John Carter (Richard Harris), First Officer on the Caribbean Star, finds himself in trouble when terrorist Luis Carreras (John Vernon) and his men overtake the ship. Carreras has smuggled a nuclear bomb on the ship and plans to detonate it after stealing some gold bullion from a US cargo ship they plan to draw to them. Carter takes matters into his own hands and teams with the ship's doctor (Gordon Jackson) and beautiful passenger Susan (Ann Turkel) to take on the terrorists and save all of the passengers.
Adapted from an Alistair MacLean novel, this action-suspense flick was unleashed with posters promising, "The action of THE GUNS OF NAVARONE! The suspense of ICE STATION ZEBRA! The drama of WHERE EAGLES DARE!" I don't think it came through on any of those. The script is muddled with the first 40 minutes trying for suspense but getting brain twists. Also, the blooming romantic relationship between Harris and Turkel will leave you going, "Huh?" as she slaps him and then he kisses her. Director Ashley Lazarus just can't seem to get things to work and, if the IMDb is correct, some extra work was done by Freddie Francis. The abrupt ending would suggest a troubled production. Too bad as this has one of those ensemble casts that only a 70s disaster epic could secure and they are all game. In addition to Harris, Turkel and Vernon, you get supporting roles by David Janssen, Burgess Meredith, John Carradine, Dorthy Malone and Robert Beatty. The film also has one of the most ill-fitting synthesizer scores I've ever heard.
