Rollercoaster (film)

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Rollercoaster
Promotional poster of Rollercoaster
Directed by	James Goldstone
Produced by	Jennings Lang
Written by	Tommy Cook
Starring	Timothy Bottoms George Segal Henry Fonda Richard Widmark
Distributed by	Universal
Release date(s)	June 10, 1977
Running time	119 min. (theatrical)
Language	English
IMDb profile

Rollercoaster is a summer 1977 disaster-suspense film directed by James Goldstone. It was one of four films created in Sensurround by Universal Studios, along with Midway, Earthquake, and the theatrical version of Battlestar Galactica.

The plot surrounds the blackmail of various amusement park companies by an anonymous extortionist (Timothy Bottoms) who places radio-controlled explosives on park's signature rides, often the park's roller coaster (the film opens with a horrific explosion and crash of a sabotaged ride packed with people). Ride safety inspector Harry Calder (George Segal) works with local police and FBI special agent Hoyt (Richard Widmark) to track him down. Helen Hunt, in her first feature film role, has the supporting role as Tracy Calder, Harry's teenage daughter and a potential victim of the extortionist. Steve Guttenberg, also in his first brief film role, plays a messenger at Magic Mountain who brings the plans for the Revolution roller coaster to Segal & Widmark's characters.

The movie features an appearance by the band Sparks for the roller coaster's opening concert, playing the songs Fill 'Er Up and Big Boy from their 1975 album Big Beat. This role was rumored to have been offered to Kiss who turned down the part. Sparks later cited their appearance in the movie in answer to a question about the biggest regret of their career. ^[1]