Rollercoaster
BB.5
(out of 5)
Timothy Bottoms plays a madman who plants a bomb on a rollercoaster and watches happily as the cars fly off the tracks and into the innocent crowd below, killing dozens. Safety inspector George Segal realizes that amusement park owners have a serious problem on their hands when a second accident occurs and a ransom demand comes in. Richard Widmark is downright hilarious as the “YOU’RE OUTTA LINE” FBI agent who takes over when it becomes a federal matter, while Henry Fonda has an inexplicably short cameo as Segal’s boss. Also featuring an early cameo by Steve Guttenberg and an appearance by a fourteen year-old Helen Hunt as Segal’s daughter, this one is cut from the plainest of seventies disaster film cloths, at times intense but for the most part uninspired and shallow. A great deal of the violence was excised to maintain a PG rating, which robs the film of a more than a few thrills (the second act of terrorism is entirely off camera), but there’s great footage of the rides, and after this many years it does provide a nostalgic thrill for the look of amusement parks of the past.
USA, 1977
Directed by James Goldstone
Story by Sanford Sheldon, Richard Levinson, William Link, Screenplay by Richard Levinson, William Link, suggested by a story by Tommy Cook
Cinematography by David M. Walsh
Produced by Jennings Lang
Music by Lalo Schifrin
Production Design by Henry Bumstead
Costume Design by Burton Miller
Film Editing by Edward A. Biery, Richard M. Sprague
Cast Tags: Arthur Peterson, Ava Readdy, Bill Saito, Bill Sorrells, Bruce French, Bruce Kimball, Charles W. Bennett Jr., Charlie Tuna, Craig Wasson, Dave Milton, David Byrd, Denice Harlow, Dennis Speigel,Dianne T. Murray, Dick McGarvin, Dick Wesson, Dorothy Tristan, G.F. Rowe, Gary Franklin, Gene Tyburn, George Segal, Gloria Calomee, Greg Elliot, Harry Basch, Harry Davis, Harry Guardino, Helen Hunt, Henry Fonda, Henry Olek, J. Michael Hunter, Jean Rasey, Joe George, John F. Swanson, Larry Holt, Lonny Stevens, Louis Weinberg, Mark Hulcher, Mark Thomas,Michael Bell, Monica Lewis, Quinn K. Redeker, Richard Altman, Richard Widmark, Robert Quarry, Roger Steffens, Stephen Mendillo, Stephen Pearlman, Susan Strasberg,Takayo Doran, Tara Buckman, Timothy Bottoms, Tom Baker, Wayne Tippit,William Prince
