Titanic is an epic movie, one that chronicles the final hours of the fateful ship in excruciating detail, deftly switching between fact and fiction to weave its narrative. Every moment is a testament to director James Cameron‘s insistence upon complete accuracy, right up to how the stars looked in the sky that night. But what if you were told that, as good as Titanic is, there’s another film about a sinking ship that is arguably more engaging? That film is The Poseidon Adventure, the 1972 film that turned the disaster genre upside down. Literally.

The Poseidon Adventure

A group of passengers must embark on a harrowing struggle for survival after a rogue wave capsizes their cruise ship at sea.

Release Date

December 13, 1972

Director

Ronald Neame , Irwin Allen

Runtime

117

Writers

Paul Gallico , Stirling Silliphant , Wendell Mayes

Tagline

Who will survive-in one of the greatest escape adventures ever!

What Is ‘The Poseidon Adventure’ About?

The Poseidon Adventure, one of a spate of films with a who’s who of 1970s celebrities, begins aboard the SS Poseidon, with company representative Linarcos (Fred Sadoff) ordering Captain Harrison (Leslie Nielsen) to empty ballast and proceed to Athens at full speed, which Harrison does reluctantly. The focus then switches to the ship’s dining room that evening, which so happens to be New Year’s Eve. Among the passengers are Detective Lieutenant Mike Rogo (Ernest Borgnine); his wife Linda (Stella Stevens); Reverend Frank Scott (Gene Hackman), who is struggling with his faith; Susan (Pamela Sue Martin) and her brother Robin (Eric Shea), en route to meet up with their parents; retired store owner Manny (Jack Albertson) and his wife, Belle (Shelley Winters); James Martin (Red Buttons), bachelor; and Nonnie (Carol Lynley), the ship’s singer (who so happens to be singing the Oscar-winning “The Morning After”). The captain is called back to the bridge when an emergency report is received about an undersea quake that has sent a huge wave toward them. It’s too late for any evasive maneuvers, though, and the tsunami flips the ship over, killing and injuring almost everyone on board.

Once the ship becomes relatively stable, the survivors assess their situation. Scott strongly urges them to make their way upwards towards what is now the exposed outer hull. Unable to convince everyone, Scott leads a small group, the aforementioned passengers, to the galley door up above, and with the help of Acres (Roddy McDowall), an injured waiter up top, positions the Christmas tree for use as a ladder. Just as Scott reaches the top, a series of explosions rocks the ship, causing seawater to flood the ballroom. Those who stayed behind try desperately to climb up the tree, but the weight of everyone knocks the tree into the water, resulting in their deaths.

How Do the Survivors Escape the Ship in ‘The Poseidon Adventure’?

The ragtag group of survivors finds the galley, only to discover the fire door, hot to the touch, is shut, forcing them to take another route. They climb the underside of a nearby staircase, with the water nipping at their heels. Denied access to the main passageway due to an obstacle, the group heads towards an access tunnel into the funnel and climbs, only for more explosions to rock the boat and send Acres to his death. His loss instigates an argument between Scott and Rogo, which pauses when another group of survivors happens by. Led by the ship’s medic, they are heading towards the bow of the ship. Scott is still adamant that the engine room offers their best chance, so Rogo gives him five minutes to find it before they turn tail and walk with the other group. Scott does find it, only the engine room is on the other side of a flooded corridor, so he takes a rope, secures it, and tries to swim to the other side with the other end for the others to follow. He gets trapped, however, prompting Belle, a former trained swimmer, to dive in and free him.

Sadly, the act leads to Belle suffering a fatal heart attack, forcing a shattered Manny to move on without her. They make their way to the engine room door across a catwalk, but another explosion sends Linda to her death and ruptures a nearby pipe, which begins spewing scalding-hot steam. Scott, feeling that God has abandoned them outright, leaps for a burning-hot valve wheel to shut off the steam, and slowly does so. But Scott can’t get back to the group, so he tells Rogo to lead them from there and let go of the wheel, falling into the flaming oil below. The remaining survivors, at long last, enter the propeller shaft room, where they bang on the hull to catch the attention of any rescuers. They are successful, and the rescuers cut a hole through the hull and pull the six out, the only six to survive the disaster.

‘The Poseidon Adventure’s Visual Effects Won an Oscar

Titanic is a stunning achievement in visual effects, aided by CGI to bring the demise of the mighty ship to life. The Poseidon Adventure couldn’t lean on those same tools and, as a result, the catastrophe that befalls the SS Poseidon seems that much more real. The oncoming wave that swallowed the ship, followed by the chaos in the ballroom as the ship is turned upside-down, is one of the greatest disaster movie sequences of all time. So effective, so visceral, that The Poseidon Adventure landed a special Academy Award for technical achievement. One example of the magic behind the movie is the hydraulically controlled dining room set, built to tilt as much as 45 degrees, with an “after” set, with the room’s table on the ceiling and the skylight on the floor, that completed the effect.

The set itself had the cast and crew navigate around the fire, through ductwork and shafts, navigating through reversed ladders, stairwells, and twisted steel. The Poseidon Adventure doesn’t cheat the audience. The film looks consistently like what a ship would look like had something similar happened in real life. The passengers aboard Titanic didn’t face obstacles to reach the top (well, the steerage class did, briefly), but rather instead faced obstacles once they were already on the top deck, trying to find a way off the boat safely. The SS Poseidon seems almost determined to keep the group away from freedom at every turn. The film is also aided by the fact that these effects and set designs are the result of a situation that isn’t implausible, or at the very least not all that far removed from an “unsinkable” sinking ship.

‘The Poseidon Adventure’ Boasts Superior Characters

The Poseidon Adventure boasts no less than five Academy Award winners, and it shows. Each character has a depth to them that makes them more relatable. Not that Titanic does not, but if you don’t relate to Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) or Rose (Kate Winslet), it’s unlikely you’re going to find yourself relating to the two extreme groups of people aboard: the powerful first class, and the poor (but far more fun) steerage class. The wide variety of personalities found in the survivor group in The Poseidon Adventure gives the viewer more options to find someone they can relate to, someone they can look at as an example of how they would react in a similar situation. The characters draw you in, engaging the viewer in caring about how their story ends.

More importantly, the characters all have something to contribute. Robin, fascinated by the ship, knows enough about it to confirm that Scott’s assertion to head to the engine room is the right call, as that is where the hull is at its thinnest. Acres and Rogo aid the others in ascending the funnel. Belle jumps into the water to save Scott and the group, utilizing skills that haven’t been used in years, ultimately sacrificing herself for the survival of the others. Scott is able to encourage Manny to keep moving, that he still has something to live for after the death of Belle. Rogo leads the group on the last leg of their journey. The most fascinating story is Scott’s, the minister at odds with God. He takes the leadership role when no one else would step forward after the disaster. He rails against God, berating Him for having abandoned them, cursing at Him as he closes the valve, becoming a Christ figure whose “Why hast though forsaken me” moments lead into his selfless act that clears the way to freedom, at the loss of his own life.

Overall, in comparing the two films it becomes a battle between the sheer spectacle and love story of Titanic versus the substance of The Poseidon Adventure. Each has its merits, of course, but if you truly want to be engaged in a sinking ship film where the ending is unknown as opposed to a countdown to a well-known maritime casualty, do yourself a favor and check out The Poseidon Adventure. You’ll fall head over heels for it.

The Poseidon Adventure is available to rent on Apple TV+ in the U.S.

Watch on Apple TV+