3 Pulses

It is arguable that character development in the 1972 Poseidon Adventure was the weakest link in the film, even though it starred pros such as Gene Hackman. Peterson’s chance to right these wrongs with the remake Poseidon was left to rot.

Although he left out the whimsical dialogue of the original, it was replaced with typical action dialogue spoken by more attractive, archetypal main characters. The plight of the characters, who are fighting their way to the bottom floor of a massive cruise liner that has been overturned by a “rogue wave,” is indeed severe. However, the ability to connect and sympathize with them is rendered useless by their insincerity.

Peterson seems to have thrown up his hands with this film. In 2000, he showed us his ability to direct film based on deep and sincere characters who are, coincidentally, trapped in a sinking boat out at sea.

The effects used in Poseidon are impressive. The cruise liner is at least 20 stories high and features no less than four swimming pools on the top deck. The technology available for the remake allowed for exciting explosions, which shake the boat constantly, and a realistic wave sequence, wherein the towering wave engulfs the boat, throwing passengers into the ocean and breaking the smoke stacks off the top of the ship.

Nonetheless, the emotions portrayed by the main characters, especially in such scenes as the one where they stop running to listen to the screams of their fellow passengers who are being drowned and burned, are disingenuous at best. The scene which features Richard Nelson (Dreyfuss) hanging in an elevator shaft making a decision that could cost someone their life is the only scene which comes close to embarking on believable emotion, however, they quickly move on to the next crisis and the next explosion.