Towering Inferno (1974)

In my mind, there has never been a big blockbuster film with a better cast than this. It's an embarrassment of riches. Look at this list:

Paul Newman
Steve McQueen
William Holden
Fred Astaire
Faye Dunaway
Jennifer Jones
Richard Chamberlain
Robert Wagner
Robert Vaughn
OJ Simpson (lol)
Mike Lookinland (a.k.a. Bobby Brady)

And it's a disaster flick! This is about as cool as it gets.

There are a few problems, though:

1. Why were people in the 70s so obsessed with reds and oranges? This film has some of the ugliest interior designs ever. Ever!

2. Though the cast is great, a few of them get next to nothing to do. This is really quite remarkable considering the film is nearly 3 hours. Most of the film is completely devoted to action scenes.

3. Faye Dunaway. I will admit that she's a great actress, and has been in several great movies, but I just don't like her.

4. Steve McQueen doesn't show up until 45 minutes into the film. There can never be enough Steve McQueen.

But all of those are easily overcome by how larger than life this movie is.

One other interesting thing I noticed. This was a big popcorn movie, but the cast is quite old. Newman and McQueen were the stars and they were 49 and 44 respectively. Holden was older, and Astaire was much, much older. Richard Chamberlain was the "young" guy, and he was 40. Even more surprising is the age of the women. Faye Dunaway was the leading lady, and she was 33 when this film was made. Two others were more than a decade older. I can't even imagine Hollywood putting out a major blockbuster without twentysomething actors. There aren't even any teenagers in The Towering Inferno. Amazing how the important age demographics have shifted in the last 25 years.

Overall, I am so glad I watched this. It never fails to entertain.

Oh, and I checked on imdb, and this movie was released in December. How messed up is that?

And on another note, the last couple of days have been a real test for me. I started school Wednesday, and it's been difficult to find time to watch anything. Tonight I hit an even bigger roadblock: I wasn't in the mood to watch a movie. Thankfully, I have been able to overcome all of that. Let's hope I can keep it up.