One of several 1970s action movies aimed at an international audience, many of which, curiously, starred Richard Harris (The Wild Geese, Orca, The Ravagers, The Cassandra Crossing). This had the benefit of of an Alistair MacLean novel as source material and an inherently exciting set up - to wit, it's about the hijacking of an ocean liner.
There are some very good actors on display - not just Harris but people like Burgess Meredith, John Vernon, David Janssen, John Carradine, Dorothy Malone and Gordon Jackson. Ann Turkel has come in for a lot of criticism for her bad acting but she is stunningly gorgeous, and I was willing to go with her. The filmmakers try to compensate for her acting by getting her to change outfits a few times and to play love scenes opposite Harris, her real life husband at the time.
The film is hurt by some inept handling - shoddy camerawork, awful music, sparse production values. Films where terrorists take over pleasure cruises don't have the best track record (eg Speed 2, Assault on a Queen - yes there was Under Siege but it mostly look place on a military craft). There are logic problems, the story is needlessly confusing, the baddies are very naive about Harris, the romance between Harris and Turkel is oddly developed, David Janssen is wasted.
But you know it has action, and the story moves, and I liked this as it went along. You probably could remake this.
No comments:
Post a Comment