Juggernaut

Amazon.com

One of director Richard Lester's least-known films, Juggernaut was part of the wave of disaster movies of the early 1970s--and one of the only ones with a sense of intelligence. Richard Harris, in one of his most controlled performances, plays a bomb expert called aboard a luxury liner in midocean; the ship has been commandeered by an anonymous terrorist, demanding money before he starts setting off bombs he has planted around the vessel. The cast, which includes David Hemmings, Anthony Hopkins, and Omar Sharif, is a solid one, and the suspense is thick enough to cut through, with Lester's nasty sense of humor working at full throttle as the countdown gets into the single digits. --Marshall Fine

Description

The high seas have never been more terrifying than in this riveting, tension-packed adventure. Richard Harris (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) and Omar Sharif (Doctor Zhivago) head an all-star cast that includes OscarÂ(r) winner* Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal) in a"tingling" (The Village Voice), edge-of-your-seat shipboard thriller! HMS Britannicis caught in a storm at sea. But the real terror is on boardseven bombs planted by a terrorist calling himself Juggernaut, who demands a high ransom in exchange for the passengers' lives. Bomb expert Fallon (Harris) is flown to the ship and, as negotiations break down, he struggles with the mostchallenging job of his life in a race against time! *1991: Actor, The Silence of the Lambs

Customer Reviews:

"Of course there's a God" - Goldfish.......2007-08-22

This '70s disaster thriller has been rather unjustly forgotten over the years, while it is in fact far superior to other films of it's kind - such as the Oscar-winning megahit "Airport." The dry realism of "Juggernaut" is one its most winning elements - there is a relative lack of soap opera melodrama, with the focus kept squarely on the tense drama.

Basically this is a precursor to "Speed 2," as others have pointed out, in that it involves an act of terrorism carried out on a cruise liner. Instead of the over the top nonsense of that more recent movie, the filmmakers behind "Juggernaut" go to great pains to craft a meticulously detailed suspense thriller. Richard Lester - who, contrary to some accounts, directed the entire movie after two different directors were replaced during preproduction - allows for many quieter moments that help establish the great amount of work being invested by both the police and the crew members on board the ship. The result is a story that may seem slow-moving by today's standards. Make no mistake, this is not an action movie but rather a suspense thriller. That said, the initial boarding of the bomb experts (who must first parachute into the stormy ocean waters) is a prime example of some of the excitingly staged sequences.

One of the more conventional "disaster movie" aspects that "Juggernaut" adheres to is the all-star cast. Here you will find excellent performances from Richard Harris, Ian Holm, Anthony Hopkins, and Omar Sharif. As has been oft-noted, Mr. Harris in particular delivers srong work. One of the weaker plotlines involves the lead female character, portrayed by Shirley Knight. It is no fault of the actress, who seems to struggle with a rather ill-defined role. The problem lies in the "romance" between her character and the ship's captain (Sharif). Once we know the two are involved in a tryst, not much is developed throughout the film despite numerous scenes dealing with their involvement (or rahter, lack thereof as the captain appears utterly disinterested in the woman). Basically it seemed like a tacked-on attempt to appease the need to include a leading lady.

In a movie with such a palpable sense of realistic doom, there are still flashes of very sly humor. I particularly enjoyed the Titanic references that occasionally popped up. Roy Kinnear is highly amusing as the ship's activity director who must continue trying to bring good cheer to the 1,200 passengers who are well aware of the peril they face.

Definitely worthy viewing for fans of disaster movies (thrillers in general, really) OR of any of the distinguished actors that make up the excellent cast.

One of the very best thrillers of the 70s.......2006-04-23

Juggernaut was more or less lumped in with the disaster movie genre when it came out in the mid-70s, possibly because the making of the film itself seemed so disastrous. Originally a Bryan Forbes film, Forbes was briefly replaced by Don Medford (who had also briefly taken over The Guns of Navarone after Alexander MacKendrick was fired and before J. Lee Thompson was hired) before Richard Lester took over. While it's easy to spot some of the typical Lester touches (such as poor offscreen jokes added during the dubbing sessions), it's so unlike most of his other films that you constantly find yourself wondering who directed what.

Regardless of where the credit lies, the end result is a terrific thriller, with Richard Harris' bomb disposal team parachuted to Omar Sharif's liner with several bombs aboard while Anthony Hopkins tries to track down the extortionist in London. The bomb disposal scenes are genuinely tense, the characterisation surprisingly strong enough to undercut potential clich?s and Alan Plater's dialog quite superb, with the film offering both the required suspense and a neat little state-of-the-nation address of Britain in the early 70s. Really rather terrific.

BOOM!.......2005-10-02

Here we go again with yet another disaster style epic from the 1970s. You know how the routine goes, don't you? Hire a bunch of big Hollywood names, some up and comers and some over the hill, and plop them down in the middle of a life-threatening situation. Irwin Allen made a career out of these types of films, weighing in with movies like "Earthquake," "The Swarm," "When Time Ran Out," "The Towering Inferno," and a bunch of other titles. Some chap named Ronald Neame brought us a movie about an ocean liner turned upside down by a tidal wave in the 1972 classic "The Poseidon Adventure," which Irwin Allen promptly followed up a few years later with "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure." Obviously, the law of diminishing returns kicked in with this much product floating around, and the disaster movie quietly slipped into coma until Hollywood resurrected the formula at the end of the 1990s with movies like "Armageddon," "Dante's Peak," and several others. One film that seems to have slipped through the cracks, however, is Richard Lester's 1974 thriller "Juggernaut." Here it is, given to us on DVD by none other than MGM. It's an interesting entry in the disaster genre.

It's important to note that Lester readily subscribed to the idea that a disaster film needs an all-star cast. To meet this goal he hired Omar Sharif, Richard Harris, David Hemmings, Anthony Hopkins, Ian Holm, Freddie Jones, Shirley Knight, Clifton James, Julian Glover, and Roy Kinnear to play major and minor parts. If you don't recognize some of these names, you'll likely recognize their faces. Taken together these actors have made probably a few thousand films. Anyway, the plot is incredibly simple. An ocean liner called the Britannic sets sail from England with some 1,200 passengers aboard. Unfortunately for these folks there are also seven bombs in seven steel drums scattered throughout the ship. The first sign of trouble arrives when Nicholas Porter (Holm), the chief executive of the travel company that owns the Britannic, receives a terrifying phone call from an individual calling himself Juggernaut. This man tells Porter about the bombs on the boat, and demands that the company pay him half a million pounds within twenty-four hours. If someone decides to drag their feet, the bombs will detonate and sink the ship. Yummy. Predictably the cops and the government enter the picture, namely in the form of Scotland Yard investigator John McCleod (Hopkins) and bomb disposal expert Anthony Fallon (Harris).

The passengers, despite the best efforts of Social Director Curtain (Kinnear) to cheer them up, soon discover exactly what's going on. They can't leave the ship, however, since a storm in the North Atlantic makes using the lifeboats a risky proposition. All they can do is sit helplessly by as Fallon and his crack commandos parachute into the sea and climb aboard the ship to defuse the explosives. Standing by to assist in the tricky operation is the ship's captain Alex Brunel (Sharif), his main squeeze Barbara Bannister (Knight), and McCleod's wife and two children who just happen to be passengers on the boat. Fallon soon discovers that Juggernaut is a crafty devil, an expert bomb maker with abilities that may well surpass his own. The movie from this point forward falls into the predictable pattern of showing us the passengers moving about the boat at the behest of Social Director Curtain, scenes of McCleod trying to track down Juggernaut back in London, and Nicholas Porter arguing with the government over the effectiveness of caving into the demands of the terrorist. Seeing as how "Juggernaut" is a bomb thriller, you can bet your bottom dollar that we'll see a scene where Fallon agonizes over which wire to cut. Red or blue? Times a wastin'!

I went back and forth with "Juggernaut." No one can argue with the level of talent here, as every one involved turns in a solid performance. Unintentional snickers, though, must go to Roy Kinnear for his spirited rendition of "Roll Out the Barrels." It's also nice to see Roshan Seth in a small role as Azad, a lowly servant on the ship who makes the ultimate sacrifice (love that Al Pacino haircut too, man!). What I do take exception with is the uneven character development. I suspect a lot of footage ended up on the cutting room floor in order to make the film move along faster because some of the interactions between characters don't carry much weight. You'd think McCleod would be on edge with his wife and kids on the boat, but he looks like he's ready for a nap. Too, the relationship between Bannister and Brunel seems superficial and doesn't add anything to the plot. Perhaps the greatest sin committed by Lester's movie involves what I call Annoying Kid Syndrome. I kept waiting for someone to strap McCleod's offspring to one of the bombs, or at least throw them overboard. These two are like fingernails on a chalkboard! But the tension works at times, Harris hams it up every chance he gets, and the ending is riveting despite being a cliché.

MGM saw fit to give us "Juggernaut" with a trailer as the only extra, sad to say, but the picture quality looks very sharp. It's letterboxed, too. If you're a nut for these types of movies--the disaster movies of the 1970s, that is--I say give this one a shot. I'm struggling about how many stars I should give the movie. "Juggernaut" hovers somewhere between three and four due to the problems cited above, but the fact that it redeems itself at the end should count for something. Most importantly, it lacks the utter ridiculousness of many of Irwin Allen's destruction epics. Let's round up and say four for the overall effort. It's a good way to spend a couple of hours.

amazing.......2005-08-25

I'M THE BIGGEST FAN OF THIS MOVIE IN THE WHOLE WORLD ,THERE'S NOTHING LIKE THIS FILM,GREAT ACTORS,I LOVE THE MANIAC PERFORMED BY FREDDIE JONES AND THE EXPLOSIVES SQUAD TOO WITH A WONDERFUL,INCREDIBLE,AWESOME,UNFORGETTABLE RICHARD HARRIS AS THE HEAD OF THE TEAM,WITHOUT DISREGARDING THE LIKES OF ANTHONY HOPKINS OMAR SHERIFF,IAN HOLM...JUGGERNAUT I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU!!!I'LL LIVE FOREVER IN THE BRITANNIC AND I COULD SWEAR I'M LISTENING THE EXPLOSIONS...IS IT THE BLUE WIRE OR THE RED ONE ? I WANT THAT DVD NOW !!!

is it the blue wire...or the red wire..........2005-04-24

With the ever present ticking of a clock and nerve-wracking machine noises in the soundtrack, this is a taut, nifty disaster thriller, with the cruise ship HMS Britannic sailing to America, unknowingly with 7 bombs hidden aboard, set to explode; they have multiple booby traps, and the saboteur wants not only money but revenge against the system that in his twisted mind feels slighted him.
The cast is great, with Richard Harris as the head of a demolition team, David Hemmings as his right-hand man, Omar Sharif as the ship's captain, and Anthony Hopkins as the man in charge of finding the bad guy (whose wife and children are aboard the ship); Shirley Knight, Ian Holm, and Roy Kinnear round out the cast.

The direction by Richard Lester, better known for his comedic musical films with The Beatles and not thrillers, is fast paced, with some superb effects; I especially like the suspenseful moments when the demolition crew arrives on the scene, parachuting into the stormy sea.
The screenplay by producer Richard DeKoker is intelligent, raising this film up from the average production in this genre, and the cinematography by Gerry Fisher excellent. The score by Ken Thorne is also good, but mostly one can only hear the tick...tick...tick...of the bomb.
Total running time is 109 minutes.

Average customer rating:

Different Venue for Horror Spoof

LovecraCked! The Movie - Ltd. Edition
Starring: Elias , Lloyd Kaufman , Joanna Angel , H.P. Lovecraft , and Biff Juggernaut
Manufacturer: BiFF JUGGERNAUT Productions
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B000IFRRKI
Release Date: 2006-09-05

Description

"LovecraCked! The Movie", the debut feature film from BiFF JUGGERNAUT Productions, is a horror/comedy anthology, inspired in part by influential author H.P. Lovecraft ("Re-Animator"). Following in the tradition of George A. Romero's "Creepshow" and "Tales From The Crypt", the film is an international collaboration of directors from the USA, UK and Sweden, combining over-the-top comedy Ã la "Monty Python" with bone-chilling horror, to have you clutching your gut one moment and cringing the next.

Plot Synopsis: With tongue planted firmly in cheek, our story follows the exploits of a bumbling investigative journalist as he struggles to discover the truth behind the enigmatic Lovecraft and his mysterious past. Along the way strange and macabre tales play out, pulling the reporter ever deeper into the mystical world of the author. Will the journalist finally prevail or will he end up without a clue as usual? One thing's for sure: the truth is out there... he's just not entirely sure where.

Customer Reviews:

Different Venue for Horror Spoof.......2007-07-30

Presented as an anthology of stories loosely tied together through vignettes featuring an investigative reporter researching the life and writings of horror/fantasy author H. P. Lovecraft, LOVECRACKED! THE MOVIEis sometimes amusing, but often is too hard to follow or falls flat. There are some truly brilliant, wacky pieces throughout the movie, but not enough of them.

I'd tried to watch the movie twice before I finally got through it on the third attempt. Earlier, I figured the problem was me. I was distracted, too tired from work to concentrate, or really in the mood for something that was easy to get into. But I had the same problems the third time through. The movie is so disjointed in places that it's almost like channel-surfing captured on DVD, although the stories all have to do with some aspect of Lovecraft, his work, or his Cthulhu Mythos so as not to be completely disjointed.

The stories featured on the DVD only pay passing homage to Lovecraft's work. Key pieces and conceits were borrowed or cannibalized but the new stories didn't really push into the deep thinking that lay behind those tales. Even though the movie is about Lovecraft, we don't really get to know the author. There's just not enough factual material in the presentation for someone unfamiliar with Lovecraft's fiction to get the paradigm behind the pieces. There was no discussion as to why the writers, actors, and directors show the path they took to create their films.

The parts of the movie that really work are the ones that are over-the-top. I loved the investigative reporter shtick and would often laugh out loud at the actor's antics. He had some really good stuff, and he was great with his expressions and dialogue delivery. He has a good sense of timing.

But there were several stories within the movie that just never connected, not with the rest of the movie and not with the audience. I often found myself scratching my head and wondering what it was I had just seen. Or why I was supposed to care.

Case in point was a story about the guy whose ex-lover sent him a marriage announcement. He grew angry with her and obsessed over what she was doing with her fiancé. So, somehow, he mutated into a Bugboy. He entered a cocoon and managed to metamorphose at the same time she happened to come by to check on him because she was worried about him. This section is shot in black and white, which is effective, but the prosthetic makeup is a complete joke. Plus you don't really care about any of the characters.

Many of Lovecraft's own stories were hard to understand, contained characters the reader could not identify with, and didn't have real endings. Maybe this was a pastiche representing those kinds of stories. Unfortunately, I can't confidently reach that decision based on my viewing.

A lot of people really liked Shaun of the Dead. I didn't. I felt that movie had some highlights that were worth watching, but that it missed the boat on delivering a solid film experience. So maybe it's just me. Maybe the audience that enjoyed that film will enjoy LovecraCked! The Movie. It's watchable but just so very uneven that I believe it will depend on the individual as to whether or not it's enjoyable. But it's worth looking at to find out for yourself.

Average customer rating:

You have to think of something!

Juggernaut
Starring: Boris Karloff , Joan Wyndham , Arthur Margetson , Mona Goya , and Anthony Ireland
Director: Henry Edwards
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

Suspense | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Mystery | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Horror | Independently Distributed | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Art House & International | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Horror | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

Independently Distributed | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video

( J ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B000286S9M
Release Date: 2004-07-27

Customer Reviews:

You have to think of something!.......2004-09-20

How's about... murder!?
Well, what would you suggest? You're the beautiful young wife of a bed-ridden cotton baron. You're `friend' is going through your allowance like Evian water (casinos here on the Cote d'Azure are so glamorous) and throwing his gigolo at that Margaret Dumont look-alike every other scene. Worse, your old sot of a husband is threatening to decrease your allowance. Can you imagine that?
But how to bump off the old boy? Fortunately for you creepy Dr. Sartoricus recently lurched into town after his was forced to close his Moroccan research lab for lack of funds. Lack of funds!
Such are the premises of JUGGERNAUT, throw in a dashing son, a pretty nurse and a potty servant or two and the plot pretty much writes itself. The pretty young wife is played by Mona Goya, who sounds French and appeared mostly in French films during her thirty year career, although one internet site tells us she was born in Mexico City and another Fort Wayne, Indiana. In any event, she Mon Dieus with the best of them and shares a couple of delightful carpet chewing scenes with Boris Karloff. Joan Wyndham is the other pretty young one, Nurse Eve Rowe, in this her last movie role at the tender age of 25. JUGGERNAUT may not carry quite the thrill and mystery it advertises, but members of its cast are intriguingly obscure.
Of course, Karloff is the only reason to get this one, and he's menacingly effective slouching over his shorter co-stars. Karloff's genius was in his ability to add a touch of menace to the most benign situations, and find pathos in the most detestable of characters. He's always worth watching, even in inferior vehicles like JUGGERNAUT.
Unfortunately, the audio and video quality on the dvd wavers between bad and terrible. Besides the usual scratches and flares there are instances of missing frames and dialogue drown out by white noise. That's all understandable and unforgivable on a print of this age. What isn't forgivable is the flutter that occurs midway through the film. The print jumped the sprockets and the image fluttered. That is something that should have been corrected before this dvd was released.

Man in the Attic / Juggernaut / House of Mystery / Bloodlust / the Rapist / Devil's Express / I Eat Your Skin / the Sadist / Mesa of Lost Women / Horrors of Spider Island [[[10 HORROR CLASSIC MOVIES]]]

Average customer rating:

Man in the Attic / Juggernaut / House of Mystery / Bloodlust / the Rapist / Devil's Express / I Eat Your Skin / the Sadist / Mesa of Lost Women / Horrors of Spider Island [[[10 HORROR CLASSIC MOVIES]]]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DVD:

DVD

DVD