= 4 stars

Starring Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Faye Dunaway
Directed by John Guillermin, Irwin Allen

Synopsis

A San Francisco mega-skyscraper goes ablaze due to ill-advised construction cost-cutting. Architect Doug Roberts (Paul Newman) and fire chief O’Hallorhan (Steve McQueen) battle the blaze to save a literal cast of thousands trapped within.

The Good

• The fictional tower is located in downtown San Francisco, near the Transamerica pyramid.
• Despite the cheesy premise and some overly dramatic characters, I found the flick surprisingly exciting. Tons of flames, explosions, and some harrowing escapes - most notably a helicopter towing a glass elevator filled with petrified women to another building. The climax involves exploding water tanks in a gutsy attempt to douse the blaze.
• A seventies-appropriate roster of A, B, and C-list actors, namely Richard Chamberlain, Fred Astiare, Susan Blakely, Robert Wagner, Robert Vaughn, Maureen McGovern (she sings the theme song also was in as she did for The Poseidon Adventure), and OJ Simpson - yes, that one.

The Bad

• Some uncomfortable similarities to 9/11.
• No actor gets enough screen time to really build out their character, so they remain superficial.

Conclusion

Camptastic! I enjoyed this much more than I expected to.

IMBD: The Towering Inferno
Wikipedia: The Towering Inferno
Rotten Tomatoes: The Towering Inferno 73%

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