell things are going to go wrong - the party is on the topmost floor, and there are no fire alarms going off. Soon fire chief Steve Mc Queen is crawling all over the building, answering the phone when everything else in the building has gone wrong?!?!?

There are a host of other characters, who i'm led to believe were quite famous, for example O.J Simpson, Faye Dunaway and Robert wagner, to name but a few. THe acting is very good, and there are lots of little, gritty subplots to support the main plot, for example, the man who was responsible for building the tower hired his son-in-law to do the electrics. The son-in-law was asked to cut costs, as the budget was running out, so he used crap wiring, which is why it caught fire. This electrician is definitely the bad guy when he tries to save himself by skipping the queue of people to be rescued.

There is lots of suspense, and nearly every attempt to save the partygoers fails. Some go down in the faulty lifts, which stop and open on the floor with the fire, so everyone in the lift is cooked. The breeches buoy (a steel seat attached to a rope), used to move people to a neighbouring tower, colllapses. A helicopter lands on the top of the roof, but crashes. The music is very emotive, and adds to the suspense. But I find music does make it more predictable. When the ?dangerous? music comes on, you know somethings about to happen!!!

I thought the acting w
as good, but what makes the setting even more scary is the brown, orange and lime green wallpaper. Typical 70's!!!! The film is very graphic in some places; especcially when the faulty lift returns to the top floor, the doors open and we see the burning people, including a burning man who stumbles out of the lift and collapses. This is not a particularly nice scene. Equally as gruesome is when a women, trapped by the fire, is blown out of the window when there is an explosion. Not to mention another women falling out of a lift on the outside of the tower. So, in this respect, i wasn't too keen on the film.

The story may play on your mind a bit; indeed, i went to bed thinking "I hope the wiring in my house is ok" and "I hope the smoke alarms work". But maybe that's just me - i do tend to read too much into things.

So in conclusion, I liked the film; adventure movies are some of my favourites. However, I do find them a bit predictable, and certainly, this applies to The Towering Inferno. When there?s an hour left of the film, and yet another attempt to rescue people is being undertaken, you know it?ll go wrong.

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