Juggernaut: Inferno em Alto-Mar

This is a nice little rarity from the 70's - a disaster film that's actually good. It's about a bomber who plants several drums of high powered explosives on a British ocean liner and threatens to use it to sink the ship if payment of a half million pounds is not made. Cue Dr. Evil.

What's interesting about this movie, is that instead of boring us with the usual soap-opera antics (the edge-of-divorce couple, the terminally-ill child, etc.) the cruise itself turns into a disaster for everyone before the bombs are ever revealed. The ship immediately sails into a storm to which the captain learns that the new gyros they upgraded to are not working, causing the ship to pitch heavily, getting most everybody on board seasick. The weather outside is bad, so all the guests are moping around, shutting themselves up in their cabins or braving the lounge and the overenthusiastic entertainment director, played by Roy Kinnear, who always seemed to find himself in these kind of roles. Those who venture out onto the rolling decks can't prevent their shuffleboard games from drifting into the tennis court, both of which are placed in an area about the size of a three-car garage. In short, these people could use a good bomb crisis to liven things up.

Richard Harris plays the bomb-squad expert who is called upon along with his team to disarm the explosives. Perhaps 'expert' is not the right choice of words, as his crew end up setting off a couple of the bombs in trying to deactivate them. That, and the fact that Harris drinks on the job and at one point recommends throwing in the towel. And that is what makes this movie work - there are no typical heroics you would find in all the other standard-issue disaster flicks of the era. Even the paratroop-like arrival of Harris' team is sufficiently deflated when one of them clumsily loses his dive mask as he jumps from the plane. The ship's captain (Omar Sharif) is carrying on an adulterous affair, some of the bomb squad members get seasick on the ship, and the entertainment director eventually just gives up trying to raise the morale. Nobody is allowed any glory. One of my favorite moments is when a young boy, after being given a book about ships to pass the time with, correctly identifies an innocuous subtly-marked raised flag noting the presence of explosives on the liner, then nonchalantly exclaims "That's 15 points for me."

The movie does eventually button down and give a good, honest and tense bomb-defusing sequence at the end. There's the usual 'which wire to cut' business, but by the time the movie gets there, it has well established that it's not going to be quite that predictable about it. A good British cast is included as well. In addition to Harris and Sharif (who isn't British), Ian Holm and Anthony Hopkins are present, playing landlubber executives trying to help catch and prevent the bomber from fulfilling his threat. I couldn't find Michael Caine, however. He might have been off making a Jaws movie or something. At any rate, this is an excellent thriller that also provides some choice sardonic humor along the way.

Exciting water-bound thriller about a crazy man who has planted explosives aboard a cruise ship and now in high sea with 1200 passengers . This big-budgeted disaster movie was professional and expertly directed by Richard Lester . It deals with a blackmailer who demands a huge ransom in exchange for information on how to disarm the seven bombs he placed aboard the transatlantic liner Britannic captained by Captain Alex Brunel (Omar Sharif) who while falls for a passenger (Shirley Knight) . As a nutty person plants explosives aboard a cruise ship and he mocks the crew about his plan over the wireless . He is asking for a £500,000 ransom , otherwise the bombs aboard will explode . An expert artificier Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Fallon (Richard Harris) is assigned to defuse them in the teeth of a howling gale , being helped by a competent as well as resourceful team (David Hemmings , Jack Watson , among others) . The countdown surges , while the explosive experts struggle to find the bombs . Meantime , back in England Supt. John McLeod (Anthony Hopkins) and other officers whose families are aboard races desperately to track down Juggernaut , the mad bomber . The greatest sea adventure in history has just begun !.

Nail-biting film that contains intrigue , unsettling scenes , thrills , emotion and it raises a fair amount of tension on its theme of seven bombs planted aboard ; resulting out to be pretty entertaining . This formula suspense movie belongs to catastrophe genre of the 70s , being the undisputed king , ¨The towering inferno¨ along with ¨Earthquake¨ , ¨Roller coaster¨ , ¨Two-Minute Warning¨ and many others ; this formula disaster movie was widely developed by Irwin Allen , previously winner of numerous Oscars for ¨Poseidon¨ until the failures as ¨Beyond Poseidon¨, ¨Swarm¨ and ¨When the time ran out¨ . Well-done drama that turns out to be an intriguing and suspenseful film . The tension is nice if not super-tense , though there are some boring sup-plots that undermine the action . As a sub-story involving an American called Corrigan/Clifton James is so negligible as to be simply not worthwhile . The film took its inspiration from an incident which occurred in 1972 when a man claimed he had planted a bomb on board the QE2 and demanded a ransom . The movie was shot mainly aboard a real ocean liner , the Hamburg had recently been sold by its German owners to the Soviet Unión . As the production company -David V. Picker and Denis O'Dell as associate producer- soliciting extras who would take a lengthy cruise in the North Sea for free , but with the knowledge that the ship would actually seek out the worst possible weather . Main cast , -Richard Harris , Omar Sharif and Anthony Hopkins- give excellent interpretations . With special mention for Richard Harris who steals the show as the skillful Lt. Cmdr. Fallon , the brave leader who leads his expert team of men appointed to a risked assignment . Support cast is frankly awesome , all of them give memorable supporting portrayals , it is formed by an all-British-secondary-star-cast , such as : Freddie Jones , Ian Holm , Julian Glover , Cyril Cusack , Mark Burns , Jack Watson , Roshan Seth , Kenneth Colley and Roy Kinnear as the ship's comical social director . And it appears uncredited : Cyril Cusack , Gareth Thomas , Michael Hordern and Simon MacCorkindale .

It displays a colorful and gripping cinematography in Panavision by Gerry Fisher , including persistent high-angle shots photographing the cruise ship , nice camera-work and use of close-ups on bombs . Intriguing and atmospheric score by Ken Thorne . Suspenseful and fine direction by a magnificent professional , Richard Lester . The project was originally to be directed by Bryan Forbes . After his departure , Don Taylor was hired , but departed four weeks before shooting was to begin . Richard Lester then came on board . Rating : Good and entertaining , it's a fairly watchable disaster movie .

Juggernaut is a well done action / disaster thriller which combines some good performances with great direction and scripting. An extortionist calling himself Juggernaut has planted several bombs aboard the ocean liner Britannic and is threatening to sink the liner in heavy seas if he is not paid off. The film follows an official from the cruise company, a naval bomb defuser, and London police officials as they attempt to prevent a catastrophe.

What sets Juggernaut apart from a thousand other 'mad bomber' films is that to a large extent it approaches the threat from an official, even technical perspective. Rather than a maverick cop chasing the psychopath around the ship, we get highly suspenseful scenes of professionals trying to defuse bombs. The film plays up the difficulty of defusing a booby-trapped bomb, taking it beyond the film cliché of simply cutting the right wire. The heroes have to get through a variety of hidden snares within the devices before they even get to the wires. Indeed, the sub-plot involving the cruise official serves to remind us that this is not just a 'technical exercise,' that there really are lives at stake.

Furthermore, the film does not succumb to the temptation to overplay its villain or make him a flamboyant maniac. Despite his code name serving as the title of the film, Juggernaut does not figure that prominently in the plot. When he does turn up, the performance is quite understated, particularly when compared to the head of the bomb squad. (Only Richard Harris would think that downing a bottle of scotch is good preparation for defusing a bomb.) Indeed, one can argue that the bombs themselves serve as the primary antagonist of the film with their fiendish designs.

The acting in the film is quite good overall, even if the characters aren't always that well fleshed out. Richard Harris does a good job as the film's overall protagonist, lending him a sense of mordant humor that keeps him from becoming a stale action hero. Omar Sharif also does a good job as the ship's captain, even though his character is largely one note.

Juggernaut does have some weak points. At times, the investigation back in London is given short shrift, so that it is difficult to follow. Furthermore, there are one or two scenes contrived for dramatic effect that take away from the film's realism. In particular, one scene where a young child gets access to a restricted area of the ship strains credibility. Still, the film definitely stands as a minor classic in its genre.

This movie has long been one of my most viewed videos for the following reasons. It has the considerable talents of the late Mr Roy Kinnear absolutely larking about on the high seas as the entertainment officer, which as anybody knows who has been in the business, is performed with perfect abplom. He cannot be faulted in a role just made for his considerable skills. Tony Hopkins as always underplays his role just to the point where you would want to kick him in the pants and get a move on. But this is just another great performance in a super movie where dramatic build up is mounted on each act of terrorism to a state where you dont know what action is about to explode from the drums within. Freddie Jones as the Hijacker and Omar as the captain also excel. The great Richard Harris has his ears and hands absolutely full with the horrific possibilities of being blowing sky high by the explosives placed on the ship, watch it and see what I mean. Overall a great "Disaster" movie of the genre. Only criticism would be the lack of music score which I think would have added in places a nearly always dramatic effect, but still warrants an eight point five out of ten.

Back in the seventies disaster movies were the big thing - the Poseidon Inferno, The Towering Inferno, Earthquake, Airport, etc. Briton Richard Lester, director of the Beatles movies and a lot of comedies, went the same way with his thrilling 1974 bombs-on-a-big-ship thriller starring Richard Harris, David Hemmings, Anthony Hopkins and Omas Sharif. The plot is rather simple, but thrilling and entertaining from the beginning to the end. You will maybe even stop breathing during the ongoing action and suspense that are dominating the second half of the film when Harris and his team are trying to defuse seven bombs on the travel ship on its way over the Atlantic Ocean. Don't miss this suspense thriller when they show it on your TV station, it's worth being watched even after nearly thirty years.