Más allá del Poseidón

it took awhile for me to get into this movie.but somewhere along the line,i actually started to enjoy myself.once you get around the wafer thin plot,it's not half bad.the trick with this movie is to not take it too seriously.for instance,as soon as the bad guys show up,you know they're bad long before they reveal their intentions.the only other thing they could have done to telegraph they were bad would have been to have been for them each to have a neon sign over their heads saying villain.it's that absurd.and there's some cringe worthy dialogue.however,the are some very witty one liners mostly courtesy of Sally Field,and their was an interesting,and(mostly)likable mix of characters.there were actually even a few exciting moments.of course,there are endless explosions.this movie doesn't hold a candle to the original Poseidon Adventure.it was actually fairly pointless,when you think about.but it was fun,and actually quite entertaining.for me,Beyond the Poseidon adventure is a solid 5/10

A lot of people don't like this picture, but, I think it works. It is helmed by a strong cast of principle performers and carried off by a unique twist on the sequel impetus. The idea is fairly original, as opposed to the usual: for this story, one would normally expect they'd just focus on another group of survivors and how they get out. Instead of dealing with people wanting to get out, the plot is spurred on by people wanting to get IN. Then, ironically, they become trapped and become the people who have to get out, along with some of those aforementioned survivors to keep with tradition. I also have to give the film credit for that little bits of continuity, like Linda's body is still lying near the entrance of the ship the crew uses, the same hole the original movie's survivors escaped from. In the end, the movie isn't as bad as it is often called.

"Beyond the Poseidon Adventure" is Irwin Allen's follow-up to his excellent 1972 box office smash "The Poseidon Adventure". However, this one doesn't come close to matching the danger and excitement of the original. In fact, I found myself laughing most of the time at the absurdity of it all. Michael Caine reteamed with Allen after "The Swarm" for this soggy sequel about two salvage crews (one good, one bad) that race each other to probe the upside-down wreck of the luxury liner Poseidon, which as you'd recall got turned over by a 90-foot tidal wave in the first film. The usual all-star cast is here, but this time around a brand new cast comes on board. Most of them make total fools of themselves. Caine takes over for Gene Hackman as the one who barks orders at everyone (instead of a reverend, Caine plays a tugboat captain). Sally Field embarrasses herself as Caine's sidekick (Field has said that this is the worst movie she's ever made and on the basis of her performance here, she's right). Peter Boyle (TV's "Everybody Loves Raymond") has the Ernest Borgnine role as the one who's yelling and complaining all the time (no, he doesn't reprise Borgnine's role from the first film). Telly Savalas looks silly as the doctor who actually has an agenda of his own. Slim Pickens has the goofiest role in the film as an alcoholic Texan who spends the entire movie holding a bottle of wine. Karl Malden, Jack Warden, and the two Shirleys (Knight and Jones) have the only good roles in the film. These roles should have been put into a better, different movie. There are two actors who star in "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure" in early roles before they hit it big on television: Veronica Hamel is in this film a few years before she was cast on the great TV show "Hill Street Blues" (she also appeared in Allen's next film: "When Time Ran Out"), and so is Mark Harmon (before "St. Elsewhere"). Now I'll grant you there are some good scenes in this film, but not enough of them. So take my advice: stick with the original film. You'll be glad you did.

** (out of four)

I haven't seen a film try to be so serious, yet I mistook it for a comedy. The performances were hilarious, the dialogue was awful, and for the life of me, I don't remember the music, so THAT must have been really bad!! LOL. Another one of those great Irwin Allen films that are filled with hammy actors and bad special effects--but what a fun time to watch!!

If you liked the original "Poseidon Adventure" then you can not find one redeeming feature of this lamebrained "sequel" that represents exploitation for a quick buck at it's worst. Paul Gallico's novel, while not stellar, at least brought back Rogo, Martin and Manny Rosen while this time out the orignal cast and characters is gone completely apart from an obscure reference to the helicopter that picks them up.

I won't bother dissecting the horrible performances by the actors in their uninteresting roles. I would like to gleefully note the absurdities of the entire plot when compared to it's predecessor. As two others have noted, it is impossible to believe that there could be no other rescue ships out to the scene at this point. And did anyone else notice how the ship seems strangely much more intact than it did in the original? Fred Koenekamp's cinematography in the original was dark, grimy, realistic and effective. This time out, this search crew ends up back in a spotless looking kitchen which in the original was devastated by a flash fire and then submerged only moments later! The photography is much too bright, the settings too spotless, and the story just plain stupid. The bigger mystery is why, after being humiliated in "The Swarm" did Michael Cain ever agree to work with Allen again?

Pretend this film never happened and just stick to the original, which is far more intelligent.