Eric Stevenson Seeing this movie reminded me of how funny "Airplane!" is. I know that that movie was more about airplane disaster films, but you could compare it to any disaster film made at the time. We seemed to get tons of disaster movies by the 1990's. The best one was "Titanic" and even that hasn't aged that well. I'm quite impressed at how they get into the fire right away. I just wanted to see how they managed to fill the long running time.I had no idea O. J. Simpson was in so many movies. At least everyone on the Metoo hashtag hasn't been accused of being a murderer. We really do get some really great special effects that hold up. Admittedly, it is too long but given the reputation these films have now, it's very impressive. You could never make this movie nowadays. Well, at least not right after 911. ***

tomasg-69814 It has been heavy discussed over the years about the "peak" status of this movie, being the most successful production in the era of pretty silly and - in average - overambitious disaster movies between 1970-1980. The trends who invited the greatest movie companies to show us terrible ways to die, fascinates me in present days. The view of the world must have been gloomy and gray, people still wanted to be shown moderate special effects of avalanches (salt) and skyscrapers fully set on fire. (Scale models.) Some of the characters always made it to the end of the tunnel for daylight, some were brutally roasted, the "heroes" who often sacrificed themselves for the crew.The Towering Inferno of 1974 is the one disaster i can re-visit from time to time. Mostly because of the very good casting, and the non-stop action after the entering of the flames. Steve McQueen was in first to act as the architect, but changed his mind. Thank You. Anyone imagine if Newman and McQueen would have been playing the other ones part? OK, If so, we could have discuss it either other way, today, because we wouldn't know anything else. The rest of the stars in this "epic panic" are just statistics for me; Newman grabs the steering wheel from the beginning, but almost has to move over to be co-driver, when fire chief McQueen enters the screen, jumping out of his car beside the "chimney". Equal lines, equal top billing....yes you heard it all before. The great rivals of the 70's (especially McQueen) was apparently sick of ego, and didn't allow the other part to have an inch of attention, or a second more of limelight than the opponent. Today this movie is only remembered by many as a cult flick of the (first) disaster era; some will rank it the as the best, the most successful. Patterns are all there: the love stories, the struggling family relations, the other template people you get to know briefly before the tragic sets in. The bad ones who gets theirs.I still like this one pretty lot, and will pick it up again, maybe this x-mas?

Ruairidh MacVeigh One of the many disaster movies of the early 1970's, the Towering Inferno, while a bit longer than the other movies of this period, I consider probably the best because it does seem to combine character with disaster so as to make it a human situation. Indeed there are a lot of implausible moments, and after the destruction of the World Trade Center you can't help but make comparisons, but other than that it's a solid action movie.So what's the barbecue? We find ourselves in San Francisco, and it's the opening night of the Glass Tower, the world's tallest skyscraper at a height of 138 stories. As guests arrive, the architect, Doug Roberts, has doubts that the cheaply made electric system will be able to hold the intended light show, but his worries are sidelined so as not to rock the boat. Sure enough a fire does start and very soon the building is engulfed in flames, trapping hundreds of people at the top-floor restaurant.Now, the bad things. There are plenty of moments where the actions taken and the decisions made you can't help but think are insane. For example, when the initial fire is reported, the building's owner refuses to evacuate. At the same time, guiding people to the elevators when there's a fire, of course that's going to end well!At the same time, there's plenty of implausible things, such as running a Breeches Buoy between the two skyscrapers I think is a little out there, as well as the fact that there's a bit of a silly 'happy' ending that I won't give away, but will have you scratching your head in confusion. Although obviously the attacks on the Twin Towers hadn't happened yet, there are many things that are and aren't included in this movie that do seem questionable. For example, the fact that even though the best part of 100 floors are on fire, no smoke seems to be rising into the restaurant causing people to choke. Indeed in one of the original books on which this is based smoke rises into the floors causing people to wither.There are many inexplicable and random explosions within the structure which shouldn't happen since this is an electrical fire. For me, the most obvious problem is the fact that this building has been on fire for hours, and has apparently had several large explosions which are said to be near the core, yet it doesn't collapse not even partially. Of course the argument can be made that a fire in a large steel building had never happened before, but many shows and films prior to this depicting a devastating inferno in a tall building have the structure collapse or partially crumble. I know these are probably personal peeves, but they did have me confused.Other than that, there's nothing really wrong with this movie. Aside from the fact that there's some fantastic pyrotechnics, and the mixture of models and practical effects adds to the immersion in a story that back in 1974 would have been difficult to tell. One of the better parts of this movie are in fact the characters, who are all well developed, but at the same time seem human. While some of the characters make silly decisions, like why the couple in the office didn't escape when the fire was quite a way away rather than waiting for the flames to start licking at their door, or why the building wasn't evacuated the moment a fire was reported, other characters have novel little touches that make them seem much more relatable. My personal favourite moment is when Steve McQueen's character goes up in the elevator to inform the building's owner that the fire is out of control, whilst on the way he takes off his fireman's jacket and helmet so as not to cause a panic, which I found was a great touch because it shows he's a thinking and concerned Fire Chief, trying to maintain calm in such a difficult and dark situation.Overall, aside from some of the physical problems of implausibility with regard to some of the scenes, this is a very good, very entertaining action movie. Indeed the story isn't complex, simply just put out the fire without getting yourself killed, but it's the fact that it takes the time to give it a bit more a human touch than some of the other disaster movies of the time. I personally enjoy this film greatly as it manages to blend an unqualified tragic nightmare of a situation with realistic characters who you enjoy and want to see escape.

mark.waltz Following the smashing success of "The Poseidon Adventure", veteran producer Irwin Allen jumped back on the band wagon of producing tense, star-filled dramas of humanity in jeopardy for one reason or another. Following the big boat came this big skyscraper, and of course, this lead to his big disaster with an exploding volcano. Other copy-cat producers created movies about exploding blimps (three of them including a historical look back at "The Hindenberg" and two involving blimps hovering over crowded sporting events), rollercoasters flying off of their hinges, and of course, airplanes falling from the sky. All of them featured the most popular leading stars of the day and some surprising veterans making amusing comebacks."The Towering Inferno" is a scary thought in a world still remembering the impact of 9/11, and when this movie first came out, the World Trade Centers had only been open for a short time. Like "The Poseidon Adventure", an all-star cast gets together to celebrate a huge event, only to find their lives in jeopardy when disaster strikes. What it lacks in comparison to "The Poseidon Adventure" was that film's big heart, even though one of the plot lines attempted to keep that detail here. But this is a film about corporate greed and ego, and it is building owner William Holden's desire to own the world's tallest building, so perhaps it was intended for more of a message picture than one of holiday sentiment surrounded by tragedy.1950's rival tough guys (Paul Newman and Steve McQueen) fight over who will be the hero here, with Newman as Holden's partner and McQueen as fire chief. Newman is engaged to magazine editor Faye Dunaway which doesn't mean much because the storyline surrounding their relationship is never really developed and Dunaway, very busy in films in 1974, really has little to do. The most interesting storyline surrounds conman Fred Astaire (in an Oscar Nominated role) and his younger lady love (veteran actress Jennifer Jones) and their attempts to get out of the burning building. Susan Flannery, then at the top of her popularity on daytime's "Days of Our Lives", got a great deal of attention as one of the fire's victims.The set-up to the cause of the fire and how it spreads takes up much of the film's three hour running time, and moves into the attempts to rescue those trapped inside. Special effects are amazing, and overall, the film is extremely entertaining. However, an attempt to create another hit song like "The Morning After" (from "The Poseidon Adventure") is missed with "We May Never Love Like This Again" which did go on to win an Oscar but is certainly not as well remembered as Maureen McGovern's previous hit. She actually gets to appear on screen here, singing a bit of the song, unlike in "Poseidon".Fans of Astaire will be surprised to learn that this was his only trip to the Oscars as a nominee, never having been nominated for any of his classic musical films. He basically plays a non-singing, barely dancing version of all his other characters, the charming, dashing older man who just happens to be an ex-con. Jones is still gorgeous thirty years after receiving her Oscar. Other stars try to make an impression in the film, but sadly, Richard Chamberlain, Robert Wagner, Robert Vaughan and then football hero O.J. Simpson end up sidetracked when compared to the impact of the other stars. While this is far from being a miss, it is certainly not worthy of the hype it had at the time, especially its inclusion as an Oscar Nominee for Best Picture.