A madman hijacks the luxury cruise liner, S.S. Queen, and threatens to blow it up unless a millionaire pays him the the contents of a safe deposit box. The crew regains control of the ship, but the hijacker dies, taking the codes to disarm the bomb with him.
Reviews
To me, this movie is perfection.
Absolutely Fantastic
The acting in this movie is really good.
The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.
I did not expect much from this TV movie made right in the middle of the disaster thriller movies period: TOWERING INFERNO, EARTHQUAKE, POSEIDON ADVENTURE, AIRPORT...and other airplane topics, for Tv and movie industry as well. Nothing special to say except that we find here Bob Stack in a very similar scheme he as into fifteen years earlier: LAST VOYAGE. Andy Stone's cheap disaster crime movie, a decade before its time. But a lot better.
Irwin Allen disaster movie about a bomb on a passenger ship.David Hedison looks good in this movie and an early scene where he jumps off the ship to save the life of someone is well acted and scored by Richard LaSalle.LaSalle is no stranger to Irwin and his music really helps this TV movie. So many scenes would not have been half as good if they were not coated with LaSalle music. Today, it is a bit hard to take the late Robert Stack too seriously because of his role in "Airplane"(1980), but if you block out "Airplane" for 90 minutes, you will take him seriously as the champion of good in this film. Bradford Dillman is the evil and he performs well.When in LA in 1992, I did a tour of "The Queen" and it was a highlight of my first trip to America. "The Queen" and the special effects of the ship in this film are all good fun. If you like this movie I suggest you also take a ride ... Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979).
I don't know exactly why Irwin Allen produced this movie. It's like a repeat of his first sea disaster film but with more of gun violence in it. I would also believe that he wanted to make it into a TV series as well, but I guess that flopped. The characters are very good in this TV movie, and the storyline fitted perfectly with the current events of the 70's without over dramatizing it. Like The Poseidon Adventure, the film was filmed aboard the Queen Mary but in more extensive areas like the lounge and the Royal Suite Cabin. Although the movie is good in general, the special effects are some to laugh at for a 70's movie. If you are a disaster freak like I am, try watching the movie. You just may like it.
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