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Director Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot, The Perfect Storm) returns to watery disaster fare with this remake of 1972’s The Poseidon Adventure. Kurt Russell and Josh Lucas headline this iteration, both playing passengers aboard a mammoth luxury liner that gets turned upside down by a freakish ‘rogue wave’ during a New Year’s Eve party. The ship’s captain (Andre Braugher) tries keeping everyone together in one place to await rescue, but Russell and Lucas decide to take matters into their own hands. They lead a small band through the ship’s topsy-turvy obstacle course, dodging flooding and fires, in search of an exit to the ocean’s surface before the ship sinks to the bottom of the ocean.
Poseidon is an opportunity to apply the latest in visual effects technology and advancements in immersive sound design to an old formula. But for fans of the disaster genre, it’s a fun ride with very little exposition. After ten or fifteen minutes, the film turns into one crisis after another and never lets up on the tension. The competent cast also includes Richard Dreyfuss as a gay man mourning the loss of his lover, Emmy Rossum (Shameless) as Russell’s daughter, and Kevin Dillon as a gambling drunk. Freddie Rodriguez (Grindhouse) gets one of the most brutal death scenes in recent memory.
With Jacinda Barrett, Mia Maestro, Mike Vogel, Jimmy Bennett, and Fergie.
Oscar Nomination: Best Visual Effects