Beyond the Poseidon Adventure
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| Beyond the Poseidon Adventure | |
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| Directed by | Irwin Allen |
| Produced by | Irwin Allen |
| Written by | Paul Gallico (novel) Nelson Gidding (screnplay) |
| Starring | Michael Caine Telly Savalas Sally Field Karl Malden Shirley Jones Jack Warden Peter Boyle Slim Pickens Mark Harmon |
| Music by | Jerry Fielding |
| Cinematography | Joseph F. Biroc |
| Editing by | Bill Brame |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | May 18, 1979 |
| Running time | 114 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | N/A |
| Preceded by | The Poseidon Adventure |
| IMDb profile | |
Contents |
[edit] The Film
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure is a 1979 sequel to The Poseidon Adventure. Continuing from the original movie's conclusion (with the Poseidon still afloat) with the six survivors of Reverend Frank Scott's team rescued, a tugboat captain, Mike Turner, discovers the behemoth wreck of the settling ocean liner.
Accompanied by his privately ill second mate Wilbur (Karl Malden), and a passenger Celeste Whitman (Sally Field), they head out to claim salvage rights for the catastrophe, as the tugboat (Jenny) lost her cargo in the storm that capsized the ocean liner. They are soon followed by terrorists in disguise, Dr. Stefan Svevo and his crew, who claim to be doctors who received the Poseidon's S.O.S., they find themselves rescuers now needing to be rescued themselves, and along the way of finding a new route, find even more survivors, the ships nurse, Gina Rowe found also by doctors of the medical ship Irene, which heard the Poseidon's S.O.S., follows a salvage crew and a band of terrorists that board the Poseidon looking for gold and a lost shipment of plutonium.
The film stars Michael Caine, Telly Savalas, Sally Field, Karl Malden, Peter Boyle, Shirley Jones, Slim Pickens, Shirley Knight, Angela Cartwright, and Mark Harmon. It was directed by Irwin Allen. A DVD version was released on August 22, 2006.
[edit] Television Version
The version shown on television contains 20 more minutes of footage. This extra added footage has not been released on the new dvd.
[edit] Abandoned Film Sequel Premise
From the Special Edition DVD Actor Commentary: Producer Irwin Allen proposed an original sequel that would have the survivors testifying in a hearing on the disaster in Vienna, country of Poseidon's parent company. While on a train to the hearing, a mountain tunnel collapses leaving the survivors of the train to make their way out. The proposal is clever in it recreates the scenario of the original film without recreating the exact events. A similiar premise was used in the 1996 Rob Cohen film Daylight with Sylvester Stallone.
Although the original film abadoned much of the Paul Gallico original novel, he was asked to write a sequel novel that could be adapted into a film. He did and just as with his original novel most of it was jettisoned in favor of the resulting film.
[edit] The Novel
In the original novel, it also picks up where the end of the movie leaves off. On the French Naval helicopter, Rogo forces the pilot to turn back to the wreck. After landing, Rogo, Manny Rosen, and James Martin got off. Manny wanted to recover his deceased wife's body while Martin wanted for more adventure. Only Rogo did not reveal what he wanted to do at the wreck. He revealed only later that he was supposed to protect half a billion worth of government gold in the ship's hold.
Meanwhile, owner of the Poseidon hired pirate Captain Ilich Bela to recover the gold for his company.
Hely and several men were grave robbers. The men and Hely prepared to dive into the wreck to steal party jewels and valuables. Jason's ship was wrecked by the same wave which destroyed the Poseidon. Some time later, Dutch frieghter Magt van Leiden was shipping out when she came across Jason in the water. Captain Klaas van Zeevogel and his daughter Coby spotted Jason and picked him up. Jason asked if Klaas could sail him to the wreck of the Poseidon to pick up something.
Rogo and the other survivors were standing in the engine room when Jason and the van Zeevogels appeared. By then, Bela's ship arrived at the Poseidon. After reporting that another ship was there, the employer told Bela to disregard the salvage rights law and get on with the operation.
Inside the engine room, Jason ordered Rogo to leave. After an extensive argument, they compromised that Jason can have his thing, Klaas can obtain salvage rights and Rogo can ship the gold into the Magt.
Down in the flooded ballroom, Hely and her accomplises were trying to sack the bodies. Just when the others refused to rob the deceased, Bela's men arrived and killed all but Hely, who managed to swim away up to the engine room. Hely lied to the men that she was rescuing survivors when her friends got trapped. Rogo didn't buy it. Suddenly, a bulkhead/air pocket burst, shaking the ship and pulling some of the water away. Also gone was Mrs. Rosen's body.
The group opened a storage hold and found a tiger in it. Just as they were exploring the ship, Bela's men began to drill a hole through the hulk and entered. There were fights. A man named Anton and Rogo had a brief fight. Hely and Jason opened the tiger cage and the tiger ran away. Manny found Rogo's gun and pointed it at Bela. He ordered that if Bela kills the group, he will shoot. After the others escaped to Broadway, crew corridor, all the pirates simutaneously shoot Manny.
The group made it to Broadway and began to set traps for the pirates. Rogo hid in the theatre, Hely and Jason hid in the barbershop and the rest hid in the library. Also, they found the last remaining survivor on the ship: the nurse.
Bela ordered Anton and several men to search for Rogo and his friend. One pirate ventured into the theatre and was killed instantly. Another was captivated by Hely's nudity and was stabbed by Jason. Anton went into the library only to be showered by books and after escaping and Jason lured him away. Then, Anton encountered the tiger and wrestled it until it both fell into a hole and drowned.
After their troubles were temporary gone, Rogo found Hely's purse of stolen goods and almost exposed her when she refused to open it.
Eventually, they found a way back to the engine room and discovered Jason's parcel. It was ammunition. They were then captured by Bela, who just found the gold and was transporting it into his ship. Bela exposed Hely. Jason thought Hely loved him. Hely, to show her true love, dived into the ocean.
The captive group used the ammunition to shoot Bela. Suddenly, Hely returned. She was dying of not decompressing. She told Jason that there was an erupting volcano directly under the Poseidon and then she died.
It was Rogo that the pirates wanted dead. Rogo then faked his death by having Jason plant blood on his forehead and then knocked out. Jason approached Bela by lying that Rogo died. Bela agreed to let them go with Hely and Rogo. Just after burying Hely in the sea a distance away, the volcano erupted and destroyed the Poseidon and the pirates and created a new island.
That night, the survivors were celebrating. Coby revealed that she rescued one bar of gold. When they reached Athens, Rogo lied about what really happened to conceal the truth about the gold. The group parted with Rogo telling Jason to buy a new boat with the gold that they rescued. Jason responded by saying that it will be called Dumb Cop. Back at the shipowner's office, the manager reported that Bela and his men all died. Along with it are all the shipments. Not one of them survived.
