MovieChat Forums > The Poseidon Adventure (2005) Discussion > What did you like about this movie?

What did you like about this movie?

posted 19 years ago by still_a_TCurryfan
7 replies | jump to latest

Well, most of us have had our say about what was wrong with this remake, but how about discussing what was done right? Granted, this could be a short thread, but let's give it a go.

(Overall, I disliked this version of The Poseidon Adventure but will reserve final judgment until I see the four-hour version.)

One of the updated features of the film that I did like was the placement of women in leadership positions, both official and as circumstances made necessary, accurately portraying roles women play in today's society. Mrs. Shelby, I mean Clarke, was unofficially second in command of the rescue group and not daunted by the responsibility. Her daughter Rachel stayed in the ballroom to help tend the wounded, knowing it could cost her her life, but she was willing to make the sacrifice (of course, remaining close to Dr. Ballard probably figured into her decision). And Suzanne Harrison (played by Alex Kingston) was dignified and realistic as one of those in charge of organizing and overseeing rescue operations. Belle Rosen is still a heroic figure, bless her.

Instead of waiting for men to make all the decisions and to encourage and comfort them, women were on equal terms in this updated version. I think they did a nice job of that in this film.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] dh-77 19 years ago

I liked that girl, Aimee Anderson, the singer. The one who stripped her dress at one point for the rest of the survivors.

[–] still_a_TCurryfan 19 years ago

It was a nice touch for them to pay homage to Paul Gallico, the author of the novel, by naming the Captain of the ship after him. IMDb.com's trivia page for this movie also states that the Doctor was named after Bob Ballard, the leader of the expedition which discovered the remains of the Titanic in 1985. Jak's Lounge on the ship was named in honor of Jak Castro, president of The Poseidon Adventure Fan Club--that's very cool.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0419358/trivia

[–] richard.fuller1 19 years ago

As far as women go, I woudln't say that Hackman and Borgnine were calming leaders in the original. And in a movie, portraying a woman as being in charge depends on the depiction.

Having the woman go 'Im in charge' and then she does virtually nothing memorable isn't that great.

As to what I did like about it, I did think the turning over scenes were better, especially in the kitchen shots.

In the original, all we saw was the ballroom, and Ronald Neame said all they did was lift the set on one corner with a forklift.

Obviously more was done later on in the original for the falling and the piano going.

But in the remake, I did think much of this was done better (sadly it is inter-woven with the unbelievable cause of the capsizing in the first place) and is really better than scrambling passenger moments in Cameron's Titanic.

A soap opera, Sunset Beach, would also take-off Poseidon Adventure about five years ago, during the Titanic mania, and for a soap, the execution was done very well. Campy and hammy, but very fun for daytime tv.

I was going to say the ending credits were very nice as well, but truthfully, the overturning scenes seemed to be better than the original.

I suspect we saw so much of the kitchen like that because it was staged, as the kitchen was going to get some more emphasis than it did in the original, since that was where they went first. Whatever that intention was, it seemed to be pushed to the wayside.

[–] Devans00 19 years ago

I liked the character of the, tattle tale, clueless, tyrant crew member. The guy with the chubby cheeks who made it his duty to blow the cover of the Homeland Security guy. Then later, he tried to fight anyone who wanted to leave the ballroom by the Xmas tree. He kept insisting that help was coming, even though he had no actual way of knowing what was going on outside. I didn't catch his name.

He reminded me of Hurricane Katrina. How someone who is supposedly in charge and supposedly looking out for your best interest is actually hurting you. I got the impression he was more about being the "Big Man" than helping the passengers. I liked this character cause he was an update to 2005 without being a put on/intrusion, like the terrorists or magical digital camera were.

[–] cellapie 19 years ago

I also liked the capsizing scenes. I agree with a previous poster who commented that the kitchen seemed to get a lot of attention. I wished the original had done the same so we could see how Acres survived.

Also, it was nice to see Kemal, the Turk (as he was called in the book).

However, I would still love to see a remake that is true to the creepy and dark aspects of the book. In the novel, the overturned liner becomes a desolate, apocolyptic netherworld where it is every man for himself. But I think a third remake is too much to ask for!

"Now do you believe a dead rat can float, Lisa?"

[–] kadena4327 19 years ago

I may be mistaken but I think the ballroom's skylight looked a lot like the original one. It just struck me that it was the same when the man fell into it just after the boat turned over. So if I am right I liked that part.