The Poseidon Adventure

(Ronald Neame, US 1972, 117 min., 35mm)

Ernest Borgnine. Notable for its incredible practical effects, The Poseidon Adventure is a classic tale of a disastrous inverted cruise. Ernest Borgnine and Gene Hackman lead a cast of stars through a watery labyrinth as they struggle to escape their ship, which has been flipped upside-down by a freak wave. The film was by necessity an expensive production, requiring specially built sets that could tilt and flood. It became a massive success and helped to spawn the “disaster-movie” craze popular throughout the rest of the 1970s.