The best thing that can be said about The Poseidon Adventure is that it's an outstanding example of the 70's disaster movie genre, along with Airport and Towering Inferno. It's one of the best films produced by the King of Disaster, Irwin Allen, and won an Oscar for special effects. Unfortunately, it still suffers from overacting, crappy dialogue and predictable plot. The sad truth is that everything else takes second place to the disaster.
Based on the novel by Paul Gallico, The Poseidon Adventure is the story of the final voyage of S.S. Poseidon, a luxury cruise liner. The all-star cast is celebrating New Year's Eve in the ballroom when a tidal wave overturns the ship. Rather than waiting to die as the Poseidon slowly sinks, a gallant group led by the funky Reverend Scott (Gene Hackman) starts making its way towards the hull, which is now many storeys above.
Along the way, the band of stereotypes undergoes a leadership challenge from Ernest Borgnine and endures numerous mini-disasters, which not all will survive. Although I did find myself willing certain characters to hurry up and die, the haunting theme song reassures us that "there has to be a morning after" and at least it arrives a damn sight sooner than it did in Titanic.