Mas allá del Poseidón

"Beyond the Poseidon Adventure" is Irwin Allen's follow-up to his excellent 1972 box office smash "The Poseidon Adventure". However, this one doesn't come close to matching the danger and excitement of the original. In fact, I found myself laughing most of the time at the absurdity of it all. Michael Caine reteamed with Allen after "The Swarm" for this soggy sequel about two salvage crews (one good, one bad) that race each other to probe the upside-down wreck of the luxury liner Poseidon, which as you'd recall got turned over by a 90-foot tidal wave in the first film. The usual all-star cast is here, but this time around a brand new cast comes on board. Most of them make total fools of themselves. Caine takes over for Gene Hackman as the one who barks orders at everyone (instead of a reverend, Caine plays a tugboat captain). Sally Field embarrasses herself as Caine's sidekick (Field has said that this is the worst movie she's ever made and on the basis of her performance here, she's right). Peter Boyle (TV's "Everybody Loves Raymond") has the Ernest Borgnine role as the one who's yelling and complaining all the time (no, he doesn't reprise Borgnine's role from the first film). Telly Savalas looks silly as the doctor who actually has an agenda of his own. Slim Pickens has the goofiest role in the film as an alcoholic Texan who spends the entire movie holding a bottle of wine. Karl Malden, Jack Warden, and the two Shirleys (Knight and Jones) have the only good roles in the film. These roles should have been put into a better, different movie. There are two actors who star in "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure" in early roles before they hit it big on television: Veronica Hamel is in this film a few years before she was cast on the great TV show "Hill Street Blues" (she also appeared in Allen's next film: "When Time Ran Out"), and so is Mark Harmon (before "St. Elsewhere"). Now I'll grant you there are some good scenes in this film, but not enough of them. So take my advice: stick with the original film. You'll be glad you did.

** (out of four)

it took awhile for me to get into this movie.but somewhere along the line,i actually started to enjoy myself.once you get around the wafer thin plot,it's not half bad.the trick with this movie is to not take it too seriously.for instance,as soon as the bad guys show up,you know they're bad long before they reveal their intentions.the only other thing they could have done to telegraph they were bad would have been to have been for them each to have a neon sign over their heads saying villain.it's that absurd.and there's some cringe worthy dialogue.however,the are some very witty one liners mostly courtesy of Sally Field,and their was an interesting,and(mostly)likable mix of characters.there were actually even a few exciting moments.of course,there are endless explosions.this movie doesn't hold a candle to the original Poseidon Adventure.it was actually fairly pointless,when you think about.but it was fun,and actually quite entertaining.for me,Beyond the Poseidon adventure is a solid 5/10

If you liked the original "Poseidon Adventure" then you can not find one redeeming feature of this lamebrained "sequel" that represents exploitation for a quick buck at it's worst. Paul Gallico's novel, while not stellar, at least brought back Rogo, Martin and Manny Rosen while this time out the orignal cast and characters is gone completely apart from an obscure reference to the helicopter that picks them up.

I won't bother dissecting the horrible performances by the actors in their uninteresting roles. I would like to gleefully note the absurdities of the entire plot when compared to it's predecessor. As two others have noted, it is impossible to believe that there could be no other rescue ships out to the scene at this point. And did anyone else notice how the ship seems strangely much more intact than it did in the original? Fred Koenekamp's cinematography in the original was dark, grimy, realistic and effective. This time out, this search crew ends up back in a spotless looking kitchen which in the original was devastated by a flash fire and then submerged only moments later! The photography is much too bright, the settings too spotless, and the story just plain stupid. The bigger mystery is why, after being humiliated in "The Swarm" did Michael Cain ever agree to work with Allen again?

Pretend this film never happened and just stick to the original, which is far more intelligent.

Sequel to The Poseidon Adventure.

Every Single Cast Member Is Outstanding. How often can one say that about a Disaster movie, or any movie?

I have watched the 1979 film about 25 times on video. The way the characters/actors react to each other and the very memorable lines they come out with are all wonderful. Sally Field brings incredible humour to simple every day terms like, "Oh brother", or "are you going to kiss me now?", and despite her public comments on how much she hated the movie and disliked Irwin Allen, this stands out as the best of Sally Field, to me.

Michael Caine recently said on a British talk show that, "Irwin Allen's The Swarm was the worst movie I have done". So I guess Beyond/Poseidon is not too high on his list. I don't care. The way his character takes command of this disaster movie and his encounters with Telly Savalas (this was also my favourite Savalas show) and Sally Field are nothing short of great entertainment.

I could do another 20 quotes from the other players. This movie had an okay musical score which picked up in the end credits.

Note: 25 minutes was edited out and I have seen all the deleted footage. A lot of it concerned a tedious subplot with the blind guy and there was a bad effects scene of the Poseidon on the surface. I walked away from the 25 minutes saying - I am so glad they cut this stuff out!

Great movie!

How many movies get the chance of being made by the extraordinary,proficient,astonishing Allen and/or having Caine,Mrs. Field,Savallas,Shirley Jones in the cast?

Caine's role,in itself,is a jewel;he just fits in.He is energetic, lucid,sharp, intelligent,manly,as fit as a fiddle.Caine knows how to make a super-action flick,without needing to be Willis or Ford.He should be very proud of his role in "Beyond ...".For me,this is one of the most cherished Caine shows.(Caine is himself a cinema,he did an incredible number of good flicks.)Mrs. Field is enchanting,natural, inventive, fresh, luminous, spontaneous,funny,resourceful.(How do I miss an actress like her when I see that imbecile girls in so many cheap-looking shows!With few exceptions,such as Miss Rachel Luttrell,Miss Torri Higginson,or Mrs. Blalock,did you notice how many imbecile-looking girls crowd to fill the sets of the shows?)

The action does not stagnate for a moment.

Savallas got his bigger/better roles elsewhere;but the villain he does here is,as such,memorable and a landmark for the genre.He coins a comic strip villain.(I mean,Nero in Die Hard 2 ,Alan Rickman in Die Hard ,are zero compared to Savallas in "Beyond ...".)

The colors of this movie are delightful.

And how many shows offer so much fun?For me,only the first two episodes of Stargate Atlantis (Rising (Part 1)&Rising (Part 2)).

Many people,who commented "Beyond ...",have expressed a lot of reserves and reticence,about various things;I think they were unjust,and way too exacting.

Between 56 and 64 years,Allen made (i.e,directed and/or produced) several disaster movies:the diptych The Poseidon Adventure ,1972,and The Towering Inferno ,1974—for the movie theaters;then, another diptych—for TV this time: Flood! ,1976,and Fire! ,1977;then a trilogy,for the big screen again: The Swarm ,1978, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure ,1979, When Time Ran Out... ,1980—an activity that was ambitious and often successful.In '80,Allen was 64 years old.In his disaster movies that he made during the '70s,Allen uses the entire palette of the genre.His main merit is,of course,that of creating a very pure form of adventure movies.During '72-'80, The Master of Disaster also found time for some important TV work.So,he was for disaster,he was for Sci-Fi,sometimes he was for both of them—and always for fancy,adventure and fun. Fortunately ,he had the opportunity to develop fully his thoughts and to express himself plenary.

Some fans complain that The Master of Disaster's work was uneven,unequal;anyway,his best films are matchless in their genre.The man made at least 9 remarkable feature movies (of which some 6 are very good—the 5 feature films made between '72 and '80,and also Five Weeks in a Balloon ,1962;but the movies from '59-'61 are worth watching as well …),several interesting TV movies (in the '70s and '80s),and also several TV series and/or miniseries.I do not know any other director to be able of such a continuity in a couple of genres (the disaster/adventures,and Sci-Fi).