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The Poseidon Adventure

Play trailer 3:14 Poster for The Poseidon Adventure PG Released Dec 12, 1972 1h 57m Adventure Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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81% Tomatometer 31 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
En route from New York City to Greece on New Year's Eve, majestic passenger ship the S.S. Poseidon is overtaken by a tidal wave. With the captain (Leslie Nielsen) dead, surviving passengers, including the passionate Rev. Scott (Gene Hackman), band together in the ship's ballroom. The group struggles to avert fires, flooding, structural instability and mechanical malfunctions as they make their way through a maze of ladders and tunnels in their desperate attempt to escape a watery grave.
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The Poseidon Adventure

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Critics Consensus

The Poseidon Adventure exemplifies the disaster film done right, going down smoothly with ratcheting tension and a terrific ensemble to give the peril a distressingly human dimension.

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Critics Reviews

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Pauline Kael The New Yorker The picture would be more fun if we cared about who got killed and who survived. Sep 29, 2023 Full Review Eric Henderson Slant Magazine What the glittering, star-driving survivalism of Poseidon Adventure actually presents is a nightmarishly schematic fantasia of guiltless discomfort. Rated: 3/4 May 8, 2006 Full Review Nick Schager Lessons of Darkness Neither as exciting nor as unintentionally funny as one would like it to be. Rated: B- Apr 19, 2006 Full Review Eddie Harrison film-authority.com …although the rather stodgy Airport started the disaster movie cycle, The Poseidon Adventure nailed the formula; high concept, big stars, AOR musical break, mid-film catastrophe with circus level stunts, gritty fire and smoke escapes, random deaths... Rated: 4/5 Dec 22, 2024 Full Review Rachel Wagner Hallmarkies Podcast Compelling characters I enjoyed following Jan 8, 2024 Full Review Grant Watson Fiction Machine When reviewed, for the benefit of 21st century moviegoers, this is a rather silly but sweet disaster flick with a lot of camp appeal. When critiqued, to better understand cinema, this really is a mold-breaking master work. Rated: 8/10 Mar 6, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Seth K Very enjoyable disaster movie, one of the best of its kind. The suspense and action were first rate, particularly considering the movie is over 50 years old (at the time of this writing). The acting and writing a bit overheated at points, but I took it in stride as there were so many fine moments. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/25 Full Review Michael W This disaster movie was really good. Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Shelley Winters, Jack Albertson, Pamela Sue Martin, Stella Stevens, Eric Shea, Carol Lynley, and the rest of the cast did a fantastic job in this movie. The plot of the movie was dramatic, intense, and incredible. It's a great survival story about a ship flipped over from a huge tidal wave and doing whatever it takes to get to safety. If you haven't seen this movie before, check it out sometime. It's a definite must see. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/25 Full Review Lisa Frances J Love a good disaster movie and this one, although made in 70’s with little special effects is terrific. Great cast, drama and your rooting for them to survive. Being on a sinking ship - my worst nightmare! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/15/25 Full Review Titus A All time best disaster movie ever made. I first saw it at a drive-in with my grandparents when I was nine years old. It had been reissued, aka rereleased in the summer of 1974 and became the number one box office film again for a week on its second release. (It's original release having been December 1972, where it spent a total of 12 weeks as the number one film at the box office between '72 and '73. At its rerelease in the summer of '74 it was a double feature and this was the second movie. I do not even remember what the first one was. But The Poseidon Adventure has stuck with me my entire life. The cast of all time classic, old-school actors, (they do not make actors like these anymore), playing a small band of wonderfully sympathetic characters, that viewers can not help but root for and fall in love with. I loved them all but my favorite was Shelley Winters, who always reminded my of one of my grandmas. Not the one I saw the film with. I loved everyone of this actors as a kid and miss them like they were my own family, even to this day. Again, all the characters were wonderful, Belle Rosen was an endearing beautiful soul of a human, brought to life by Shelley Winters. No one could have given this character more depth and heart than Shelley Winters. Again, Poseidon Adventure is by far the best disaster movie of the 70's, which was the biggest disaster movie decade. But it also beats all other disaster movies of every decade prior and sense. Again, mostly due to the actors and the characters they played. I hated Roger Ebert for many reasons, and one of them was his 2 star rating for The Poseidon Adventure. That critic, like most of them, was an idiot. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/06/24 Full Review Doug B An enjoyable watch if you can appreciate the famous actors of yesteryear and a respectable action/suspense disaster movie. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/21/24 Full Review Giani C Great film, like most 70s thrillers Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/18/24 Full Review Read all reviews
The Poseidon Adventure

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Movie Info

Synopsis En route from New York City to Greece on New Year's Eve, majestic passenger ship the S.S. Poseidon is overtaken by a tidal wave. With the captain (Leslie Nielsen) dead, surviving passengers, including the passionate Rev. Scott (Gene Hackman), band together in the ship's ballroom. The group struggles to avert fires, flooding, structural instability and mechanical malfunctions as they make their way through a maze of ladders and tunnels in their desperate attempt to escape a watery grave.
Director
Ronald Neame, Irwin Allen
Producer
Irwin Allen, Steve Broidy
Screenwriter
Paul Gallico, Wendell Mayes, Stirling Silliphant
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Twentieth Century Fox
Rating
PG
Genre
Adventure, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 12, 1972, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 3, 2016
Runtime
1h 57m
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