Poseidon: Tremendous Ride, Missed Opportunity

When I first heard back in early 2004 that Wolfgang Petersen was planning a remake of "The Poseidon Adventure" I was stoked. The 1972 film, starring Gene Hackman and Shelley Winters, holds a special place on my personal favorites list because it was the very first film my parents took me to see (at the local drive-in, no less). I was 6 years-old and what a flick! Imagine, at that age, watching a ship the size of the Queen Mary get struck by a rouge wave and turn upside down. It was amazing stuff!

But while that film was considered a spectacle in its day (it was the top grossing film of 1973), the visuals have become dated and the performances are now labeled, fairly or unfairly, campy. Still, the Irwin Allen classic has become a guilty pleasure for loyal fans. Over the last several years many of those fans (myself included) have thought that, in the right hands, "The Poseidon Adventure" would benefit from a remake.

And in Mr. Petersen the producers found the perfect filmmaker. How could Warner Bros go wrong with the brilliant, visionary director of the claustrophobic classic "Das Boot" and the brilliant "The Perfect Storm?" Combine the best elements of those two films with the classic tour-de-force survival story originally told by Paul Gallico in his 1969 novel and a new movie could become a critical and box office success.

So with much anticipation I headed to see "Poseidon" this past weekend. The long awaited remake is a tremendous spectacle that will keep you on the edge of your seat for almost the entire length of the movie.

The story is well known to just about everybody. During New Years Eve celebrations aboard the S.S. Poseidon, a monster rogue wave comes out of nowhere, slams into the luxury liner, capsizing her and leaving a few survivors, led by Josh Lucas and Kurt Russell, to try and find an escape from the upside down water trap.

Petersen begins the film with one of the most stunning opening shots in the history of film: A 3-minute wrap-around of the grand luxury liner as she sails the Atlantic. What makes this scene so amazing is the fact that the ship doesn’t really exist. The Poseidon is completely computer generated, yet when you see her up on that screen you can only be in awe. She is majestic and stately - and puts a certain James Cameron luxury liner to shame.

We are then introduced to the main characters at a quick clip. Mark Protosevich’s screenplay doesn’t draw them very well, if at all. We learn very little about our travelers, and that misguided calculation bothers me. But, I’ll speak to that in a moment. Because just as I was starting to let the lack of characterization bother me, the mighty Greek God of the Sea lashes out at our New Years revelers and spins their world upside down in a heart-pounding capsize sequence that bests the original’s by a mile.

From there it’s non-stop, edge-of-your-seat, hair-raising action as our rag tag group of survivors fight their way up the dying ship to find an escape, battling water and obstacles and more water along the way. Petersen’s brilliant direction (assisted by Klaus Badelt’s nerve-racking score) on three scenes in particular will have you climbing the walls.

The first involves a scene in which Richard Dreyfuss’ character is faced with one of the most gut-wrenching decisions a human being would ever have to make. I could feel the audience collectively asking themselves "God! What would I do?" The second involves the group’s ascent through an air vent. The claustrophobia in this scene is so intense if you’re not climbing the walls then you need to have your head examined. The third involves a mother (played by Jacinda Barrett) and her son (Jimmy Bennett) and the rising waters. Mothers will be ready to pull their hair out during this segment.

All of the action sequences are well done, but those three, spaced through out the movie, will leave you feeling exhausted...in a good way...as if it the cost of the ticket was money well spent.

As with most well done disaster movies it’s the action sequences and special effects that save "Poseidon." I recommend the movie highly and think that on my list of "popcorn flicks" this will join the original near the top. That is thanks in large part to Petersen, his computer and design crews, and a cast that did the best they could with the script they got.

And it is that script where I find my sole disappointment. Why Warner Bros moved ahead with such a lackluster screenplay puzzles me. This had the chance to be a classic sea tale. Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t expecting "Moby Dick," but Paul Gallico’s "The Poseidon Adventure" is the consummate story of survival at sea. It is deep in character study; human nature complete with all of its flaws. It is dark and psychological and leaves the reader breathless.

Unfortunately none of that transferred over in the 1972 film. When I read that Wolfgang Petersen would be at the helm of this new version I had high hopes that the dramatic human stories told in the Gallico novel would finally be told on the big screen. But it doesn't happen.

Roger Ebert opined that he felt Petersen’s heart wasn’t in this film. I don’t think that was it. To me it almost seems like Warner Bros wanted "Poseidon" in the can sooner rather than later and were willing to sacrifice a strong story in order to get the film on screens by May 12. As a result the film is awkwardly edited at times – as if there had been a script there, but that it was jettisoned and then a half-assed editing job done to plug the holes. It makes me wonder whether they purposefully threw away a potentially triumphant story for yet another piece of popcorn fluff.

At this point it doesn’t really matter, because the film is popcorn fluff. Mind you, it is well done, exciting, and thrilling popcorn fluff and I highly suggest you head to the theatre and give it a look. But, I just can’t help but wonder "what if?" I’m afraid we’ll never know, because it is highly doubtful that this story will be told again.

"Poseidon" is rated PG-13 and playing in wide release.