Towering Inferno, The (Blu-ray)

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The decade of the Seventies was a period of prosperity for the disaster genre that began with the 1970 film "Airport" and hit its stride with the 1975 film "The Towering Inferno" that stars Hollywood legends Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, William Holden and Fred Astaire. With notable actors Faye Dunaway, Richard Chamberlain, Robert Vaughn, Robert Wagner and the once-loved O.J. Simpson in supporting roles, "The Towering Inferno" holds within its floors one of the most powerful ensemble casts ever assembled. With an estimated budget of under $15 million and earning over $115 during its initial release, "The Towering Inferno" was one of the biggest and most successful of the disaster films of the Seventies and while the film is not without its flaws, it has stood the test of time and continues to be one of the finer efforts in the disaster genre.

Newman stars as architect Doug Roberts has designed the tallest building in the world for businessman Jim Duncan (William Holden). The massive Glass Tower rises to a towering 138 floors and to celebrate the opening of the building a huge party will be thrown on the 135th floor and its Promenade. The electrical system installation was overseen by Duncan´s son-in-law Roger Simmons (Richard Chamberlain) who is married to Duncan´s daughter Patricia (Susan Blakely). Roberts and Simmons are friends and Roberts pays the Simmons a visit to inquire about the electrical system when Roberts becomes suspect that Simmons may have cut numerous corners to adhere to the minimum requirements of the San Francisco building codes and put the building at risk.

Numerous occurrences and situations during the day of the opening ceremony place the building under an even higher risk of fire. Simmons admits that he did not stick to Roberts full design and Duncan demands that every external light is turned on to showcase is towering masterpiece. During tests of the system just prior to the opening ceremony, a fuse blows on a circuit breaker and a fire begins on the building´s 81st floor. The fire is not detected initially, but eventually security officer Harry Jernigan (O.J. Simpson) contacts the San Francisco fire department and McQueen stars alongside Newman as Chief Michael O´Hallorhan. O´Hallorhan detests the constant building of high rise buildings as it is difficult to put out a fire beyond the seventh floor of any building and he feels it is just a matter of a time before thousands perish in a skyscraper.

The fire eventually spreads throughout the building and over three hundred people are trapped on the 135th floor. The fire has damaged the stairwells and elevators that lead to safety and there is no way to bring anybody down. Numerous attempts at rescuing the trapped people are attempted, but none are successful. A dozen people are trapped on an elevator that travels on the outside of the building to provide a stunning view of the city. High winds crash a helicopter into the landing pad on the top of the building and the women are rescued via a breeches buoy that is attached to a much smaller building that contains only 102 floors. After a while, the Promenade is just minutes away from becoming engulfed in the flames and Newman and McQueen are brought together on the screen for a risky rescue that requires the explosion of the building´s water tanks.

"The Towering Inferno" is an absolute blast! I love the old disaster movies and this is one of my favorites though I am not sure if this or "Airport" is my favorite from the golden days of the disaster film. The film contains a lot of tense moments that surely cannot compare with today´s offerings, but the classic feeling of this picture and the calm demeanor in which disaster is delivered in this film allows "The Towering Inferno" to be digested like a fine wine when compared to today´s offerings which is more like gulping an energy drink that is not much different than any other sugar packed beverage. There are not a lot of effects in the film and the exploding helicopter hasn´t necessarily held up well, but the danger and loss felt during "The Towering Inferno" as victims perish is more memorable than anything in the past decade.

The cast of "The Towering Inferno" is one of the strengths of this film as producer Irwin Allen assembled one of the greatest casts in Hollywood history. The three leading men, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman and William Holden were all the top man in Hollywood at one point or another and having them collected for this picture is an accomplishment. It has been said that Newman and McQueen had clauses in their contract to provide equal pay and dialogue in the film and the ego issues that may have transpired during the filming of "The Towering Inferno" results in a true adversarial feel between the architect and the fire chief as the architect must defend his creation against the angst-ridden fire chief. Having Holden in a supporting role is only of benefit to the film.

Those in a supporting role for this epic disaster film have limited roles due to the size of the cast and scope of the production, but each makes good use of their screen time. Faye Dunaway does well as the love interest of Newman´s character and Susan Blakely fits the role nicely as the daughter of Holden´s character and wife of the arrogant character portrayed very nicely by Richard Chamberlain. Robert Vaughn and Robert Wagner do not have large roles, but each make proper use of their time and I absolutely loved the amazingly talented Fred Astaire in his golden years as a con artist looking for one last chance at happiness. It´s just a shame he wasn´t given a chance to slow dance in the film. Jennifer Jones and Susan Flannery were good in supporting roles. You can´t forget O.J. Simpson either. When "The Towering Inferno" was filmed, America still loved him and he was still active with the Buffalo Bills during this time. It´s a shame "The Juice" spoiled in 1995.

"The Towering Inferno" is a classic example of the disaster genre and it´s amazing ensemble cast, good pacing and sense of danger and disaster make "The Towering Inferno" one of the better executed disaster films. Watching Paul Newman and Steve McQueen in the same film is a real treat. I can watch this movie every now and then and while it is a long film, it is enjoyable each and every time I watch it. "Airport," "Earthquake," "The Poseidon Adventure" and a number of other disaster films from the Seventies lacked the polished feel of this Irwin Allen production and while "The Towering Inferno" will never be lumped together with "Gone With the Wind," it is an important production and a movie that is well worth sitting down to enjoy. It is a shame that modern disaster films cannot pull off what they did back in the early Seventies with this picture. It has held up well in thirty five years and I can imagine it will still be just as entertaining in thirty five more years.

Video:

You won´t confuse "The Towering Inferno" with a reference quality Blu-ray release, but truth be told, this 1974 picture looks very good in high definition and exceeded my expectations. The wide 2.35:1 framed film is detailed and colorful and while there are moments of graininess and softness throughout the film, the vast majority of scenes in the film were impressive. The signs of age on the faces of the legendary actors are quite visible. The textures of the flooring and other surfaces in this disaster film are finely detailed. Colors are strong. The warm hues of the dancing flames seen throughout the film look very good. Skin colors are accurate. The muted colors of the Seventies look just as dull today as they did back then, but the bright reds and yellows of the firefighters show that the release´s palette has held up well. My only major complaint was the amount of detail lost in some darker scenes and this was a result of the equipment used to create the film. The transfer is clean, sharp and impressive.