For New Year's Eve, Michael and Nakea are rockin' the boat with Master of Disaster Irwin Allen and the star-studded (but ultimately disposable) cast of The Poseidon Adventure (1972).
First, we're talking about the disaster movie genre, and establishing how The Unenthusiastic Critic thinks she's far too smart to end up in any disaster movie situation.
Then, we're sitting down for Nakea's first viewing of The Poseidon Adventure, followed by a lively discussion about group survival strategies, fat-shaming, and clumsy religious allegories.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot? Yeah, probably.
Program
0:00: Prologue: from When Harry Met Sally (1989)
1:02: Cultural Osmosis: Pre-Viewing Discussion of Disaster Movies
18:50: Interlude: Original Trailer for The Poseidon Adventure
20:17: The Verdict: Post-Viewing Discussion
58:03: Outro and Next Week's Movie
59:16: Outtake
Notes and Links
—Movie Reviewed: The Poseidon Adventure (dir. Robert Neame, 20th Century Fox, 1972)
—Prologue: from When Harry Met Sally (dir. Rob Reiner, Columbia, 1989)
—Links and Resources: "Under the Water, and Over the Top in 1972," Thomas Vinciguerra, NY Times; reviews by Pauline Kael and Roger Ebert.
—Find additional episodes, leave a comment, or make a donation at unaffiliatedcritic.com.
—Email us, or follow us on Twitter and Facebook. (Suggestions of movies to watch for future episodes are very welcome.)
—"Warm Duck Shuffle" by Arne Huseby is licensed under CC BY 3.0.
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1 thought on “THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (1972)”
"The Poseidon Adventure" was the first PG-rated (PG13 by today's standards) film my parents took me to see in the theater. I did not pick up on the religious allegory at the time, except for the obvious part at the end. I was mainly into the people escaping the water pursuing them. My parents enjoyed the film despite not being particularly religious, and they didn't seem to notice what in hindsight is a strict father conservative message despite being McGovern Democrats. My mother did, however, agree with one aspect of the rebellious preacher's sermon, to not look for divine intervention.
Wolfgang Petersen directed a remake, "Poseidon," which I have not seen, in part because the mostly negative reviews indicated that its bootstraps political messaging is more in-your-face than in the first film.