SS POSEIDON - Ship Of The Week #15 03/21/2015
- Thread starter Admiral2
- Start date
Well, since the fictional Poseidon was portrayed on-screen by the real-life Queen Mary, which was a pretty awesome ship, I vote "awesome"!
BTW, among its many achievements, the QM was the largest and fastest troop ship in service during World War II, and transported more than three-quarters of a million military personnel.
One minor correction: The Queen Mary was a North Atlantic liner, not a cruise ship. Different types of vessels with different functions (although some, like the Queen Elizabeth 2, were designed to do both jobs).
BTW, among its many achievements, the QM was the largest and fastest troop ship in service during World War II, and transported more than three-quarters of a million military personnel.
One minor correction: The Queen Mary was a North Atlantic liner, not a cruise ship. Different types of vessels with different functions (although some, like the Queen Elizabeth 2, were designed to do both jobs).
The ship getting capsized by a rogue wave is extremely dramatic, but one thing I've never found out is whether it's realistic. Based on that, for the moment, I'm stuck between Awesome and Meh.
Of course. Nothing beats Gene Hackman hanging off that valve telling God where to step off.
Okay, I'll bite: What's the difference between "cruise ship" and "North Atlantic liner"?
Does anyone remember the soundtrack?
"Auld Lang Syne" is still in my ear, as is "Morning After".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm41npkt6Xw
This is also something for the soundtrack thread I have recently created.
"Auld Lang Syne" is still in my ear, as is "Morning After".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm41npkt6Xw
This is also something for the soundtrack thread I have recently created.
Now I might be wrong but Ocean Liners generally run a regular scheduled service i.e. Southhampton-New York i.e Transportation is it's primary purpose. Cruise ships aren't designed primarily for transportation but rather entertainment. In fact I think there is only one really one Ocean Liner left the QM2
That's essentially correct. Cruising is done for recreation; cruise routes usually end at the same port where they begin. Modern cruise ships are designed for the maximum possible interior volume and resemble floating hotels. Liners were made to transport passengers between continents and are generally lower, sleeker and much more graceful than cruise ships.
The Queen Mary 2 (like her predecessor, the Queen Elizabeth 2), plies the transatlantic route between Southampton and New York for part of each year but is also used for cruising, including an annual world cruise. The last liner built exclusively for the Atlantic run was the S.S. United States, launched in 1952.
I love the original 1972, seen it many, many, many times.
SPOILER (Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's an old movie, but I still had a Star Trek plot ruined in this site even though it was "old", so this one's for you guys!)
It was the first time I saw a non-Superman film with Gene Hackman and was traumatized by the end.
I remember when I heard there was a sequel, I was hoping they'd find Hackman alive and well in the ship, but alas, they only found Peter Boyle, Jack Warden, and other actors.
SPOILER (Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's an old movie, but I still had a Star Trek plot ruined in this site even though it was "old", so this one's for you guys!)
It was the first time I saw a non-Superman film with Gene Hackman and was traumatized by the end.
I remember when I heard there was a sequel, I was hoping they'd find Hackman alive and well in the ship, but alas, they only found Peter Boyle, Jack Warden, and other actors.
Well, that scene is awesome.
So, if a ship has a valve in a place where, if the ship is turned upside down, someone has to hang off it in an awesome scene like that to let people out, then, somehow, it must be an awesome ship.
So, "Awesome!" it is.
Me and the wife tried to watch "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure" recently and had a very hard time getting into it and we ended up turning it off.
What a silly sequel.
Even though Michael Caine is the star (and we both LOVE Caine), we still couldn't get into it.
I could never remember how Wilbur (Malden) dies. What happens to him? I just assumed I got bored and didn't notice his death, but you say it happened off-screen? Weird, since he's one of the stars. I wonder if Malden quit the project.
Anyway, the whole idea of climbing back into that monster seems like a total suicide mission. Even if I self-rationalize the exercise as a 70s version of "urban archaeology", "extreme sports", or that Caine was an adrenaline junkie, I still can't suspend my disbelief that people, especially an old guy, would just walk in there when the thing could sink or explode at any moment.
Then again, they had Sally Field---at her most annoying ---tagging along, so they might've been hoping Sally would sink with the Poseidon. Now that I think about it, I think it was Sally Field's grating performance that overpowered Caine's natural charm and made me turn off the movie. She should've won a Razzie for this one. Horrible!
In the book they explain that the Captain has ordered the swimming pools and ballast tanks emptied so that the ship would be lighter. He's being pressured by the owners to get the ship to port either on schedule or ahead so they can scrap her.
I would think that she didn't have any extra cargo, so she would have been riding fairly high.
Yes she did. Very sad. Beautiful ship and lasted less than 10 years.
It can happen alright:
http://www.theartofdredging.com/roguewaves.htm
Now in the (original) movie, it was supposed to be a tsunami. Were that the case, the wave on the open ocean would be small, unless it ran up a shoal that were near the ship.
Tsunami are best described as flash floods from the ocean--but they can come in looking like a Tidal bore, thus the (false) name tidal wave. Then too, if tidal forces can kick off a quake...
If you can find The Poseidon Adventure soundtrack CD on eBay (it's out of print), you should grab it. Just be sure to get the La La Land Records edition, not the older Film Score Monthly one. The La La Land CD has the film's vocal version of "The Morning After," the song Carol Lynley lip-synced to.
The main and end titles by John Williams are sweeping and thunderous. The CD is very complete and it does include "Auld Land Syne" as heard in the movie.
