One BR Movie I must have - ROLLERCOASTER (1977)

Long time no post everyone. Hey whats up? Happy holidays, Merry Xmas, happy new Year and all that jazz.

Well like most HD-DVD fanboys I did go to Blu-Ray while the battle was still being fought, but we got Blu and that is that. So since we have the winner in HD, lets start seeing some of my favorite 1970's cheese films put out in HD.

This 1977, marketed as a disaster flick, when it was a suspense thriller, is a must own for me on an HD format of some kind. The last known DVD release from 1988 is Widescreen scope and is not aging well for me. The disc itself is starting to show disc rot, and although at the moment it is not affecting playback, it is only a mtter of time before it does.

Since the film is OOP, but readily available on eBay I would like to not have to buy the SD-DVD version again, but get a nice crisp fresh glossed up HD transfer version.

If you love Rollercoasters this is a must own, must see film.

Didn't they market this movie with some gimmick called Sense Surround?

Sensurround, yep.


Basically it was just a bunch of subs placed around the theater at specific points so when the rollercoasters were in action the theater would shake from the bass.

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Basically it was just a bunch of subs placed around the theater at specific points so when the rollercoasters were in action the theater would shake from the bass.

NICE! Would love to have experienced that.

Yes, Sense-or-round, as they say it in the South. I remember it was the movie "Earthquake" that kicked off the technology. The idea was that the sub speakers were so huge they'd actually shake the room. I saw both "Earthquake" and "Rollercoaster" in Senserround back in the mid 70's. Both movies are pretty lame watching them today, but back then it was all the excitement. For the most part, yeah, it did give the sensation that the room was actually shaking, but at what cost, hearing loss? It was shortly after that time that Lucas came out with "Star Wars" and began the launch of his THX technology, which basically took over.

Ah yes . . . those were the glory years when you could actually watch a movie that could make a room shake! Oddly enough, it did vibrate the seat, so perhaps Senserround may have done well in the porn industry.

I loved this movie and since my big sister worked at the local Cinema I think I got to see that movie like a trillion times. Yes I would get in for free and watch movies over and over again (JAWS 23 times LOL) I would love to see this on Blu Ray, in all it's SENSORROUND luster!!!


And welcome back DJ

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[Post edited by InvisibleBiker on Dec 31, 2008 - CST 5:37 PM]

The funny thing is in Rollercoaster they had a camera mounted on the front of the rollercoaster with scenes of the car running around the track with all that sound. Ahhh the 70's. As Brian Adams said, "Those were the best days of my life."

I myself never experienced SENSURROUND, but a few people I know personally did and they claim it was the leader in Surround technology for its time, that was until Dolby Stereo began taking over.

As far as Rollercoaster the movie, I don't care how dated this movie has become, it is still one of favorite films, probably because Timothy Bottoms terrorist character is so effectively creepy. So polite, yet so evil.

Plus I have always been a fan of George Segal, and Henry Fonda. They really had a top notch cast for this film, just a shame it was released in the summer of Star Wars where it just fithered away, however, this movie was responsible for the rebirth of the Rollercoaster itself. Because of this film more parks began installing wooden coasters again, my personal fave.

On a side note, talk about creepy... The first coster in the movie to be Sabotaged was the Ocenview Park Rocket, which was in Virginia. The coaster was later destroyed for the TV movie "Death of Oceanview Park." Well in the 1990's During my college years I worked at a Amusement Park in Pennsylvania called Knoebels, which has Wooden Coaster called the Phoenix. Back in 1984 the ride was moved from San Antonio Texas, where it stood at Playland Park as, you guessed it, THE ROCKET. Originally built in 1947, and consider one of PTC's and Herb Schmeck's (The Designer)greatest coasters.

The ride was sold at auction when the park went belly up. Knoebels nabbed it for $30,000 and spent $1.4 Million dismantling it and moving it to PA, where it was re-christened PHOENIX. The fact it was called the Rocket always creeped me out, especially when I would ride it because it always reminded me of Rollercoaster, although the two rides are nothing alike in terms of layout.

The Phoenix has celebrated 23 years at Knoebels and 23 years of being voted in the Top 10 (usually between #4 & 7) of Best Rollercoaster in the world. If you love coasters and want to make the trek, I highly recommend this coaster, especially if you like airtime. The phoenix has tons of it.